
          Increasing Worker Participation Is Essential to Economic
Growth
          By StaffStaff
          Vol. 10, No. 3, 1988, pp. 18-19
          
          The 1987 annual meeting of the Southern_Regional_Council
was organized as a conference on Unheard Voices: Worker Participation
in the South's: Economy. Participants included men and women from all
parts of the region, with diverse backgrounds in labor, law, activism,
day care, economic_development, government, finance, agriculture and
other fields. At the conclusion of the conference, the statement below
was adopted. Following the statement are excerpts from the remarks of
selected participants.
          
            CONFERENCE STATEMENT
          
          Increasing the participation of workers in decisions at their own
workplace and in the economic policies of their own region and country
is essential if the South and the nation are to realize future
economic prosperity. Worker participation can take many
forms--cooperatives, unions, worker-owned businesses, community
development cooperations, community- based enterprises,
worker-controlled pension funds and others. All are valid so long as
the voices of those who work are genuinely heard in the decisions
about the workplace, wages, and the governing economic policies.
          We believe that a country dedicated to democracy in its government
cannot function efficiently and equitably with authoritarianism in its
workplace.
          Increased worker participation helps to improve productivity,
preserve jobs, improve wages, and increase the opportunity for
economic gain by all. While these benefits are not the consequences of
increased worker participation alone, they cannot be accomplished in
the future in the South or in the nation without it.
          By almost every reliable standard, United_States industries have
fallen behind as technology and the international economy have become
more prevalent. Some parts of the South, especially, have declined in
jobs and wages due to these trends. To reverse these developments--to
increase productivity and global competitiveness--investments in human
capital must become much more important in economic policy and at the
workplace, and workers' voices must be reflected in the
decision-making. Competitiveness--productivity, quality, flexibility,
and innovation--in a worldwide economy depends on well-educated,
well-trained people. Developed people are an almost unlimited asset;
underdeveloped people are a serious liability.
          Our future lies in recognizing this simple truth and in coming to
grips with its implications. Over the next thirty years the nation's
and the South's workforce will change as much as the
workplace. Demographic trends strongly suggest that within three
decades racial minorities will constitute as much as 40 percent of the
workforce in the United_States and probably more in the
South. Similarly, the role of women will continue to increase in the
economy. Together, women and racial minorities will be the vast
majority of Southern workers in the early part of the next century. In
the past, these groups have been the least educated, the least
trained, and the least well-paid. Today, they continue to be the
victims of private and governmental discrimination. Tomorrow, however,
their work will determine the future of our regional and national
economy.
          Another important consideration influences our reassessment. If
ever it was true, no longer in this country is there a direct,
necessary connection between what is good for an "American" company
and what is good for American communities and its workers. The
existence of transnational corporations operating from the United
States across the globe means, simply, that the profit motive at these
companies may often direct resources, jobs, and investments in ways
that are not in our national interest. This phenomenon requires
international and national policies that protect the interest of
American communities by promoting the participation of workers in
decision-making and establishing minimal global workplace
standards.
          To achieve the benefits of greater worker participation, we believe
the following changes in policies and practices are vital:
          ~ The United_States government should seek enforceable minimal
international labor standards that protect workers and promote human
development just as it now seeks international trade agreements.
          ~ The federal and state governments should develop a system of
lifelong education and training to foster improved worker skills and
to invest in human development. In its universal application to job
training, housing, and education, the system could be generally
modeled after the G.I. Bill.
          ~ The federal and state governments should adopt policies that
provide more equitable sharing of the benefits 

and costs of economic
change. Employers should be required to give adequate notice of plant
closings and large scale layoffs. Workers should be guaranteed notice
of and protection from hazardous materials in the workplace.
          ~ National and state investment banks should be created to meet
important economic needs that promote job creation, job retention and
improved wages--needs that are not now sufficiently met by private
credit markets. These banks should support valid forms of worker
participation.
          ~ The federal_government should provide legislation guaranteeing
workers greater direct control of their own pension funds.
          ~ The federal_government should improve the usefulness of federal
laws relating to the voting_rights of employees in stock ownership
plans. It should also encourage more directly worker ownership through
taxes, law, and funding.
          ~ The federal and state governments should spur the development of
worker cooperatives and community development corporations and improve
the laws requiring reinvestment by financial institutions and
insurance companies into local communities and enterprises with valid
worker participation.
          ~ The federal and state governments should affirmatively adopt and
implement effective laws removing all forms of racism and sexism from
the workplace.
          ~ The National Labor Relations Act should be strengthened to
protect the rights of workers to organize and bargain collectively and
to streamline the procedures permitting representation elections and
prohibiting unfair labor practices. The Act also needs to be revamped
to accommodate the growth of service and information industries.
          ~ The federal_government should increase the minimum wage of the
Fair Labor Standards Act so that the wage is at least half of the
average wage in this country.
          These changes will not solve all problems of the South's future
economy; however, they will give a meaningful voice to workers and go
further than other efforts to help assure future prosperity for all
citizens and communities.
        
