Political Quotes

“I have many times made statements about my long interest in developing improved avenues of communication between employees and their bosses, often referred to as codetermination. My statement therefore, will be brief today. When employees and employers decide to enter into workplace committees to discuss workplace-related issues, both sides must place a great amount of trust and faith in the other. But society has instilled in workers the idea that employers are not allies but adversaries. Employers, who must be concerned about the health of the company, often view their employees in a similarly skeptical fashion. For that reason, labor and management should always be commended when they join together in sincere cooperation for the benefit of all concerned. It is, however, important that the two be really interested in cooperating with the other and that the cooperation be sincere. Both employees and employers must trust the other and be sure that their views matter to the other. While I do not see the need to create a strict framework for these conversations to take place, I do believe it is vital that employees feel confident they will not be punished for sharing their honest views with their employer. Workers must also feel that their views and thoughts are honestly being represented by those employee members of a workplace committee. For that reason, I strongly oppose S. 295.”