[House Document 104-251]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]



                                     

104th Congress, 2d Session - - - - - - - - - - House Document 104-251


 
                           VETO OF H.R. 743

                               __________

                                MESSAGE

                                  from

                   THE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES

                              transmitting

HIS VETO OF H.R. 743, A BILL ENTITLED THE ``TEAMWORK FOR EMPLOYEES AND 
                         MANAGERS ACT OF 1995''




 July 30, 1996.--Message and accompanying papers ordered to be printed
To the House of Representatives:
    I am returning herewith without my approval, H.R. 743, the 
``Teamwork for Employees and Managers Act of 1995.'' This act 
would undermine crucial employee protections.
    I strongly support workplace practices that promote 
cooperative labor-management relations. In order for the United 
States to remain globally competitive into the next century, 
employees must recognize their stake in their employer's 
business, employers must value their employees' labor, and each 
must work in partnership with the other. Cooperative efforts, 
by promoting mutual trust and respect, can encourage 
innovation, improve productivity, and enhance the efficiency 
and performance of American workplaces.
    Current law provides for a wide variety of cooperative 
workplace efforts. It permits employers to work with employees 
in quality circles to improve quality, efficiency, and 
productivity. Current law also allows employers to delegate 
significant managerial responsibilities to employee work teams, 
sponsor brainstorming sessions, and solicit employee 
suggestions and criticisms. Today, 30,000 workplaces across the 
country have employee involvement plans. According to one 
recent survey, 96 percent of large employers already have 
established such programs.
    I strongly support further labor-management cooperation 
within the broad parameters allowed under current law. To the 
extent that recent National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) 
decisions have created uncertainty as to the scope of 
permissible cooperation, the NLRB, in the exercise of its 
independent authority, should provide guidance to clarify the 
broad legal boundaries of labor-management teamwork. The 
Congress rejected a more narrowly defined proposal designed to 
accomplish that objective.
    Instead, this legislation, rather than promoting genuine 
teamwork, would undermine the system of collective bargaining 
that has served this country so well for many decades. It would 
do this by allowing employers to establish company unions where 
no union currently exists and permitting company-dominated 
unions where employees are in the process of determining 
whether to be represented by a union. Rather than encouraging 
true workplace cooperation, this bill would abolish protections 
that ensure independent and democratic representation in the 
workplace.
    True cooperative efforts must be based on true 
partnerships. A context of mutual trust and respect encourages 
the prospect for achieving workplace innovation, improved 
productivity, and enhanced efficiency and workplace 
performance. Any ambiguities in this situation should be 
resolved, but without weakening or eliminating the fundamental 
rights of employees to collective bargaining.

                                                William J. Clinton.
    The White House, July 30, 1996.



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