This paper highlights some of the similarities and differences in the labor-management experiences of Boston University (Massachusetts), Temple University (Pennsylvania), the University of Bridgeport (Connecticut), and Yeshiva University (New York) to determine which may represent failures and which do not. In comparing the Yeshiva and Boston…

This newsletter issue provides an analysis of faculty union organizing and agent elections involving the American Association of University Professors, the National Education Association, and the American Federation of Teachers and their local affiliates. Activity levels of independent unions, "no-agent" elections, decertifications, and…

This paper revisits the educational reform movement of the 1960s, focusing on the role of teacher unionism and its impact on the politics of education during that decade. Historians of education have failed to combine information about the social composition and political culture of the teaching force, as well as the political culture of the labor…

The report summarizes unionization activities among college faculty in the United States in 1989. Faculty unionizing continued to increase for the sixth consecutive year and contrasts with decreases in the overall unionized sector. Organized faculty comprised approximately 30% of the professoriate. Faculty unions were successful in 11 of 14…

Teacher salaries across the country were examined to determine whether collective bargaining is a prime determinant of the rate of increase in teacher salaries. It is suggested that many teachers join a union and seek collective bargaining in order to achieve higher pay. The percentage change in primary and secondary teacher salaries was compared…

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…

This report aims to reconstruct the experience of the participants within the school districts in the West Kootenay region of British Columbia during the six-week period of a strike/lockout of nonteaching employees. It also attempts to determine the labor dispute's major effects on school performance and to identify ways of minimizing the effects…

The purpose of this report is to help school administrators develop their own strike contingency plans or evaluate the plans already in existence in their districts. The report comprises four sections: (1) a review of the educational literature regarding strike contingency planning; (2) state board guidelines for strike contingency planning; (3)…

This paper presents an overview of teacher strikes from the perspective of school administrators and presents guidelines for the actions of principals, superintendents, and school board members before, during, and after a strike. Included are recommendations for estimating the dollar value of teacher salaries and fringe benefits, planning and…

In an attempt to predict the outcome of the revolution of students that is now occurring in the U.S., an analogy is drawn between a similar social revolution, the American labor union movement of 1870 to 1940. Both movements began as revolutions designed to gain equality and power for disenfranchised minorities. Although the issues disputed by…

This report presents suggestions for avoiding teacher strikes and provides procedures that can be followed to minimize acrimony in the community and maintain board control over schools should a strike be executed. For example, boards should understand the roots of teacher militancy. They should provide teachers with (1) reasonable salaries and…

Two papers comprise this document: "Alternatives to Collective Bargaining" and "Collective Bargaining in Two-Year Colleges: Problems and Trends." The first paper, by Joseph N. Hankin, presents the thesis that there is no alternative to collective bargaining but that attention should be focused instead on who represents the faculty on which issues.…

This booklet is designed to give practical and realistic advice to school district officials faced with the possibility of a teachers' strike. It is intended for use both by school district administrators and school board members. The booklet is organized into four sections that focus in turn on signs of a pending teachers' strike, union…

In this activity, secondary history students study Canadian economic history during the 1914-1919 period and analyze information to resolve the question "What were the motives of the leaders of the Winnipeg general strike?" (RM)

Discusses (1) a Michigan court decision concerning reverse discrimination and voluntary affirmative action policies; (2) the Massachusetts Supreme Court's rejection of the work-to-rule strategy; and (3) an Arkansas law that will allow teachers failing a basic skills and literacy test to be fired only when their state certification expires. (MLF)