HOUSE BILL REPORT

HB 1780

BYRepresentatives Jacobsen, Sprenkle, Meyers, Jones, Heavey, P. King, Anderson and Ebersole

Establishing a center for participatory management at the University of Washington.

House Committe on Higher Education

Majority Report:  The substitute bill be substituted therefor and the substitute bill do pass.  (12)

      Signed by Representatives Jacobsen, Chair; Heavey, Vice Chair; Barnes, Basich, Fox, Jesernig, Miller, Nelson, Prince, Silver, Unsoeld and K. Wilson.

House Staff:Susan Hosch (786-7120)

AS REPORTED BY COMMITTEE ON HIGHER EDUCATION FEBRUARY 3, 1988

BACKGROUND:

From time to time, the Legislature has assigned statutory academic and research responsibilities to a designated college or university.  Academic responsibilities which are assigned by statute to the University of Washington include courses of instruction in law, medicine, forest products, logging engineering, library sciences, aeronautic engineering, and fisheries.  Both the University of Washington and Washington State University have statutory responsibility for courses in pharmacy; architecture; civil, electrical, mechanical, and chemical engineering; and forest management.

Because the University of Washington is one of the country's premier research universities, the Legislature has also assigned to it special research and management responsibilities.  By statute, the University of Washington is responsible for the management of the Washington High-Technology Center, a Children's Center for Research and Training in Mental Retardation, an occupational and environmental research facility within the school of medicine, and a university hospital.

SUMMARY:

SUBSTITUTE BILL: A center for participatory management is created in the school of business administration at the University of Washington.  The center will be designed to advance the study and practice of participatory management in order to improve labor-management relations, enhance employee job satisfaction, improve the quality of products, and increase productivity without reducing jobs.  The center will study participatory management techniques such as profit sharing, labor-management committees, job enlargement and enrichment, autonomous work teams, worker representation on boards of directors, and "Scanlon Plans".

The center will be responsible for the following duties: conducting original research on participatory management techniques of practical use to management or labor in this state, collecting and disseminating relevant information through a variety of means, providing technical assistance, and soliciting financial contributions.

The center will administered by a director appointed by the dean of the School of Business.  This director will be a member of the faculty of the School of Business.

At least three times a year the governor will convene a meeting of labor and management representatives to report on the center's activities.

SUBSTITUTE BILL COMPARED TO ORIGINAL: The appropriation is reduced to $100,000, the legislature findings are slightly revised; the committee convened by the legislature will meet three times a year; and language in the committee section on atmospheres and new approaches to organizations, is removed.

Appropriation:    $100,000 is appropriated to the University of Washington for the 1987-89 biennium to fund the center.

Fiscal Note:      Not Requested.

House Committee ‑ Testified For:    Richard B. Peterson, University of Washington; Chuck Bailey, Washington State Labor Council AFL-CIO; Kathie Moritis, Calm; Linda Darby Rice, Calm and Evergreen Hospital Medical Center.

House Committee - Testified Against:      None Presented.

House Committee - Testimony For:    Fostering cooperative relations between management and labor can save money, promote goodwill, reduce the amount of time and energy needed to bargain contracts, and cut down on grievances and arbitration demands.  This has been the experience of Evergreen Hospital Medical Center.  In the six years since they instituted labor-management committees, grievances have dramatically declined, contract negotiations take hours instead of months, and employee retention rates are among the highest in the Puget Sound area.  There is a need for a formal center in order to focus attention on this very important area.  Research and technical assistance provided by a center could enhance the investment climate of the state, help to overcome labor and management fears about cooperative relationships, improve the economic health of existing companies, and assist in attracting new companies concerned about the pool of workers available in a state with a reputation for a high degree of unionization.

House Committee - Testimony Against:      None Presented.