[Congressional Bills 105th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 295 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







105th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 295

  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.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                           February 10, 1997

Mr. Jeffords (for himself, Mr. Coats, Mr. Gregg, Mr. Frist, Mr. DeWine, 
 Mr. Enzi, Mr. Hutchinson, Ms. Collins, Mr. Warner, Mr. McConnell, Mr. 
  Ashcroft, Mr. Gorton, Mr. Grassley, Mr. Nickles, Mr. Mack, and Mr. 
    Shelby) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
         referred to the Committee on Labor and Human Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
  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.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Teamwork for Employees and Managers 
Act of 1997''.

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 workplace and employer-
        employee relationships;
            (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 operate 
        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;
            (6) employers who have instituted legitimate Employee 
        Involvement programs have not done so to interfere with the 
        collective bargaining rights guaranteed 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 threatened 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 deceptive, 
        coercive employer practices; and
            (3) to allow legitimate Employee Involvement programs, in 
        which workers may discuss issues involving terms and conditions 
        of employment, to continue 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 following: ``: Provided 
further, That it shall not constitute or be evidence of an unfair labor 
practice under this paragraph for an employer to establish, assist, 
maintain, or participate in any organization or entity of any kind, in 
which employees participate to at least the same extent practicable as 
representatives of management participate, to address 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 employees or to negotiate or enter into 
collective bargaining agreements with the employer or to amend existing 
collective bargaining agreements between the employer and any labor 
organization, except that in a case in which a labor organization 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.
                                 <all>