A pro-union bill making its way through Congress with Republican support faces opposition from Christian business leaders who argue it could be used to advance a pro-abortion and transgender agenda without the consent of workers or employers. The Faster Labor Contracts Act, which passed the House last week with support from 210 Democrats and 20 Republicans, stipulates that either side in a labor dispute may request federal mediation after a 90 day period. If an agreement is not reached within 30 days of federal mediation, the conflict goes to a 3-person arbitration panel that is then empowered to impose labor contracts that can be binding on the parties for up to two years. The Senate version of the bill is sponsored by outspoken social conservative Senator Josh Hawley (R-MO) who says that the bill will help workers assert their rights against woke corporations. But according to the Christian Employers Alliance, the bill could have significant ramifications for religious workers and employees. The organization, which successfully defeated a Biden-era mandate for employers to pay for transgender procedures, sent a letter to House lawmakers last week urging them to oppose the measure. They say that the bill would allow arbiters to embed woke provisions into binding contracts without final consent from workers or employers. “Christian employers are increasingly concerned that collective bargaining agreements are being used to advance provisions involving abortion coverage, gender-transition procedures, DEI mandates, pronoun policies, and other ideological requirements that directly implicate matters of conscience and religious belief,” Christian Employers Alliance President Margaret Iuculano told lawmakers in a letter obtained by The Daily Wire. Iuculano told The Daily Wire that her organization is not opposed to the measure because it directly mandates any of the policies in question, but because of the binding arbitration provision that kicks in after 120 days if the two sides can’t make an agreement. “Because the legislation relies on binding arbitration to impose first contracts when negotiations fail, provisions of this nature could become part of an arbitrator-imposed agreement without the consent of either the employer or the employees,” she told The Daily Wire. “For Christian employers, that raises serious concerns about religious liberty, conscience protections, healthcare freedom, and the ability of faith-based organizations to govern their workplaces consistent with their sincerely held beliefs.” A Hawley spokesman told The Daily Wire that these objections were “absurd” and a way for big business to target the proposal. “These absurd allegations about a strong bill to protect working people just show that giant corporations are desperate to kill legislation that would help American workers while they invest billions in DEI insanity,” a Hawley spokesman said. “Senator Hawley’s bill aims to put a shot clock on labor negotiations to stop corporations like Amazon from dragging their feet after workers win a vote to unionize fair and square.” Hawley’s spokesman said that existing federal law protected religious employers. “Federal law already shields religious employers, and under this bill any third-party arbitrators are mutually chosen by the bargaining parties, not by the government,” the spokesman said. The terms imposed by the bill would allow the union and the employer to select one representative for arbitration. They would then have an opportunity to select a third arbitrator agreed to by both sides. If they can not agree on a third party within 14 days, the federal government would put in place the third person. The Senate version is cosponsored by Republican Senators Roger Marshall (KS) and Bernie Moreno (Ohio) alongside 14 Democratic lawmakers. Opponents of the bill argue that unions have historically promoted left-wing social policies, policies that could be imposed during the arbitration process. For example, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, one of the unions supporting the legislation, once promoted a “Pride at Work” guidance document steeped in transgender ideology that features the so-called “gender-bread person.” The document features a section called “Five Reasons LGBTQ Working People Need a Union,” including that “people in unions help ensure LGBTQ working people have their healthcare needs met,” including “gender confirmation surgery.”   Teamster handout Some affiliate groups, such as the Teamsters Local 117 in Washington, proudly declare that “abortion rights are worker rights.” “In America today, I cannot think of a single healthcare procedure that elected officials have used the legislative process to take choice away from men. Abortion rights are worker’s rights. The labor movement must take a critical stand and continue the fight for equal access to healthcare for all its members,” the union said after the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Kara Deniz, the assistant director of communications for the Teamsters, argued that complaints about abortion and transgender funding were attempts by companies to “misdirect” about the legislation. “This is a complete misdirection to basically facilitate their goal to try to stampede and block a bill that is having tremendous bipartisan support. Republicans and Democrats are supporting this bill,” she told The Daily Wire. “I don’t think they even have those concerns. To be quite honest, I think that these ‘concerns’ are being brought up on behalf of the corporations.” Deniz said the goal of the Teamsters was to cut down on the lengthy negotiating process and would not impact the issues of abortion or transgenderism. “I think it’s very unchristian to stand in the way of such legislation when it’s going to help people afford to live, and afford to be able to have a contract, and to not get hurt and injured on the job and be unsafe for 460 plus days because the employer refuses to give a contract,” she said. “I think that’s incredibly unchristian.” The AFL-CIO, the largest federation of unions in the United States, has created model collective bargaining language demanding healthcare coverage for abortion and transgender procedures, including from out-of-state providers. “All health plans offered to bargaining unit members shall cover comprehensive sexual and reproductive health care services, including contraceptives, abortion services (procedural and pharmaceutical), and gender-affirming care,” the model language says. Similarly, the Service Employees International Union has called for local unions to bargain for so-called trans-inclusive healthcare. Thomas Beck, a labor lawyer who previously served on the Federal Labor Relations Authority, said that the worries of organizations like the Christian Employers Alliance are legitimate. “I think it’s absolutely a concern,” he told The Daily Wire, noting the track record of unions pushing for abortion and transgender coverage. “They’re all proudly staking out these very progressive positions on some of the highest profile social issues of our time. And essentially they’re making it clear that they want to argue for these protections in collective bargaining agreements.” Beck believes that arbitrators would see abortion coverage or transgender procedure coverage as an easy win to hand unions and that the end result of the legislation would lead to a binding government regulation imposed via arbitration. Vinnie Vernuccio, the president of the Institute for the American Worker, said one problem with the legislation is that union members did not get a final vote on the labor contract with it went to arbitration. “It’s going a bridge way too far to say the remedy for contract negotiations taking too long is to invite government bureaucrats and take away the ability of workers to vote on a contract,” he told The Daily Wire. Hawley’s spokesman said the broader objections to the bill were a cloak for woke corporations to oppose worker-friendly legislation. The spokesman noted that employers get to be part of the process in selecting the representatives to oversee arbitration. “It’s ironic that some of the biggest opponents of this legislation also promote the trans flag on their websites. Senator Hawley is fighting for the American worker, rather than the same Big Business who stands with the radical left to push woke, transgender ideology,” the spokesman said. When asked about concerns with the bill, Reagan McCarthy, a spokeswoman for Moreno, told The Daily Wire that the senator was “proud to be a part of the legislative effort to protect working families. Working class Americans helped elect President Trump, and Republicans must be the party of workers, not Wall Street.” Some corporations have moved to push for abortion coverage without union pressure. Corporate giants like Amazon, Apple, and JPMorgan all came forward after the Roe decision and announced that they would pay for women to travel to end the life of their unborn child. Before passing, the proposal likely would have to go before the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) committee, which could be an uphill battle with Republican control of the committee. It would also need to pick up around ten more Republican supporters to get past the filibuster and would need President Donald Trump’s signature.