Californias Public Sector Labor Relations Paradigms

California Public Sector Labor Relations gives practitioners a wealth of insight & expertise accumulated from over 60 authors & editors. This essential work also includes up-to-date intergration of case law & statutory developments, & close tracking of regulatory developments.

Since publication of the fourth edition of Labor Relations in the Public Sector, public sector unions have encountered strong headwinds in many parts of the U.S. Membership is falling in some jurisdictions, public opinion has shifted against the unions, and political forces are leaning against them. Retaining the structure that made the previous editions so popular, this fifth edition incorporates a complete round of updates, particularly sections on recent trends in membership figures, new legislation, and new politics as they influence bargaining rights. See What’s New in the Fifth Edition: Up to date examination and analysis of public sector labor relations and collective bargaining Important changes in the public labor relations and unionization landscape Updated analysis of the financial and human resource outcomes of collective bargaining in the public sector Collective bargaining institutions and processes in government Completely updated in terms of the scholarly and professional literature and relevant events, the new edition identifies and explains the implications of the new collective bargaining environment, including financial and human resource management issues and outcomes. As in previous editions, collective bargaining and labor relations are addressed at all levels of government, with comparisons to the private and nonprofit sectors. Designed to be classroom friendly, it includes discussions of the most recent literature and case studies as well as end-of-chapter assignments and quizzes. Practical tips and advice are offered for those engaged in collective bargaining and labor relations.

In the early 1960s, the militant demands of some organizations of state and local government employees to participate in decisions about compensation and conditions of employment challenged many established concepts of public administration. A series of strikes revealed a lack of public policy and administrative techniques to cope with the problems presented by aggressive and innovative groups of public employees. Although civil servants had been organized in some communities for as long as fifty years, public attitudes about how such organizations should fit into the political and administrative systems were hazy in the 1960s, and official policies were fragmentary or nonexistent. Some states adopted legislation forbidding public employees to join certain types of organizations. Some highly industrial and urban states enacted legislation creating a system of employer-employee relations based on the theory of collective bargaining developed in industry. California, the most populous state, developed a public policy that differs considerably from the industrial model. In Organized Civil Servants, Winston W. Crouch analyzes factors in California’s political system that have tended to produce this policy. He also analyzes the efforts made to reconcile collective bargaining in the public service with the established concepts and procedures of the merit system of public employment. The ultimate outcome appears to depend on the scope of agreements negotiated between public employers and employee organizations at the bargaining table. This title is part of UC Press’s Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1978.