Ever wonder why union members' salary and benefits, workload agreements, and other aspects of their collective bargaining agreements, or "contracts," often remain unchanged and enforced during the all-too-common periods when public employees labor without a contract? In New York, the answer boils down to an understanding of the Public…

This year, labor unions got a reprieve: The Supreme Court deadlocked in a much-anticipated case that could have turned almost every state into Wisconsin, where partisan interests have crippled union power. The case, "Friedrichs vs. California Teachers Association," addressed a previous case, "Abood v. Detroit Board of…

Efforts by state legislators to curtail collective bargaining or destroy public-sector unions, abolish tenure, and decrease funding for education are spreading throughout the country. This author states that the scapegoating and vilification of unions and teachers, however, are not new. The current attacks have historical parallels, when cries of…