II

104TH CONGRESS

1ST SESSION S. 295

To permit labor management cooperative efforts that improve America’s

economic competitiveness to continue to thrive, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

JANUARY 30, 1995

Mrs. KASSEBAUM (for herself, Mr. JEFFORDS, Mr. GREGG, and Mr. GORTON)

introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the

Committee on Labor and Human Resources

A BILL

To permit labor management cooperative efforts that improve

America’s economic competitiveness to continue to thrive,

and for other purposes.

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 ‘‘Teamwork for Employ5 ees and Management Act of 1995’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.

7 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—

8 (1) the escalating demands of global competi9 tion have compelled an increasing number of Amer-
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1 ican employers to make dramatic changes in work2 place and employer-employee relationships;

3 (2) these changes involve an enhanced role for

4 the employee in workplace decisionmaking, often re5 ferred to as ‘‘employee involvement’’, which has

6 taken many forms, including self-managed work

7 teams, quality-of-worklife, quality circles, and joint

8 labor-management committees;

9 (3) employee involvement structures, which op10 erate successfully in both unionized and non-union11 ized settings, have been established by over 80 per12 cent of the largest employers of the United States

13 and exist in an estimated 30,000 workplaces;

14 (4) in addition to enhancing the productivity

15 and competitiveness of American businesses, em16 ployee involvement structures have had a positive

17 impact on the lives of those employees, better ena18 bling them to reach their potential in their working

19 lives;

20 (5) recognizing that foreign competitors have

21 successfully utilized employee involvement tech22 niques, Congress has consistently joined business,

23 labor and academic leaders in encouraging and rec24 ognizing successful employee involvement structures
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1 in the workplace through such incentives as the Mal2 colm Baldridge National Quality Award;

3 (6) employers who have instituted legitimate

4 employee involvement structures have not done so to

5 interfere with the collective bargaining rights guar6 anteed by the labor laws, as was the case in the

7 1930s when employers established deceptive sham

8 ‘‘company unions’’ to avoid unionization; and

9 (7) employee involvement is currently threat10 ened by interpretations of the prohibition against

11 employer-dominated ‘‘company unions’’.

12 (b) PURPOSES.—It is the purpose of this Act to—

13 (1) protect legitimate employee involvement

14 structures against governmental interference;

15 (2) preserve existing protections against decep16 tive, coercive employer practices; and

17 (3) permit legitimate employee involvement

18 structures where workers may discuss issues involv19 ing terms and conditions of employment, to continue

20 to evolve and proliferate.

21 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO SECTION 8(a)(2) OF THE NATIONAL

22 LABOR RELATIONS ACT.

23 Section 8(a)(2) of the National Labor Relations Act

24 (29 U.S.C. 158(a)(2)) is amended by adding at the end

25 thereof the following: ‘‘Provided further, That it shall not
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1 constitute or be evidence of an unfair labor practice under

2 this paragraph for an employer to establish, assist, main3 tain or participate in any organization or entity of any

4 kind, in which employees participate to address matters

5 of mutual interest (including issues of quality, productivity

6 and efficiency) and which does not have, claim or seek au7 thority to negotiate or enter into collective bargaining

8 agreements under this Act with the employer or to amend

9 existing collective bargaining agreements between the em10 ployer and any labor organization;’’.

11 SEC. 4. CONSTRUCTION CLAUSE LIMITING EFFECT OF ACT.

12 Nothing in the amendment made by section 3 shall

13 be construed as affecting employee rights and responsibil14 ities under the National Labor Relations Act other than

15 those contained in section 8(a)(2) of such Act.

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