Since passage of Ohio's Public Employee Collective Bargaining Act of 1984, Ohio public employees have voted to join unions in more than 70% of elections, and 90,584 Ohio public employees gained union representation from 1984 to 1992. Before the establishment of Ohio's multitiered collective bargaining process, which involves intervention by a mediator and fact-finder, Ohio averaged 61 public sector strikes yearly. Since collective bargaining, that figure has decreased to 12.7. Nearly half the strikes of the past 10 years have involved teachers. Between one-third and one-half of Ohio's 612 school districts engage in collective bargaining each year, and 96.3% of all negotiations involving teachers have ended in an agreement without a strike. Those teacher strikes that have taken place have lasted an average of 9.9 days (approximately 5% of a total school year's instructional time). Teacher strikes have not been shown to have any perceptible impact on student achievement in Ohio; rather, the derivative impact of the higher teacher salaries and lower pupil-to-teacher ratios achieved through collective bargaining has likely enhanced student achievement. (Twenty tables and a 22-item bibliography are included. Appended are tables of data about Ohio public sectors strikes in the years 1984 through 1993.) (MN)