In the Senate of the United States,
July 10, 1996.
Resolved, That the bill from the House of Representa-
tives (H.R. 743) entitled ‘‘An Act to amend the National
Labor Relations Act to allow labor management cooperative
efforts that improve economic competitiveness in the United
States to continue to thrive, and for other purposes.’’, do
pass with the following
AMENDMENT:
Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert:
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Teamwork for Employ-
ees and Managers Act of 1995’’.
SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSES.
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that—
(1) the escalating demands of global competition
have compelled an increasing number of employers in
the United States to make dramatic changes in work-
place and employer-employee relationships;
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(2) such changes involve an enhanced role for the
employee in workplace decisionmaking, often referred
to as ‘‘Employee Involvement’’, which has taken
many forms, including self-managed work teams,
quality-of-worklife, quality circles, and joint labor-
management committees;
(3) Employee Involvement programs, which op-
erate successfully in both unionized and nonunionized
settings, have been established by over 80 percent of
the largest employers in the United States and exist
in an estimated 30,000 workplaces;
(4) in addition to enhancing the productivity
and competitiveness of businesses in the United
States, Employee Involvement programs have had a
positive impact on the lives of such employees, better
enabling them to reach their potential in the
workforce;
(5) recognizing that foreign competitors have
successfully utilized Employee Involvement techniques,
the Congress has consistently joined business, labor
and academic leaders in encouraging and recognizing
successful Employee Involvement programs in the
workplace through such incentives as the Malcolm
Baldrige National Quality Award;
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(6) employers who have instituted legitimate
Employee Involvement programs have not done so to
interfere with the collective bargaining rights guaran-
teed by the labor laws, as was the case in the 1930’s
when employers established deceptive sham ‘‘company
unions’’ to avoid unionization; and
(7) Employee Involvement is currently threat-
ened by legal interpretations of the prohibition
against employer-dominated ‘‘company unions’’.
(b) PURPOSES.—The purpose of this Act is—
(1) to protect legitimate Employee Involvement
programs against governmental interference;
(2) to preserve existing protections against de-
ceptive, coercive employer practices; and
(3) to allow legitimate Employee Involvement
programs, in which workers may discuss issues in-
volving terms and conditions of employment, to con-
tinue to evolve and proliferate.
SEC. 3. EMPLOYER EXCEPTION.
Section 8(a)(2) of the National Labor Relations Act
is amended by striking the semicolon and inserting the fol-
lowing: ‘‘: Provided further, That it shall not constitute or
be evidence of an unfair labor practice under this para-
graph for an employer to establish, assist, maintain, or par-
ticipate in any organization or entity of any kind, in which
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employees who participate to at least the same extent prac-
ticable as representatives of management participate, to ad-
dress matters of mutual interest, including, but not limited
to, issues of quality, productivity, efficiency, and safety and
health, and which does not have, claim, or seek authority
to be the exclusive bargaining representative of the employ-
ees or to negotiate or enter into collective bargaining agree-
ments with the employer or to amend existing collective bar-
gaining agreements between the employer and any labor
organization, except that in a case in which a labor organi-
zation is the representative of such employees as provided
in section 9(a), this proviso shall not apply;’’.
SEC. 4. LIMITATION ON EFFECT OF ACT.
Nothing in this Act shall affect employee rights and
responsibilities contained in provisions other than section
8(a)(2) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended.
Attest:
Secretary.