James M. Jeffords: “I am a cosponsor of the TEAM Act because I believe that cooperation between employers and employees is the wave of the…”

“I am a cosponsor of the TEAM Act because I believe that cooperation between employers and employees is the wave of the future, and it should have been the wave of the past. We went into it at length yesterday, in discussing what happened some 40 years ago when the issues were how management and labor can get together and go into the future in order to work hand in hand to improve productivity. The problem was we did not change the then so-called Taylor policy of real confrontation and arm's-length negotiations between the workers and management. Our competitors--and this is the issue of the day--on the other hand, in Europe and in Asia, said, 'Great idea over in America. You have a great idea.' Briefly, I would say, there was a U.S. company that did the same thing, the Donnelly Corp. If you want to read a record of the difficulties they have had over the years, trying to defend what is entirely within the TEAM Act's perspective and would be allowable matters for them to get together and improve productivity, you will understand why we are here today--to get rid of the ambiguities, to make it crisp and clear that, if a company works with employees on productivity, as long as they do not get into matters of collective bargaining, et cetera, it is perfectly allowable.”