Public Sector Employment In A Time Of Transition

Examines the transformation of the employment relationship in governmental agencies, with particular emphasis on human resources policies and workplace practices.

Although many industrialized countries have had to face the same political and economic pressures in reforming their public sectors there have been different reactions and a diversity of solutions to the emerging problems. This book examines the most significant initiatives targeted towards the restructuring of public sector employment relations in countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. The contributors focus on national and local governments, and health, education and social services. The first section provides an up-to-date analysis of six European countries. The second part considers the USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia and Japan.

Have the speed, informality, and low cost of the grievance and arbitration system deteriorated? Has the system become too adversarial? Has it lost its problem-solving character? This book examines the nature and degree of change in workplace dispute resolution in the context of ongoing changes in work and in labor relations.The volume begins with an editors' introduction that provides context and offers a political perspective on the current state of dispute resolution in the workplace. The chapters that follow contain critiques of the existing legal framework surrounding mandatory arbitration in the nonunion sector and a review of the empirical literature on nonunion dispute resolution. Employment Dispute Resolution and Worker Rights in the Changing Workplace includes sections on grievance mediation, the status of the grievance procedure in workplaces with extensive worker and/or union participation in decision making, and high-performance workplaces. The study concludes with trends in dispute resolution in the public sector and with the alternative dispute resolution system commonly practiced in the unionized construction industry.

The past two decades have been marked by a period of substantial and often fundamental change in public administration. Critically reflecting on the utility of scholarly theory and the extent to which government practices inform the development of this theory, the Handbook of Public Administration was a landmark publication which served as an essential guide for both the practice of public administration today and its on-going development as an academic discipline. The Concise Paperback Edition provides a selection of 30 of the original articles in an accessible paperback format and includes a new introduction by B. Guy Peters and Jon Pierre. It is an essential point of reference for all students of public administration.

One of the best-known and most-quoted books ever written on labor unions is What Do Unions Do? by Richard Freeman and James Medoff. Published in 1984, the book proved to be a landmark because it provided the most comprehensive and statistically sophisticated empirical portrait of the economic and socio-political effects of unions, and a provocative conclusion that unions are on balance beneficial for the economy and society.The present volume represents a twentieth-anniversary retrospective and evaluation of What Do Unions Do? The objectives are threefold: to evaluate and critique the theory, evidence, and conclusions of Freeman and Medoff; to provide a comprehensive update of the theoretical and empirical literature on unions since the publication of their book; and to offer a balanced assessment and critique of the effects of unions on the economy and society. Toward this end, internationally recognized representatives of labor and management cover the gamut of subjects related to unions.Topics covered include the economic theory of unions; the history of economic thought on unions; the effect of unions on wages, benefits, capital investment, productivity, income inequality, dispute resolution, and job satisfaction; the performance of unions in an international perspective; the reasons for the decline of unions; and the future of unions. The volume concludes with a chapter by Richard Freeman in which he assesses the arguments and evidence presented in the other chapters and presents his evaluation of how What Do Unions Do? stands up in the light of twenty years of additional experience and research. This highly readable volume is a state-of-the-art survey by internationally recognized experts on the effects and future of labor unions. It will be the benchmark for years to come.

One of the best-known and most-quoted books ever written on labor unions is What Do Unions Do? by Richard Freeman and James Medoff. Published in 1984, the book proved to be a landmark because it provided the most comprehensive and statistically sophisticated empirical portrait of the economic and socio-political effects of unions, and a provocative conclusion that unions are on balance beneficial for the economy and society.The present volume represents a twentieth-anniversary retrospective and evaluation of What Do Unions Do? The objectives are threefold: to evaluate and critique the theory, evidence, and conclusions of Freeman and Medoff; to provide a comprehensive update of the theoretical and empirical literature on unions since the publication of their book; and to offer a balanced assessment and critique of the effects of unions on the economy and society. Toward this end, internationally recognized representatives of labor and management cover the gamut of subjects related to unions.Topics covered include the economic theory of unions; the history of economic thought on unions; the effect of unions on wages, benefits, capital investment, productivity, income inequality, dispute resolution, and job satisfaction; the performance of unions in an international perspective; the reasons for the decline of unions; and the future of unions. The volume concludes with a chapter by Richard Freeman in which he assesses the arguments and evidence presented in the other chapters and presents his evaluation of how What Do Unions Do? stands up in the light of twenty years of additional experience and research. This highly readable volume is a state-of-the-art survey by internationally recognized experts on the effects and future of labor unions. It will be the benchmark for years to come.

Unlike Europe, where most public sector workers have long been included in collective bargaining agreements, the United States excluded public employees from such legislation until the 1960s and 70s. Since then, union membership in the U. S. has grown more rapidly among public workers than among workers in the private sector. This book provides up-to-date information on public sector collective bargaining in the United States today. The editors' seek to understand the real nature of PSB by examining eight states where the action is taking place -- California, Hawaii, Illinois, Michigan, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin. The chapters offer unique case studies of legal origins, developments, and challenges to collective bargaining; negotiations experience and outcomes; discussion of legislation; and emphasis of histoical development as well as current practice.