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Bargaining With Bite: Missouri High Court's Constitutional Holdings Alter Public Sector Labor Law, Peter W. Bay

Missouri Law Review

Collective bargaining – negotiations over working conditions between an employer and representatives of their employees – appeared as early as 1891 as labor unions arose in response to the Industrial Revolution. Collective bargaining in private industry was recognized in 1935 by the National Labor Relations Act but was considered prohibited in the public sector. In 1945, the state of Missouri ratified its constitution, which included article 1, section 29, a provision protecting employee collective bargaining rights. That provision, however, was quickly interpreted by courts as applying only to private employees, and thus, public employees had little power to negotiate employment …