Collective Bargaining

Collective bargaining is under attack across America, and New Jersey is no exception.  Current attempts to undermine collective bargaining by legislating mandatory premium sharing are the most glaring example right now, but there are other threats as well.

Gov. Christie has proposed several anti-bargaining measures.  Among other things, he would give boards of education the right to impose their “last, best offer” rather than bargain in good faith as currently required.  He would also give Executive County Superintendents the right to veto legally bargained local contracts, and would arbitrarily cap settlements – including health care costs – at 2%.

New Jersey has a long history of public sector collective bargaining rights, going back more than 40 years.  NJEA members and others fought hard to have a say in their salary, benefits and working conditions, and we will fight any attempt to subvert those rights or take them away.

Resources

• Text of bills:
• S-1940/A-2772 - Requires that the monetary equivalent of any wage/benefit concession agreed to by a collective bargaining unit be used by the school district to offset any Reduction in Forces (RIF).
• S-1117/A-672 - Makes employment matters not exempted by statute mandatory subjects of public employment collective bargaining.
• S-1927/A-2658 - Concerns collective bargaining by executive county superintendents.
• S-2310/A-3283 - Implements Governor's "Tool Kit" proposals for public employee collective bargaining.
• A-587 - Concerns certain disciplinary procedures, collective bargaining, and binding arbitration in public employment.
• A-740 - Requires Boards of Education to provide more detailed information on compensation of school district employees not covered by collective bargaining agreements.
• A-2791 - The "Public School Employee Collective Bargaining Reform Act."
• Teacher pay still losing ground - NEA Today, April 5, 2011
• NJEA Collective Bargaining Manual 

Research

• Economic Policy Institute (EPI) study: The Teaching Penalty: An update through 2010,  finds that public elementary and secondary school teachers continue to be undercompensated relative to comparably-educated workers.
• The Effects of Collective Bargaining on Teacher Quality
• Getting it right: Empirical Evidence and Policy Implications from Research on Public Sector Unionism and Collective Bargaining
• Out of Balance: Comparing Public and Private Sector Compensation Over 20 Years
• The Wage Penalty for State and Local Government Employees
• Are New Jersey Public Employees Overpaid?
• NJ public sector workers are undercompensated compared with private sector counterparts
• Debunking the myth of the overcompensated public employee: The evidence

Related Articles

• Bipartisan bargaining bill awaits the Governor's signature 
• Stand up for public education and public employees