Introduction of the Federal Labor-Management Partnership Act of 2007

* Mr. DAVIS of Illinois. Madam Speaker, Former President Clinton once said, ``Only by changing the nature of federal labor-management relations, so that managers, employees, and employees' representatives serve as partners, will it be possible to design and implement comprehensive changes necessary to government.'' With this ideal in mind, I am proud to introduce the Federal Labor-Management Partnership Act of 2007, the Act.

* The Act codifies Executive Order 12871, signed by former President Clinton in 1993. During its implementation, labor-management partnerships created a co-equal forum for managers and labor representatives to negotiate, plan, and exercise collective bargaining and effective decision-making. The impetus behind the Executive Order was recognition of the need to transform hostile, adversarial labor-management relationships into valuable problem solving partnerships. This method of bilateral affiliation proved to be successful for the civil service. It helped boost employee morale, and aided agencies in improving and upholding their service missions.

* The need to re-establish labor-management partnerships is clear. In many Government agencies there is a lack of trust exhibited between managers, employees, and their representatives. This has created a morale problem at many mission critical agencies; including the Department of Homeland Security, DHS, which was named in a recent study by the Office of Personnel Management as having the lowest level of morale in the Federal Government.

* Now, more than ever, the American people expect Government to lead by example. Therefore, it is imperative to restore labor-management partnerships. Partnership is a proven practice that works. Partnership gives added value to the federal workforce; and it is my fervent belief that partnership is essential for a more productive civil service.

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