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…

Teachers' unions find themselves on the defensive in states across the country, as governors and lawmakers press forward with proposals to target job protections and benefits that elected officials contend the public can no longer afford academically or financially. Many of those efforts are being driven by newly elected Republicans, who have…

A strike last week by some 29,000 teachers in Chicago pushed long-simmering tensions over deeply divisive school improvement ideas--including changes in teacher evaluation and the takeover or closure of underperforming schools--into the national spotlight. A framework for a tentative agreement emerged last Friday, and the union's house of…

A 1979 law enacted by the state of Connecticut in response to a lengthy and bitter teacher strike may have served as a catalyst to improve the negotiation process. The law mandated a mediation process and compulsory binding-interest arbitration. (Author/WD)

The annual special report on teachers and labor relations for the 1979-80 academic year discusses teacher organizing, collective bargaining and negotiations, contract settlements, strikes, economic issues, legal developments, and state legislative activities. A table of court cases relating to labor relations in education is also included.…

Discusses the effects on teacher salaries and employment practices of several Canadian provinces' cost-cutting measures; emphasizes British Columbia's "Public Restraint Act" and public employees' response to it. (MCG)

Several important issues relating to teachers and labor relations stood out in 1977-78. By the end of the year, a proposed merger between the two major teacher unions appeared remote. The National Education Association (NEA) added 100,000 members in 1977. The NEA lobbied in favor of legislation creating a separate Department of Education but the…

The ways collective bargaining affects the operation of public schools are identified. Teachers covered by bargaining agreements, compared with teachers not covered, receive higher salaries and teach smaller classes. They also spend slightly less time instructing students but more time preparing for classes. The major difference detected in the…