Professors' Statement on Collective Bargaining
Template:TOCnestleft The Statement by College and University Professors: Do Not Revoke Collective Bargaining Rights for Public Employees was published in March, 2011 by American Rights at Work.
About
In March 2011, American Rights at Work coordinated an open letter entitled "A Statement by College and University Professors: Do Not Revoke Collective Bargaining Rights for Public Employees". A large number of the signatories were members of Democratic Socialists of America and the letter appears to have been circulated within the DSA academic network. The text of the letter read in part,[1]
Text of the Letter
- "Federal and state elected officials are using fiscal crises as an opportunity to dismantle collective bargaining rights for public employees. As faculty and research staff from colleges and universities in the U.S. and around the world, we are opposed to any efforts to revoke collective bargaining rights for public employees, including home care and child care providers.
- Rights to organize and collectively bargain are human rights
- According to a 2008 report by American Rights at Work, one quarter of all public sector employees are without collective bargaining rights under federal or state law. Human Rights Watch’s Unfair Advantage report notes that “under international standards, the rights afforded ‘everyone’ or ‘workers without distinction’ apply to most public employees.” They recommend that legislation be enacted to grant public employees the right to collectively bargain and strike, in accordance with international norms. If elected officials roll back these rights, they will be furthering this country’s failure to comply with international human rights standards.
- Collective bargaining, public employee wages are not to blame for fiscal crises
- Some elected officials wrongly blame budget crises on public employee unions for negotiating bloated salaries and pensions. Yet Jeffrey Keefe of Rutgers University found that controlling for factors like age, occupation and educational attainment, state and local government employees earned, on average, 3.7 percent less total compensation in 2009 than their private sector counterparts. Further, Policy Matters Ohio just released a study finding that the nine states without public sector bargaining rights average slightly higher budget deficits (as a percentage of revenue) than the 15 states that grant full rights to bargain.
- 'Productive labor relations will help address the budget crises
- Collective bargaining provides a structure in place for management, employees and their representatives to come together and find ways to help stem budget crises. A 2003 report by Harvard University and the Public Sector Labor-Management Committee concluded that labor-management partnerships were essential to an “effective and efficient government,” and in the case studies profiled in the report, led to improved services and cost savings. Additionally, a 1996 task force commissioned by then-Secretary of Labor Robert Reich found that labor-management cooperation in the public sector improved the services and lowered the costs of local and state government.
- Therefore, as scholars of colleges and universities, we call on legislators to preserve collective bargaining rights for all public employees."