Managing Workplace Issues During Challenging Times Opening Remarks

U.S. Chamber of Commerce
June 19, 2003

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. My name is Tom Donohue and I am President and CEO of the United States Chamber of Commerce.

I'd like to welcome you to our conference on workplace issues, co-hosted by the Chamber and the law firm of Ogletree, Deakins, Nash, Smoak & Stewart.

Ogletree, Deakins is a long standing member of the Chamber's Labor Relations Committee, and its very own Hal Coxson was the Director of Labor Policy for the Chamber from 1975 to 1980, back when we were, among other things, fighting a massive union push for broad labor law reform during the Carter Administration.

Ultimately, after 6 filibusters in the Senate, we were able to shut that down. But it was a huge fight, and Hal was right in the middle of it.

More than twenty years later, though the players and terms of the debate have changed some, we are still fighting to achieve balance and fairness in the workplace regulatory environment.

No one denies that the government has a role in governing the workplace. But politically-driven rules and regulations that threaten productivity, job creation, wage increases, and economic growth are no good for anyone – most of all workers.

Our opponents are formidable. The labor unions have demonstrated great skill in demagoguing issues, communicating their messages, and organizing their supporters.

And though unions represent less than 9 percent of the private sector workforce, it would be a mistake to underestimate their clout on Capitol Hill.

We learned this lesson recently when a vote on legislation that would have given workers a voluntary choice between overtime wages or extra paid time off was postponed in the House.

One AFL-CIO grass roots piece read: "Stop the Attack on Overtime Pay…President Bush and his corporate allies are waging an all out attack to eliminate or reduce overtime pay."

It's rhetoric like this that appeals to the media and pads the argument for more rights and protections and more grounds to go to court and sue—regardless of the facts.

The Chamber will continue to challenge misconceptions surrounding the workplace regulatory environment.

We will continue to work with the unions on issues we agree on, such as increased transportation investment and immigration reform, but we will also continue the fight for a rational debate on workplace issues.

The most important message we need to send to Congress, the agencies, and the public today is that business wants to improve the workplace environment – but not at the expense of jobs and economic growth.

We want to continue to grow and create jobs and provide health care and pension benefits – all of the things workers deserve and expect. But we can't do that if government fails to recognize that there is a limit to how much regulation and litigation we can take.

We have to eliminate the "regulate first, think later" mindset. The Chamber will look for reasonable compromises whenever possible, but will oppose bad policy every single time—even when it may offend our political allies.

Well, we have a lot to cover today, from what's happening on Capitol Hill in the labor and employee benefits areas to developments at the Department of Labor, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the National Labor Relations Board, the Department of Homeland Security, and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, and, of course, the courts.

So let me turn things over to Gray Geddie, managing shareholder at Ogletree, Deakins, to make a few remarks before we introduce our first guest speaker. Gray?