On February 1, 2012, Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels signed a "right to work" (RTW) provision in the state's labor laws, making Indiana the 23rd RTW state in the nation. In addition to becoming the 23rd RTW state in the nation, Indiana is the first in more than a decade to pass a law undermining the ability of unions to organize and…

This glossary is designed for practitioners who have no special preparation in public sector labor relations but who must know its vocabulary because of their growing involvement in the field. For those practitioners whose jurisdictions lie within the six midwestern states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio, and Wisconsin, the names…

An analysis of over 1,700 negotiations conducted by 289 Indiana school districts revealed that collective bargaining conversion from voluntary to compulsory mediation and factfinding sharply reduced the length of negotiations but had no effect in reducing the number of severely protracted negotiations. (MLF)

This paper provides a brief overview of collective bargaining in public education in Indiana in 1975, the second year that school boards and teachers operated under a collective bargaining law. The authors analyze major factors and apparent trends related to bargaining and impasse issues, mediation and fact-finding practices, teacher strikes, and…

This dissertation describes a study that sought to determine the relative bargaining effectiveness of the three options open to school boards in selecting a chief negotiator to handle collective bargaining with teacher unions: 1) hiring a professional negotiator from outside the community, 2) appointing a staff administrator, or 3) appointing a…