Labor Law Hinders Teamwork

Wed., June 5, 1996

Larry Coulson Special To Opinion

Teamwork in the workplace is illegal? That’s ridiculous but true.

In the three years since our company, Stock Steel, started using teams, productivity has increased 50 percent. In fact, we plan to double the size of our facility.

Our growth is a credit to self-managed workplace teams. We count on the rapid response of employees closest to the problem to make the best decisions for the company.

However, the National Labor Relations Board has placed such teams in jeopardy.

Since 1992, the NLRB has ruled consistently that workplace teams in which non-union employees share decision-making responsibility with managers about working conditions violate the law.

The rulings don’t even give a clear picture of what’s legal and what isn’t. The NLRB held it is legal for employee teams in non-union settings to discuss lengthening breaks by five minutes when work is done early but not legal to talk about adding 15 minutes to lunch breaks. The NLRB said teams could talk about ending the purchase of coffee supplies but not about providing free coffee in the workplace.

It’s a Catch-22 for employees and employers.

From our experience at Stock Steel and from what I have heard from people in other businesses that use teams, I know that this cooperative approach contributes to the success and morale of American workplaces where it is used.

That’s why I joined hundreds of employees and executives in Washington, D.C., recently to talk to U.S. Sens. Slade Gorton and Patty Murray of Washington about the benefits of teamwork in the American workplace. We hoped to get their support for the TEAM Act, which is before the Senate and which would make these teams legal. What I found was a capital more concerned about politics than people.

Before the TEAM Act gets bogged down in congressional gridlock, we need to remember the value teamwork has brought to employees across the country.

The workers of Washington have a direct stake in whether businesses in this state will be globally competitive in an economy that changes rapidly. The best companies in this state are doing what every company needs to do to be competitive - tapping the brains and innovations of their workers.

MEMO: “Your turn” is a feature of the Wednesday and Saturday Opinion pages. To submit a “Your turn” column for consideration, contact Rebecca Nappi at 459-5496 or Doug Floyd at 459-5466 or write “Your turn,” The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane 99210-1615.

“Your turn” is a feature of the Wednesday and Saturday Opinion pages. To submit a “Your turn” column for consideration, contact Rebecca Nappi at 459-5496 or Doug Floyd at 459-5466 or write “Your turn,” The Spokesman-Review, P.O. Box 2160, Spokane 99210-1615.

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