Public Sector Woes Part II -- Compensation, Pension Etc. Analyzed

In my last blog, I wrote generally about the "upheaval" or "cross roads" that public sector collective bargaining finds itself in today.  See also Unions’ Role in “the New Normal”.  This second blog looks specifically at issues of public sector compensation and reform, particularly pension reform of which I've also written before.   See  Public Sector Pensions -- The Times They are a-Changin'. 

Such reforms range from attempts to limit the scope of public bargaining as it relates to compensation; the move from defined contribution (DC) to defined benefit (DB)

Public Sector Collective Bargaining Woes

In December 2010, I blogged about the travails facing public sector pension funds, and in March 2011 I wrote a bit about the general "upheaval" in public sector collective bargaining.  See Public Sector Pensions -- The Times They are a-Changin' and Unions’ Role in “the New Normal”.  Both of these subjects have now captured the interest of a number of commentators and my next couple of blogs will analyze some recent articles.  This first blog in the series looks at the general climate change and "upheaval," and the idea that public sector labor is at a "crossroads." Review of three articles articles in particular, which represent more moderate, liberal, and conservative views of the issue, are a helpful orientation.

Happy Belated Birthday, NLRB

Collective bargaining has been increasingly in the news in the last year, and has even made its way back into popular consciousness.  As I've written elsewhere, a number of states are trying to put limitations on public sector collective bargaining, in response to budgetary difficulties  Additionally, there has been a renewed push to pass the federal Employee Free Choice Act, which would permit certification without a secret ballot election over the employer's objection, among other things, and the NLRB has taken several controversial actions of late that have been reported widely.  They have proposed new rules to expedite elections and to require the posting of notice of labor rights, and also filed a charge against Boeing for its attempt to open a plant in right-to-work state South Carolina (the latter issue has now been settled).  

Despite this present heightened public awareness of collective bargaining issues, however, many people do not know that 2010 marked the National Labor Relations Act's (NLRA) 75th anniversary.  In honor of this significant milestone, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) and George Washington University had co-sponsored a seminar in October 2010 on the Act and "Its Legacy and Its Future," to which the Winter 2011 issue of the ABA Journal of Labor & Employment Law, Vol. 26, No. 2, was largely dedicated. 

In light of this milestone, and the level of popular attention garnered to collective bargaining in the last year or so, it seems to me it is a good time to review what collective bargaining scholars, professionals and advocates have to say about the Act.