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K-12 Unionism and Collective Bargaining: Distinctive Features

K-12 Unionism and Collective Bargaining: Distinctive Features. The local school district is the employer; the bargaining unit is the district The local union and school board negotiate local contracts. (State union has no formal role.)

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K-12 Unionism and Collective Bargaining: Distinctive Features

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  1. K-12 Unionism and Collective Bargaining: Distinctive Features The local school district is the employer; the bargaining unit is the district The local union and school board negotiate local contracts. (State union has no formal role.) Key labor relationship: local president and superintendent (many shared interests)

  2. K-12 Unionism and Collective Bargaining: Distinctive Features • Bilateral and interest-based bargaining are used • Term Contract (2-5 years); revised, but rarely rewritten; may be “living” • Contract cover wages, benefits, layoffs and transfers, hours, working conditions (often broadly conceived)

  3. K-12 Unionism and Bargaining:What We’ve Learned • Industrial unionism has limited value in school improvement. (Strikes are uncommon.) • Reform unionism is challenging to introduce and sustain. • Most districts today use a hybrid approach to bargaining • Bilateral bargaining for wages • Interest-based bargaining for solving problems or developing programs.

  4. K-12 Unionism and Bargaining: What We’ve Learned • Local contracts cover similar issues, but vary widely in response to local contexts. • Over time, some contracts get longer and “stronger,” but others do not. • Local districts often bargain beyond the legal scope defined by state statute, venturing into matters of policy. Rarely contested. • Many contract provisions are difficult or impossible to enforce. • Grievance procedures have limited value in resolving complaints.

  5. K-12 Unionism and Bargaining: What We’ve Learned • Collective bargaining has raised teachers’ wages by about 10%. • Teachers’ professional status has risen over 40 years, but gains are often offset by public views of unions as self-serving. • Teachers’ voice in policy and practice has increased in many districts.

  6. K-12 Unionism and Bargaining: What We’ve Learned • Over time, traditional union priorities (seniority, standardization, centralization) are less prominent. • Productive school reforms (pay reform, peer review) often are jointly managed and emerge from collaborative labor-management relationships.

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