Education Commons^™

Labor And Regional Development In The U.S.A.: Building A High Road Infrastructure In Buffalo, New York, Ian Greer, Lou Jean Fleron

Ian Greer

[Excerpt] In a country where worker representatives lack broadly institutionalized roles as "social partners," how can they play a constructive role in solving the problems of regional development? In Buffalo, New York, regularized, labor-inclusive procedures of problem solving involving multiple coalition partners – what we call a high-road social infrastructure – has emerged. Socially engaged researchers and educators have played a role in spreading lessons and organizing dialogue. Despite the emergence of regional cooperation, however, successful development politics are hampered by many of the same problems seen in European regions, including uncertainty about the best union strategy, hostility from business …

The Influence Of Collective Bargaining On Teachers’ Salaries In New York State, David B. Lipsky, John E. Drotning

David B Lipsky

This study tests a model of teacher salary determination with data describing several aspects of all school districts in New York state, outside of New York City. The authors find that collective bargaining is not significant in explaining variations in 1968 teacher salaries among all school districts, but bargaining did have a significant effect among small districts and on the rate of salary change from 1967 to 1968. On the whole, however, the authors conclude that the results of this and other studies show that bargaining has had a surprisingly minor effect on teacher salaries.

The Politics Of The Education Reform Movement: Some Implications For The Future Of Teacher Bargaining, David B. Lipsky

David B Lipsky

[Excerpt] In summary, the ongoing battle over education reform and emerging demographic trends do not bode well for the success of reform efforts in this country and probably mean tougher, if nonetheless more interesting, days at the bargaining table. In recent years taxpayers have been willing to support increased expenditures for public education. But sooner or later taxpayers will want to see results. Both liberal and conservative politicians have been staunch supporters of the school reform movement, but politicians are a notoriously fickle group. To improve the quality of education, we need a sustained effort over an indefinite period of …

The Education Reform Movement And The Realities Of Collective Bargaining, Robert E. Doherty, David B. Lipsky

David B Lipsky

[Excerpt] The response to what many believe to be a serious decline in educational achievement and standards has been, so far, a spate of studies, commissions, and reports, all aiming toward reform of the education system. Most of the recommendations that have been implemented to date have come about through state-level legislation and mandates (Darling-Hammond and Berry, 1988). Education reformers disagree on the role of teacher bargaining in achieving their objectives. One wing of the reform movement believes collective bargaining is an obstacle to change and maintains collective bargaining is one reason the schools are in bad shape. But another …

Unionization Among College Faculty - 1996, Richard W. Hurd, Amy Foerster

Richard W Hurd

[Excerpt] Unionization among college and university faculty continued its slow but steady increase in 1995. Academic unions now represent 246,207 professors, a growth of 3,986 (1.65 percent) from that reported in last year’s NCSCBHEP's Directory of Faculty Contracts and Bargaining Agents in Institutions of Higher Education. We can now report 504 bargaining agents on 1,115 campuses throughout the United States. These increases can be attributed to three sources. First, unions won 4 out of 4 collective bargaining elections during 1995 to determine new bargaining agents. Second, some existing bargaining units grew in size as institutions hired additional faculty. Third, the …

Non-Faculty Unionization At Institutions Of Higher Education, Richard W. Hurd

Richard W Hurd

[Excerpt] The decade of the 1980's was a difficult one for the labor movement as membership and bargaining power declined for most unions in most industries. Higher education, however, provided a much more congenial environment. Faculty unionization expanded slowly but steadily at public sector institutions, although these gains were partially offset by private sector membership losses in the wake of the Yeshiva decision. In addition, there was a flurry of organizing activity among non-faculty employees, particularly clerical workers. The clerical worker organizing of the 1980's resulted in many highly visible successes for the labor movement. Particularly noteworthy were NLRB election …

The Unionization Of Clerical Workers At Large U.S. Universities And Colleges, Richard W. Hurd, Gregory Woodhead

Richard W Hurd

[Excerpt] The unionization of clerical workers on college campuses is steadily increasing and becoming the subject of greater scrutiny. The National Center has long been interested in this facet of unionization and when we learned of the work of Professor Hurd in this area we expressed an interest in publishing his research. This article presents Hurd's and Woodhead's research on college and university clerical unionization.

The Unionization Of Clerical, Technical, And Professional Employees In Higher Education: Threat Or Opportunity, Richard W. Hurd

Richard W Hurd

[Excerpt] Union organizing among non-teaching white collar employees of colleges and universities persists. To the discomfort of many university administrators, high visibility union successes at Yale, Columbia, Harvard, the University of Cincinnati, and the University of Illinois were not isolated instances but part of a trend.

Professional, technical, and clerical employees' desire for a more effective voice, has combined with the economic insecurity associated with stubborn budgetary pressures, to encourage these workers to pursue union representation. Unions have responded to this opportunity with enthusiasm, experimenting with innovative organizing and bargaining strategies in the relatively open environment offered by institutions of …