NCJ Number
95749
Journal
Industrial Relations Volume: 21 Issue: 2 Dated: (Spring 1982) Pages: 149-166
Date Published
1982
Length
18 pages
Annotation
This study examines all work stoppages by municipal police departments for 1972, 1973, 1976, 1977, and 1978 within a pooled cross-section time-series framework, and explores the relationship between bargaining legislation and public sector strikes.
Abstract
Two correlations are reported: first, municipalities in States that have collective bargaining experience significantly fewer police strikes than do municipalities where there is no collective bargaining law or where police bargaining is specifically outlawed; and second, among States with duty-to-bargain rights for police, those with compulsory arbitration provisions experience significantly fewer strikes. Across all 5 years, strikes were most frequent in States without bargaining laws. Across all years, more strikes occurred in this 'no law' category than in all other categories combined. Compulsory arbitration is an effective procedure for avoiding strikes. A duty-to-bargain provision without arbitration is apparently a 'halfway house' in which the right to bargain does not help resolve the conflict when it is not complemented by a binding dispute resolution mechanism. For the five work stoppages in States with arbitration mechanisms, the most common reason cited by labor and management was lengthy delays in the dispute resolution process. Fifteen references and four tables are included.