II

103D CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 1020

To promote economic growth and job creation in the United States by facilitating worker involvement in the development and implementation of

advanced workplace technologies and advanced workplace practices and

by identifying and disseminating information on best workplace practices.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

MAY 25 (legislative day, APRIL 19), 1993

Mr. WOFFORD (for himself, Mr. KENNEDY, and Mr. KERRY) introduced the

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on

Labor and Human Resources

A BILL

To promote economic growth and job creation in the United

States by facilitating worker involvement in the development and implementation of advanced workplace technologies and advanced workplace practices and by identifying and disseminating information on best workplace

practices.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Workers Technology

5 Skill Development Act’’.
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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

2 Congress finds and declares the following:

3 (1) In an increasingly competitive world econ4 omy, the companies and nations which lead in the

5 rapid development, commercialization, and applica6 tion of new technologies, and in the competitively

7 priced, high-quality production of goods and serv8 ices, will lead in economic growth, employment, and

9 high living standards.

10 (2) While the United States remains the world

11 leader in science and invention, it has not done as

12 well as it should in rapidly making the transition

13 from the research laboratory to high-quality, com14 petitively priced production of goods and services.

15 This lag and the unprecedented competitive chal16 lenge that the Nation has faced from abroad have

17 contributed to a drop in real wages and living stand18 ards.

19 (3) Companies which are successfully competi20 tive in the rapid development, commercialization, ap21 plication and implementation of new technologies

22 recognize that worker participation and labor-man23 agement cooperation in the deployment, application

24 and implementation of new workplace technologies

25 make an important and significant contribution to

26 competitively-priced, high-quality production of
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1 goods and services and in maintaining and improv2 ing real wages for workers.

3 (4) The Federal Government has an important

4 role in encouraging and augmenting private sector

5 activities relating to the development, application,

6 manufacture and deployment of new technologies.

7 That role should be to—

8 (A) support and cooperate with such ef9 forts;

10 (B) work with private companies, the

11 states, labor organizations and other worker or12 ganizations, and nonprofit institutions and in13 stitutions of higher education to ensure that the

14 development, application, production, and im15 plementation of new technologies is consistent

16 with the improvement of workers’ skills, wages

17 and working conditions, and a healthy environ18 ment;

19 (C) encourage worker participation in the

20 development, commercialization, evaluation, se21 lection, application and implementation of new

22 technologies in the workplace; and

23 (D) promote the use and integration of

24 technologies in the workplace as a mechanism

25 to enhance workers’ skills.
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1 (5) In working with the private sector to pro2 mote the technological leadership and economic

3 growth of the United States, the Federal Govern4 ment has a responsibility to ensure that Federal

5 technology programs help make the United States

6 remain competitive while maintaining and improving

7 living standards and creating and retaining secure

8 domestic jobs in economically stable communities in

9 the United States.

10 SEC. 3. PURPOSES.

11 The purpose of this Act is to—

12 (1) improve the ability of workers, labor organi13 zations and worker organizations to recognize, de14 velop, assess, and improve strategies for successfully

15 integrating workers into the process of evaluating,

16 selecting and implementing new and advanced work17 place technologies, workplace practices and forms of

18 work organization; and

19 (2) develop resources within labor organiza20 tions, educational institutions and other nonprofit

21 organizations which will assist workers, labor organi22 zations and worker organizations in developing the

23 expertise necessary for effective participation with

24 employers in the development of strategies and pro25 grams for the successful evaluation, selection and
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1 implementation of new and advanced workplace

2 technologies and advanced workplace practices and

3 forms of work organization through the provision of

4 a range of education, training and related services.

5 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS.

6 As used in this Act—

7 (1) the term ‘‘Department’’ means the Depart8 ment of Labor;

9 (2) the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary

10 of Labor;

11 (3) the term ‘‘worker organization’’ means an

12 organization composed of nonsupervisory and

13 nonmanagerial workers whose representatives are

14 democratically selected by workers;

15 (4) the term ‘‘advanced workplace technologies’’

16 including—

17 (A) equipment, systems and process de18 signed to enhance quality, productivity, flexibil19 ity, environmental quality, and energy efficiency

20 while enhancing worker skills and autonomy in

21 the workplace; and

22 (B) new technologies such as skill-based,

23 skill-enhancing computer-, network-, and

24 microprocessor-based production systems; work25 er-friendly software control and information
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1 systems; worker-operated rapid communications

2 systems linking workplaces, customers and sup3 pliers; remote sensor and operations control

4 systems allowing operators to apply their knowl5 edge and judgment to complex production ac6 tivities;

7 (5) the term ‘‘advanced workplace practices’’

8 means innovations in high-skill, high-performance

9 workplace systems that build on worker participation

10 in the evaluation, selection, development and imple11 mentation of new and advanced workplace tech12 nologies and forms of work organization, including

13 worker participation in cross-functional teams for

14 concurrent engineering of new products and produc15 tion systems; participative assessment and develop16 ment of strategies to enhance competitiveness and

17 advancements in technology, work organization job

18 design and skills; commitment to continuous learn19 ing and skill upgrading; multi-skilling; total quality

20 and continuous improvement programs based on a

21 partnership between workers and management; and

22 design of production systems that maximize energy

23 efficiency, environmental quality and recyclability

24 and parts reuse; and
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1 (6) the term ‘‘advanced forms of work organiza2 tion’’ means way of organizing production activities,

3 job and workplace decisionmaking systems to take

4 full advantage of workers’ skills, knowledge and

5 judgment, including horizontal organization

6 hierarchies with expanded responsibility and auton7 omy for front-line workers; autonomous work teams

8 empowered to work directly with customers and sup9 pliers; jobs that are redesigned to expand skill and

10 capitalize on previous worker knowledge and experi11 ence; and work systems built in ongoing investments

12 in new and expanded worker skills.

13 SEC. 5. GRANTS.

14 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Labor, after

15 consultation with the Secretary of Commerce, shall, to the

16 extent appropriations are available, award grants to eligi17 ble entities to support the purpose of this Act as stated

18 in section 3.

19 (b) ELIGIBILITY.—To be eligible to receive a grant

20 under this section, an entity shall—

21 (1) be a post-secondary educational institution,

22 a labor organization, a worker organization, a non23 profit organization or a partnership consortium of

24 such entities;
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1 (2) prepare and submit to the Secretary an ap2 plication at such time, in such manner and contain3 ing such information as the Secretary may require,

4 including a description of the activities that the en5 tity will carry out using amounts received under the

6 grant; and

7 (3) agree to make available (directly or through

8 donations from public or private entities) non-Fed9 eral contributions toward the costs of the activities

10 to be conducted with grant funds, in an amount

11 equal to the amount required under subsection (d)

12 of this section.

13 (c) USE OF AMOUNTS.—An entity shall use amounts

14 received under a grant awarded under this section to fur15 ther the purposes described in section 3 in the through

16 activities such as—

17 (1) the dissemination of information to employ18 ers, labor organizations, workers, worker organiza19 tions, State economic development agencies, State

20 industrial extension programs, Advanced Technology

21 Centers, and National Manufacturing Technology

22 Centers regarding successful practices relating to the

23 effective deployment of new and advanced workplace

24 technologies, advanced workplace practices and

25 forms of work organization;
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1 (2) the provision of technical assistance to en2 able workers, labor organizations, worker organiza3 tions, employers, State economic development agen4 cies, State industrial extension programs, Advanced

5 Technology Centers, and National Manufacturing

6 Technology Centers to identify workplace practices,

7 forms of work organization and strategies which en8 hance the effective evaluation, selection and imple9 mentation of new workplace technologies;

10 (3) the provision of technical assistance to en11 able workers, labor organizations, worker organiza12 tions, employers, State economic development agen13 cies, State industrial extension programs, Advanced

14 Technology Centers, and National Manufacturing

15 Technology Centers to develop and implement coop16 erative labor-management programs which address

17 the evaluation, selection and implements implemen18 tation of new technologies in the workplace;

19 (4) the identification of new and advanced

20 workplace technologies, workplace practices and

21 forms of workplace organization which promote the

22 improvement of workers’ skills, wages and working

23 conditions and are consistent to the needs of local

24 communities and a healthy environment;
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1 (5) the development and dissemination of train2 ing programs and materials relating to the services

3 provided pursuant to paragraphs (1) through (4)

4 above;

5 (d) TERMS OF GRANTS AND NON-FEDERAL

6 SHARES.—

7 (1) TERMS.—Grants awarded under this section

8 shall be for a term not to exceed six years.

9 (2) NON-FEDERAL SHARE.—Amounts required

10 to be contributed by an entity under subsection

11 (b)(3) shall equal—

12 (A) an amount equal to 15 percent of the

13 amount provided under the grant in the first

14 year for which the grant is awarded;

15 (B) an amount equal to 20 percent of the

16 amount provided under the grant in the second

17 year for which the grant is awarded;

18 (C) an amount equal to 33 percent of the

19 amount provided under the grant in the third

20 year for which the grant is awarded;

21 (D) an amount equal to 40 percent of the

22 amount provided under the grant in the fourth

23 year for which the grant is awarded; and
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1 (E) an amount equal to 50 percent of the

2 amount provided under the grant in the fifth

3 and sixth years for which the grant is awarded.

4 (e) EVALUATION.—The Department shall develop

5 mechanisms for evaluating the effectiveness of the use of

6 a grant awarded under this section.

7 SEC. 6. IDENTIFICATION AND DISSEMINATION OF BEST

8 PRACTICES.

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—

10 (1) The Secretary, in cooperation and after con11 sultation with the Secretary of Commerce, shall as12 sist employers, employer associations, workers, labor

13 organizations and worker organizations in success14 fully adopting advanced workplace technologies, ad15 vanced workplace practices and advanced forms of

16 work organization by identifying, collecting and dis17 seminating information on best workplace practices

18 and workplace assessment tools, including—

19 (A) methods, techniques and successful

20 models of labor-management cooperation and

21 worker participation in the development, evalua22 tion, selection and implementation of new and

23 advanced workplace technologies, workplace

24 practices, and new forms of work organization;
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1 (B) methods, techniques and successful

2 models for the design and implementation of

3 new and advanced workplace practices;

4 (C) methods, techniques and successful

5 models for the design and implementation of

6 new forms of work organization; and

7 (D) methods, techniques and successful

8 models for the assessment of worker skills and

9 training needs relating to the effective develop10 ment, evaluation, selection and implementation

11 of new and advanced workplace technologies,

12 workplace practices and forms of work organi13 zation.

14 (2) Such best practice information shall include

15 summaries and analyses of best practice cases, cri16 teria for assessment of current workplace practices;

17 and information on the best available education and

18 training materials and services relating to the devel19 opment, implementation and operation of systems

20 utilizing new and advanced workplace technologies,

21 workplace practices and forms of work organization.

22 (b) DISTRIBUTION.—The information and materials

23 developed under this subsection shall be distributed

24 through an appropriate entity designated by the Secretary

25 of Commerce to the Regional Centers for the Transfer of
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1 Manufacturing Technology, to the Manufacturing Out2 reach Center, to other technology training entities, and di3 rectly to others.

4 SEC. 7. AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.

5 (a) IN GENERAL.—There are authorized to be appro6 priated to carry out this Act such sums as may be nec7 essary for each of the fiscal years 1995 through 1997.

8 (b) AVAILABILITY.—Amounts appropriated under

9 paragraph (a) shall remain available until expended.

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