For a long time, courts have considered whether to enforce one-sided arbitration clauses on the grounds of unconscionability. Unconscionability is a legal ground for refusing to enforce a contract that seems to be too one-sided, or one that is the result of unfair bargaining. Recent Supreme Court cases in 2011 and 2013--"AT&T Mobility v.…

In October 2012, Premier Christy Clark announced government would consult with the education partners for the purpose of reviewing teacher bargaining structures and processes with the goal of providing a more stable learning environment for British Columbia students. The review looked for opportunities to achieve two priorities: (1) Create…

Outlines the history of Wisconsin's Municipal Employment Relations Act (MERA), details the new MERA procedures, and analyzes some of the procedure's implications for municipal labor relations. Concludes that the limitations placed on the right to strike may undermine the statute's long-term effectiveness. Journal availability: see EA 511 539.…

In the Fall 1989 issue, Caraway discussed the advantages of grievance mediation, compared with arbitration. This article reexamines the issue from the viewpoint of the individual grievant and points to recent conflicting developments in the National Labor Relations Board's deferral doctrine. An introduction by Perry A. Zirkel summarizes the…

This guide is intended as a brief primer for the employer or employee new to public sector labor relations. A simple step-by-step approach to labor relations includes techniques for analysis of state enabling legislation, union self-perpetuation, scope of bargaining, preparing for and winning bargaining, settling disputes, solving contract…

This monograph analyzes the law of fair representation, as applied by the National Labor Relations Board and the courts, and its implications for individuals, union officials, and management. As employees increasingly turn to judicial and administrative agencies to protect their rights, the duty of fair representation has become a doctrine of…

Trends of the late 1970s in educational labor relations will continue in the 1980s. There will be less legislation permitting public sector unionization, slower union organizing, tougher negotiations, more inter-union fights, more attempts to organize educational managers, greater political activity among educational unions, and increased debate…

The purpose of this analysis is to systematically survey the impasse resolution provisions of the 30 state statutes governing teacher-board negotiations and to tentatively explore via statistical techniques whether there is a significant relationship between the degree of compulsion in such provisions and the type and comprehensiveness of such…

This paper, addressed to public school employers, discusses lessons to be learned from the Wisconsin Legislature's passage of a 1978 law known as mediation-arbitration, which allows employers and unions to agree to an alternative voluntary impasse procedure to the one set forth in the statutes. First, the paper discusses the history of the agency…

Problems have arisen with the Michigan Public Employment Relations Act, which allows collective bargaining for public employees, because the act does not extend the right to strike and has no provision for a final resolution of a bargaining impasse in the event that voluntary settlement is not achieved. Neither voluntary negotiation nor…

Discusses common problems involved in collective bargaining for public employees and recommends a number of changes in public employee labor relations laws that can help resolve those problems. Available from: Commerce Clearing House, Inc., 4025 W. Peterson Ave., Chicago, Illinois 60646; single copy, $3.00. (JG)