This article discusses recent court decisions affecting the relationship between teachers' associations and unions and the public agencies that employ those teachers. Topics discussed include constitutional rights, union representation and union rights, obligation to bargain and scope of bargaining, grievances and arbitrability, fiscal considerations, impasse resolution, and strikes. Reference to conditions in 1970 is made for comparison. The author concludes that while unions seemed to have the edge in litigation in the late 1960s and early 1970s and then lost that edge in the later 1970s, recent decisions offer no conclusive evidence that the courts are shifting either toward or away from union positions. (Author/PGD)