Employers’ Right to Attorney Fees

Ensure employers’ right to attorney fees when they prevail in cases brought under the NLRA [303(b) amendment]. Employers and labor organizations are and should be subject to administrative and judicial actions to enforce rights and obligations imposed by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and the Occupational Safety  and Health Act (OSHA). AGC also believes that employers and labor organizations should be able to collect the attorney fees and costs that they incur when successfully defending themselves in such actions.

Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA)

Oppose expansion of the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA). AGC opposes any attempt to expand coverage of the FMLA to cover absences unrelated to health or to include employers with fewer than 50 employees. AGC believes that additional leave decisions should be made with the particular needs of both the employee and employers in mind.

Government-Mandated Labor Agreements (GMLAs)

Oppose government-mandated labor agreements (GMLAs). AGC opposes any federal measure that would give a preference to either open-shop or union contractors, or that would disrupt the collective bargaining process, including any measure that would mandate labor agreements on federal or federally-assisted projects. A GMLA is an agreement that the government has negotiated and then imposed on contractors and subcontractors on a publicly funded construction project. The negative impact of GMLAs falls heavily on nonunion companies, small companies and disadvantaged businesses. GMLAs allow unions to bypass the provisions of the National Labor Relations Act that require employee selection or employer recognition. GMLAs also force union contractors to work under different rules and other contract terms that government bureaucrats have negotiated rather than labor contracts they have negotiated.

Health Care Reform

Support reasonable and achievable health care reform to provide affordable, quality health care through broader coverage, choice and competition in the marketplace.  With the affordability of insurance and insurance premiums rising above overall inflation and wage gains, AGC is supportive of ways to increase availability and reduce costs for both employers and employees. AGC supports Small Business Health Plans (SBHPs) that would allow small businesses to become part of a larger buying pool to obtain health coverage at reasonable costs, and provide more and better options for coverage by giving small companies the opportunity to bargain with insurers on the same economy of scale as large companies. AGC does not believe that increased federal mandates, new federal bureaucracies and increased litigation are the way to achieve this goal.

Malpractice Insurance Reform

Enact malpractice insurance reform to reduce litigation costs to employers. AGC supports efforts to pass medical malpractice insurance reform to reduce the costs of health care and to limit exposure to litigation for employers. Malpractice insurance costs are one of the factors that have increased overall health care costs and have also driven many doctors out of certain specialties.