Statement of Administration Policy: S. 295 - Teamwork for Employees and Managers Act

(Senate)
(Kassebaum (R) KS and 24 cosponsors)

The Administration opposes S. 295. If the bill were presented to the President, the Secretary of Labor would recommend that the bill be vetoed.

The Administration supports workplace flexibility and high-performance workplace practices that promote cooperative labor-management relations. The National Labor Relations Act currently permits the creation of employee involvement programs that address workplace quality, productivity, and efficiency, with appropriate employee protections.

S. 295, however, would undermine these protections. The bill would allow employers to establish: (1) company unions where no union currently exists; and (2) alternative, company-dominated unions where employees are in the process of determining whether to be represented by a labor organization. These company-dominated unions would undermine a 60-year tradition of collective bargaining in this country and could undermine employees' rights to elect their own representatives.