Collective Bargaining in the Public Schools: Issues, Tactics, and New Strategies
Fred C. Lunenburg
DOI: 10.2190/WADB-JT0B-AJ20-UAA1
Abstract
Collective bargaining is the process of negotiating and administering a collective bargaining agreement or negotiated contract between a union and the employing organization. Although the specific provisions of collective bargaining agreements vary from one school district to another, the collective bargaining process and negotiated contract generally address the following issues: management rights, narrow grievance definition, no-strike provision, zipper clause, maintenance of standards, just cause, reduction in force, wages and benefits, and others. Negotiators use several tactics to improve their bargaining, including counterproposals, tradeoffs, caucus, and costing proposals. In recent years, collaborative bargaining has become apparent. Collaborative bargaining focuses on ongoing problem solving throughout the school year, rather than dealing with a buildup of issues presented at the bargaining table. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.