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Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
For more information call: 202/219-7317 (ext.118)
A study of 50 public workplaces found that
labor-management cooperation and employee participation in the public sector
leads to dramatic improvements in quality, costs and delivery of service, the
U.S. Department of Labor announced today.
The report, entitled "Working Together for Public
Service," details specific service improvements and cost savings that result
from cooperation and participation, as well as methods that can be used to
bring workplace cooperation to many government services and jurisdictions.
The report was issued by the Task Force on Excellence in
State and Local Government Through Labor-Management Cooperation. It was
comprised of 14 elected officials, labor leaders and academics and was
appointed by Labor Secretary Robert B. Reich and co-chaired by former Governor
Jim Florio of New Jersey and Mayor Jerry Abramson of Louisville, Kentucky. The
task force was unanimous in the view that public workplaces must change from
traditional ways of doing business and move towards workplace cooperation,
participation and quality improvement. Further, the task force believes that
the public sector offers significant opportunity--far more than is commonly
believed--for employee participation and labor-management cooperation.
"It is evident from these findings that employee
involvement and labor-management cooperation represent a high-potential
strategy for meeting the demands on state and local government. I join the task
force in challenging elected officials, union leaders, public employees and
administrators to move towards models of workplace participation and
cooperation. Some of the most dramatic turnarounds in business performance come
from labor-management cooperation and employee participation. We should apply
the same lessons to the public sector," said Reich.
Mayor Abramson agreed, stating that by "working together,
we can cut red tape that contributes to the public's low opinion of government
today. Citizens are our customers, and they deserve the best service we can
provide. This report will help those of us in the public sector improve our
image by improving our performance in servicing our customers."
Noting that many traditional ways of planning and
performing public services are antiquated and not responsive to the needs of
communities, Governor Florio commented that, "cumbersome procurement,
accounting and civil service rules, authoritarian organizational relationships
and labor-management confrontation are often part of the landscape, but surely
won't serve our communities well anymore. These findings suggest how to break
old molds and use some approaches that can actually produce better service."
Also among the report findings: Absenteeism, time loss
injuries, and overtime were often reduced significantly. Work schedules and
procedures were changed to save time and money and to provide better service.
School performance improved, public safety services increased, and vehicle
readiness and equipment purchasing were improved to save overtime and other
costs and improve the quality of service.
In every case where there was a collective bargaining
relationship related to a service-focused partnership, the task force found
that there were fewer grievances and contracts were negotiated more quickly.
Usually, contracts were shorter, more flexible and focused on service
responsibilities.
"Employees usually know the most about how to get a job
done. If you create a way for them to be involved, don't rely on top-down
approaches, and then combine their talents with the priorities of elected
officials, you can find resources you did not know you had and solve problems
that have been in the way for years," Reich said.
The report includes examples and detailed discussion of
ingredients to creating cooperative workplace arrangements. The appendix lists
contacts so that parties interested in pursuing their own improvements can get
peer assistance. The report is available on three Internet sites: the U.S.
Department of Labor web site, the Martin P. Catherwood Library at the School of
Industrial and Labor Relations at Cornell University, and through the Alliance
for Reinventing Government's Public Innovator Learning Network.
The State of Connecticut and District 1199/New England
Health Care Employees (SEIU) set up employee teams to look into safety
problems, reducing injuries and saving nearly $5 million after implementation
in only half the department.
In Peoria, Illinois, a coalition of unions and management
worked on a joint committee that stopped the bickering and competition over
health coverage, developed a plan with better benefits and utilization
management, and saved $1.2 million--or almost 20 percent-- of expected
costs.
As part of a quality improvement/labor-management
partnership, Madison, Wisconsin and AFSCME Local 60 developed a new approach to
electrical code enforcement that has improved safety and overall compliance and
has electrical contractors complimenting the department. The senior inspector,
once known as "Dr. No" is now a well-respected and more satisfied public
employee.
As a result of a training program developed after
consultation with electrical contractors, inspection activity costs $30,000 a
year less.
At the Foshay School in South Central Los Angeles,
drop-outs have gone from 21 percent to 3.5 percent, test scores from the bottom
to near the state average. Suspensions have gone from 400 cases to 40, all
through a labor-management partnership formed by a new principal and the local
head of the United Teachers of Los Angeles.
The City of Indianapolis, working with AFSCME Local 3131,
as part of a city- wide service improvement effort, made substantial
improvements in the city's motor vehicle repairs, showing nearly a 25 percent
decline in that department's budget and a 90 percent decline in grievances.
Rather than annual wage adjustments, the parties agreed during the current
contract to a gain-sharing program, where 25 percent of the savings accrued to
the employees. Although no bargaining unit employee has lost a job, the city
contracts out some services, under ground rules developed with the input of
union representatives. Among other things, improvements in cost accounting
helped labor and management identify barriers to service improvement.
In the State of Ohio, probably the most comprehensive
effort found at the state level, a state-wide effort in cooperation with the
Ohio Civil Service Employees Association is saving hundreds of thousands of
dollars annually and engaging labor and management leadership in learning the
best quality improvement techniques and applying them to state government.
In Phoenix, Arizona, the management team and
representatives of Fire Fighters Local 493 gather each year in a planning
retreat to identify service and workplace issues needing attention. Arbitration
has not been used there for 10 years.
The Los Angeles Bureau of Sanitation and SEIU Local 47
have, among other innovations through a joint problem-solving committee,
increased vehicle readiness from 75 percent to 94 percent, obtaining a large
increase in productivity. The overall labor-management relationship has shifted
to a far more positive tone and the next three years looks for a 25 percent
budget reduction with no layoffs in the department.
In Portland, Maine, the city and AFSCME Local 481 worked
together through a cold winter to use new approaches and skills to build a
community minor league ballpark, millions of dollars below the projected
contract cost. Grievances were resolved by a "walk to center field." The pride
and lessons from this high-pressure project has resulted in a complete
revamping of the labor-management relationship and a reorientation of almost
all public works services into self-managed teams. City workers more often than
not beat the estimated private-sector cost of most small construction and
repair projects.
Some Additional Interesting Findings
In conjunction with a participative program and a
labor-management partnership, a "no-layoff," or, at least, a significant
employment safety net and retraining program, contributed greatly to creativity
in finding cost savings and service improvements.
Simple forms of training were found to greatly contribute
to the improvement of a labor-management relationship by teaching the parties
alternatives to traditional bargaining. Investments in training, normally the
first budget item cut in hard times, turned out to be important also in
teaching workers and managers skills in analyzing and changing service delivery
systems and solving other kinds of workplace issues.
Often, a service-oriented relationship began after a
successful attempt to reduce grievances or conflicts over contract terms, or
after working together to resolve a specific service problem. The improved
trust and better problem-solving skills then were applied to larger service
issues.
Most successful service partnerships started small, on one
issue, or in one department or division, and then spread.
In a brief examination of contracting out, the task force
found that cooperative models of workplace cooperation generally got as good or
better results than a policy of imposed contracting out, and offered other long
term benefits. Contracting out as part of a cooperative relationship was often
a useful tool, but not the primary answer to cost and quality of services.
Supervisory and managerial levels were often reduced as a
result of participative examination of services for improvements and
efficiencies, and there was a far greater use of teams and labor-management
committees.
Jurisdictions involved in workplace partnerships where
there was a collective bargaining relationship used the features and mechanisms
of a collective bargaining relationship to the advantage of service
improvement.
Changes and improvements in budgeting, cost accounting,
procurement practices and in civil service systems often accompanied successful
cooperative partnerships and greatly aided efforts to improve services.
Employee involvement contributed centrally to identifying the most important
changes and to developing alternatives.
Support and encouragement from national labor, management,
neutral and research organizations have and can help spread the use of
effective workplace participation and labor-management cooperation aimed at
improved service delivery.
Successful cooperative relationships emerged not only from
visionary leadership, but often from bitter or difficult relationships or came
up around problems that had previously seemed insurmountable.
Archived News Release--Caution:
information may be out of date.
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