ERIC ED377584: Public School Negotiations: A Complete Guide to Collective Bargaining in Pennsylvania Public Education.

160 Pages·1993·2.5 MB·English

by  ERIC

DOCUMENT RESUME
EA 026 382
ED 377 584
Public School Negotiations: A Complete Guide to
TITLE
Collective Bargaining in Pennsylvania Public
Education.
Pennsylvania School Boards Association, New
INSTITUTION
Cumberland.
PUB DATE
93
160p.; Sample forms contain very small print.
NOTE
Legal/Legislative/Regulatory Materials
PUB TYPE
Books (010)
(090)
MF01/PC07 Plus Postage.
EDRS PRICE
*Arbitration; *Collective Bargaining; Elementary
DESCRIPTORS
Secondary Education; Employer Employee Relationship;
*Grievance Procedures; Labor Demands; *Labor
Legislation; Negotiation Agreements; *Negotiation
Impasses; Public Schools; State Agencies; State
Legislation; Teacher Rights; *Teacher Strikes;
Unions
*Pennsylvania
IDENTIFIERS
ABSTRACT
Few laws enacted by the Pennsylvania General Assembly
have been more profoundly felt than Act 195 of 1970, which granted
teachers and other public employees the right to bargain and to
strike. In July 1992, after years of disruptive teacher strikes, a
school strike reform bill was passed in the form of Act 88. This
resource book presents a historical overview of collective-bargaining
rights in Pennsylvania public education, an article-by-article review
of both Act 88 and Act 195, the responsibilities and regulations of
state agencies, impasse procedures under Act 88, and suggestions for
preparing for successful negotiations. Appendices contain the texts
of Act 88 of 1992, Act 195 of 1970, and Act 84 of 1988; sample forms
used by the Bureau of Mediation and the Pennsylvania Labor Relations
Board (PLRB); a schedule of rate and costs adopted by PLRB; mediation
resources; and a glossary. (LMI)
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Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made
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BEST COPY AVAILABLE
Public School
Negotiations
4.
A Complete Guide
to Collective
Bargaining
in Pennsylvania
Public Education
Association. All rights re-
© 1993 by the Pennsylvania School Boards
I -93 -8M
served.
0
Preface
have been
Few laws enacted by the Pennsylvania General Assembly
of 1970, which granted teachers
more profoundly felt than Act 195
strike. Intend-
and other public employees the right to bargain and to
produced more
ed to heal the wounds of labor unrest, that law instead
the nation's
distress. Pennsylvania in the ensuing years quickly became
leader in school strikes.
signifi-
The year 1991 will be remembered as a time when some
the ongoing effort by PSBA
cant forces converged. Among them was
strike reform.
and other interested groups to secure meaningful school
leg-
In fact, school directors across the state targeted the issue as a top
bill ever to
islative priority for the association. The first school strike
Assembly was
be moved to the floor of either chamber in the General
the bill
SB 727. After months of legislative debate and maneuvering,
Act
law
received nearly unanimous votes in both chambers. The new
strike reform, elusive for
88 of 1992 took effect July 9, 1992. School
been enacted.
more than 20 years, finally had
collec-
Included in this resource is a clear historical reference to
education, an article -by-
tive bargaining rights in Pennsylvania public
and reg-
article review of both Act 88 and Act 195, the responsibilities
and sug-
ulations of state agencies, impasse procedures tinder Act 88,
gestions for preparing for successful negotiations.
administrators will
By using this guidebook, school directors and
and their
gain a better understanding of the bargaining process
Options at each stage.
()razor.
Joseph I
Evealtiz,e Direaor
4
iii
Acknowledgements
Public School Negotiations provides a complete guide to collective bar-
gaining in Pennsylvania public education. Reflected in this edition is
the historical information from PSBA's Act 195 Handbook, to which this
publication is the successor.
J. Curtis Rose, PSBA assistant executive director for educational
Lynn H. Mannion,
management services, served as project coordinator.
PSBA assistant executive director for publications and production ser-
vices, served as editor.
Other PSBA staff who contributed to this resource were: Thomas
J. Gentzel, assistant executive director for governmental relations;
Richard D. Payne, director of labor relations services; Joseph Acri,
senior consultant; Michael Berk, John Holland Esq., and William
Trusky, educational management services consultants; and Anthony
S. Durbin, graphic designer.
Contents
1 Legislative history of collective bargaining rights
in Pennsylvania public education
1
Development of Act 195
PSBA positions incorporated into Act 195
The Act 195 years
Senate Bill 727 introduced
New obstacles arise
SB 727 becomes law
I listorical events in collective bargaining
2 Act 88 and Act 195: Article-by-article review ....27
Bargaining procedure under Act 88 of 1992
Section-by-section analysis of Act 88
Section-by-section analysis of Act 195
3 Responsibility and regulations of agencies
45
Pennsylvania labor Relations Board
Who is covered by Act 195?
Representation cases
Unfair practice :aces
Impasse resolution cases
Pennsylvania Bureau of Mediation
Mediation: Commonwealth public policy
Agency services
Role of PDF
4 Impasse procedures under Act 88
53
I !ow mediation works
Appointing fact-finding panels
Using arbitration
Binding arbitration is not the answer
vii
5 Preparing for successful negotiations
61
Understanding a labor proposal
Selecting the negotiating team
Collecting data for negotiations
Establishing contract goals
Communicating progress internally and externally
Appendix
73
Text of Act 88 of 1992
Text of Act 195 of 1970
Text of Act 84 of 1988
Sample Forms used by the Bureau of Mediation
and the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board
Schedule of Rates and Costs Adopted by PLRB
Pursuant to the Rules and Regulations (34 PA. Code
Chapter 95)
Where to contact a mediator
Glossary
viii
1
Legislative history
of collective bargaining rights
education
in Pennsylvania public
dramatic
Public sector labor relations in Pennsylvania underwent a
Initially, state
evolution from the late 1940s through the early 1990s.
striking. All that
law prohibited public employees from bargaining and
growing pressure
changed in 1970, when a law enacted in response to
virtually
from teacher and other pui ilic employee unions, gave rise to
policy shifted
unrestrained strike activity in the public schools. Public
from citizens, the
again 22 years later when, as a result of an outcry
employees'
General Assembly imposed the first restrictions on school
right-to-strike. I kw did this evolution take place?
Development of Act 195
have been more
Few laws ever enacted by the General Assembly
teachers and oth-
profoundly felt than Act 195 of 1970, which granted
right to bargain and to strike. That law, in-
er public employees the
tended to heal the wounds of labor unrest, instead produced even
the ensuing years quickly became the
more distress. Pennsylvania in
nation's leader in school strikes.
and public em-
Prior to the passage of Act 195, public employers
the No-Strike Law,
ployees were governed by Act 492 of 1947
and prohibit-
which effectively ruled out binding collective bargaining
subject to automatic
ed strikes. People who engaged in a strike were
public
discharge. The law provided for grievance panels to serve as
sounding hoards for employee complaints.
employers
Exclusive collective bargaining rights between public
only were un-
and representatives of public employees, however, not
1
authorized but were determined by the courts to be impermissible.
Since under this law there could not be a recognized bargaining- agent,
there was no way to impose penalties or forfeitures on any recognized
employee organization.
Because under the 1947 law there could not he a recognized bar-
gaining agent, all penalties for violations were applied to employees
individually rather than to employee organizations. The courts gener-
ally refused to uphold the pr.wisions of the law; thus, the 1947 No-
Strike Law effectively became unenforceable.
It wasn't solely the ineffectiveness of Pennsylvania's 1947 act that
brought on the clamor for change, however. In the 1960s growth in
public employment was rapid. Unions began pressing for organiza-
tional rights, primarily because private unions saw an entirely new
vista of membership in the public sector to counter a declining union
membership in the private sector.
It was obvious by 1965 that Pennsylvania ultimately would have a
collective bargaining law for public employees. The trend was set in
motion in 1962 when President John F. Kennedy issued an Executive
Order permitting federal employees to form employee organizations.
That action spawned the various public employee laws that exist today
in one form or another in many states.
President Kennedy's order also had the effect of encouraging em-
ployee groups to pressure school boards and other local governments
(county and municipal) into recognizing exclusive bargaining agents
and entering into negotiated agreements. At the same time, these efforts
set the stage for statewide action by employee unions.
The American Federation of Teachers, long before the passage of
At 195, held the conviction that the right to organize, to bargain col-
1
lectively and to strike were basic rights for all employees, including
those in the public sector.
The Pennsylvania State Education Association, the largest teacher
union in the state, soon endorsed similar positions, including the right
to strike. In 1968 both teacher unions teamed up with other public
employee groups to push for .a collective bargaining law. In March of
that same year, more than 20,000 angry teachers and others marched
on I larrisburg pressing fir passage of a collective bargaining law and
additional school funding.
Faced with the need to take action, Governor Raymond P. Shafer
formed a commission in 1968 to review the issue of public employee
recommendations for revising the 1947 "no-
bargaining and to mal
strike" law. The statewide panel was commonly known as the I lick-
man Commission, because it was chaired by Leon E. Hickman, a rec-
2
ognized labor attorney and vice president of ALCOA. Extensive hear-
ings were held throughout the state as the commission began to forge
its recommendations.
While the final recommendations of the Hickman Commission
generally were incorporated into legislation by the state Senate (SB
1021), alternate proposals abounded in the Legislature during the
1969-70 session. PSBA drafted leg-
After it was evi-
which embraced
SB 518
islation
many of the Hickman Commission
dent that public
recommendations; PSEA and the
employer groups
AFL-C10 joined in writing IIB
throughout the
1443.
All three bills repealed the 1947
state, spearhead-
No-Strike Law and each provided
ed by PSBA,
for formation of bargaining units as
determined by a state agency. All
would resist pres-
three proposals provided for desig-
sures of employee
nation of exclusive bargaining unit
organizations for
representatives and outlined impasse
procedures. Each prescribed penal-
a liberal bargain-
ties for employees and their unions
ing bill, a new
in the event of illegal strikes.
Following months of intense
and basically
legislative debate, in the summer of
well-constructed
1969 employer groups effectively
bill SB 1333
blocked the passage of the union-
backed 11B 1443. After it was evi-
emerged and
dent that public employer groups
eventually was
throughout the state, spearheaded
by PSBA, would resist pressures of
signed by the
employee organizations for a liberal
governor.
bargaining bill, a new and basically
SB 1333
well-constructed bill
emerged and eventually was signed
took effect on Oct. 21,
Act 195
by the governor. The new law
1970.
PSBA positions incorporated into Act 195
The 17 fundamental principles supported by the Pennsylvania
School Boards Association, and submitted in SB 518, generally were
incorporated into the new law.
All public employees should be covered by the same law.
0