Press Release

FMCS ANNOUNCES FY97 LABOR-MANAGEMENT GRANT AWARDS

Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) today announced the awarding of Fiscal Year 1997 grants to support labor-management cooperation programs totaling more than $900,000.

The FMCS Labor-Management Cooperation Program, launched in 1981, is aimed at encouraging the creation and expansion of joint labor-management committees, a valuable tool in improving labor relations in the United States. The committees bring representatives of organized labor and management together on a regular basis, and have proved effective in increasing productivity, improving product quality and resolving workplace issues.

This year’s grants not only fund the creation of new labor-management committees, but also provide funding for existing committees to undertake new programs, such as education and training initiatives or the development of other cooperative programs.

The 1997 grant recipients were selected from 77 applicants requesting over $5.7 million in funding. Since 1981, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service has provided approximately $15.6 million to 251 applicants through its Grants Program.

Attached is a list of this year’s grant recipients.

FISCAL YEAR 1997 FUNDING SUMMARY

 AREA COMMITTEES

1. Southern Chapter of the Industrial Relations Research Assoc. (Sherman Oaks, CA)
   $100,000 to expand collective bargaining education in Los Angeles high schools that will have a positive result on the economic productivity and effectiveness of young workers in the labor force.

2. Oregon AFL-CIO (Salem, OR)
   $100,000 to establish a statewide joint labor-management committee in developing education and training initiatives aimed at making the current workforce more skilled and productive, while promoting the development of high performance work organizations.

3. The Workplace Institute (Sacramento, CA)
   $98,379 to support the initiation of labor-management cooperation and workplace partnerships in the agricultural and construction industries in Northern and Central California.

1. AGC Minnesota - Basic Construction Craft Workers (Bloomington, MN)
   $100,000 to improve the quality and delivery of benefits to injured union members while reducing costs for unionized contractors, making the union construction sector more competitive.

2. United Transportation Union (Cleveland, OH)
   $100,000 to jointly study outside of the bargaining arena, differences concerning pay, scheduling systems, issues of employee work life and work rules in the complex and changing rail industry.

1. Montana School Services Foundation (Helena, MT)
   $100,000 to create a statewide labor management committee for K through 12 public education in Montana.

2. Minneapolis Federation of Teachers, and Minneapolis Public Schools (Minneapolis, MN)
   $99,273 to establish a new joint labor-management committee that will improve student achievement and promote professional growth.

1. Ultramar Diamond Shamrock Corporation ( Ardmore, OK)
   $48,420 to establish a joint training program to solve issues relating to job qualifications and assignments.

1. City of Baltimore (Baltimore, MD)
   $98,392 to create a new city wide Labor Management Committee to review established work practices, policies and operations to ensure their effectiveness in today’s workplace.

2. City of Camden (Camden, NJ)
   $40,037 to expand an existing city wide Labor Management Committee to subordinate levels of county government.

3. City of Fort Lauderdale (Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
   $49,685 to expand an existing city wide Labor Management Committee and to proactively solve problems in a collaborative mode and create a new workplace culture based on high performance principles.

4. Rhode Island Dept. of Mental Health/Mental Retardation (Cranston, RI)
   $50,000 to create a statewide Labor Management Committee which will engage in a collaborative process of problem identification and resolution.

[ FMCS Home ] [ Up ]

Send mail to: lazurus@fmcs.gov Please restrict comments to technical issues. Comments relating to policy, content or style will not be acted on by the Webmaster.
Copyright © 1998 Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
Last modified: February 09, 1998