congressional_record: CREC-1996-10-21-pt1-PgS12422-3
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| granule_id | date | congress | session | volume | issue | title | chamber | granule_class | sub_granule_class | page_start | page_end | speakers | bills | citation | full_text |
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| CREC-1996-10-21-pt1-PgS12422-3 | 1996-10-21 | 104 | 2 | CODETERMINATION | SENATE | SENATE | ALLOTHER | S12422 | S12423 | [{"name": "Claiborne Pell", "role": "speaking"}] | [{"congress": "104", "type": "S", "number": "2499"}] | 142 Cong. Rec. S12422 | Congressional Record, Volume 142 Issue 143 (Monday, October 21, 1996) [Congressional Record Volume 142, Number 143 (Monday, October 21, 1996)] [Senate] [Pages S12422-S12423] From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov] CODETERMINATION Mr. PELL. Mr. President, for many years, I have been interested in the efforts of many countries in Europe to involve their workers in all levels of company decisionmaking. Employees serve on the board of directors which addresses long-term management of the company, the Supervisory or Administrative Board that deals with the daily operations of the company, and Works Councils which are localized with many councils existing within the same plant. This practice is often referred to as codetermination. While European-style codetermination would not be a perfect fit here in the United States, the concept of worker involvement remains valid. After years of bitter, and even violent interaction and with the ever increasing demands of a high-tech workplace in a [[Page S12423]] global economy, a more collaborative process has developed that brings workers and employers together on an ongoing basis. Companies ranging from Texas Instruments and IBM to Harley-Davidson motorcycles have instituted ongoing employer-employee work councils in which employees and employers cooperatively determine the direction of their company. There is, I believe, little disagreement about the value of these councils. There is, however, considerable debate about the legality of these groups. We are told by some that this disagreement produces a chilling effect that hinders the continued and future development of employer-employee work councils. I have worked for some time to find a balance. During the 103d Congress, I introduced legislation, S. 2499, which, among other features, established a formal election process for employee representatives to labor-management groups. During the 104th Congress, improved labor-management relations were highjacked by partisan politics and corporate greed in the form the TEAM Act which attempted to rewrite Federal labor law to give employers control of labor-management teams. I did not reintroduce that legislation but continued to explore other ways to accomplish change. I seriously considered offering an amendment to the TEAM Act to give employees the right to select their own council representatives; ensure that council agendas were open to both employees and employers and finally, prohibit the unilateral cancellation of a council. The TEAM Act, and similar ideas are certainly not the answer. I am concerned, however, that past labor-management relations will not continue to serve us well either. As a nation, we now find ourselves involved in a global economy competing with other countries, not other companies. In addition, more and more of our trade is high technology. The era of workers spending all day inserting tab A into slot B is coming to an end. Workers must be better educated and well trained in high technology. With that education, high-tech training and on the job experience, today's workers have valuable insights and ideas that should be welcomed by their employers. It should be our job to allow the exchange of thoughts and ideas to take place but without employees endangering their employment in the process. I sincerely hope that in the future, Congress will, without partisan and special interest bias, work to make it easier for employees and their employers to cooperatively determine the future of their company. ____________________ |