The Labor-Management Cooperation Act of 1978 identifies the following seven general areas for which financial assistance would be appropriate:(1)to improve communication between representatives of labor and management;(2)to provide workers and employers with opportunities to study and explore new and

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innovative joint approaches to achieving organizational effectiveness;(3)to assist workers and employers in solving problems of mutual concern not susceptible to resolution within the collective bargaining process;(4)to study and explore ways of eliminating potential problems which reduce the competitiveness and inhibit the economic development of the company/plant, area, or industry;(5)to enhance the involvement of workers in making decisions that affects their working lives;(6)to expand and improve working relationships between workers and managers; and(7)to encourage free collective bargaining by establishing continuing mechanisms for communication between employers and their employees through Federal assistance in the formation and operation of labor-management committees.The primary objective of this program is to encourage and support the establishment and operation of joint labor-management committees to carry out specific objectives that meet the aforementioned general criteria.The term "labor" refers to employees represented by a labor organization and covered by a formal collective bargaining agreement.

These committees may be found at the plant (company), area, industry, or public sector levels.

A plant or company committee is generally characterized as restricted to one or more organizational or productive units operated by a single employer.

An area committee is generally composed of multiple employers of diverse industries as well as multiple labor unions operating within and focusing upon a particular city, county, contiguous multicounty, or statewide jurisdiction.

An industry committee generally consists of a collection of agencies or enterprises and related labor union(s) producing a common product or service in the private sector on a local, state, regional, or nationwide level.A public sector committee consists of government employees and managers in one or more units of a local or state government, managers and employees of public institutions of higher education, or of employees and managers of public elementary and secondary schools.

Those employees must be covered by a formal collective bargaining agreement or other enforceable labor-management agreement.In deciding whether an application is for an area or industry committee, consideration should be given to the above definitions as well as to the focus of the committee.

In FY2010, competition will be open to company/plant, area, private industry, and public sector committees.

Special consideration will be given to committee applications involving innovative or unique efforts.

All application budget requests should focus directly on supporting the committee.

Applicants should avoid seeking funds for activities that are clearly available under other Federal programs (e.g., job training, mediation of contract disputes, etc.)