"The State of Working Pennsylvania 2022" centered on the continued recovery from the COVID-19 recession, highlighting that Pennsylvania was at a policy crossroads: would political leaders embrace policies to strengthen the individual and collective worker power evident a year ago? Or would austerity and anti-worker policies after the…

America's labor market presents a paradox. Although the unemployment rate is just 3.9%, there are more jobs open than people who can fill them. Nationwide, there are roughly 68 workers for every 100 open jobs. Many factors contribute to this workforce shortage, but one of the most significant is a growing skills gap -- millions of workers across…

In late 2020, Pennsylvania community colleges participated in a national study of community college workforce education. Pennsylvania was one of 14 states where education authorities volunteered to encourage colleges to respond early enough in 2020 to receive preliminary statewide results in January 2021. This brief compares Pennsylvania to the 14…

Gov. Wolf has indicated his willingness to modify pensions for future Pennsylvania public sector workers by using a variant of the "stacked hybrid" design proposed in 2013 by Pottsville Republican Rep. Mike Tobash. Negotiations of a compromise pension deal, however, remain stalled because Senate leaders remain committed to their own…

Despite legal mandates and evidence of predictors of success in transition, there continue to be poor outcomes for students with disabilities as compared to students without disabilities. This article describes the first steps of a quality improvement project, including a needs assessment and description of the current constraints of transition…

Impasses are important for public employees because the use and exhaustion of statutory impasse procedures determine the occurrence and legality of any strike. Impasse exists for employers as the primary exception to the rule prohibiting unilateral change of employment terms and conditions. (Author/IRT)

Examines the impact of private labor rulings on Pennsylvania's public employee laws, public sector strikes and their implications, and Pennsylvania's public employee laws and the right to strike. Available from Duquesne Law Review, 901 Rockwell Hall, 600 Forbes Avenue, Pittsburgh, PA 15219; sc $3.50. (Author/IRT)

This monograph presents an overview of Pennsylvania's law governing collective bargaining for public employees (Act 195) and reviews Pennsylvania's experience under the law since its enactment in 1970. The passage of Act 195 for the first time made it possible for Pennsylvania public employees to bargain collectively and to legally strike when…

Intended primarily for educators, legislators, and the general public in the state of Pennsylvania, this public affairs brochure addresses the question of whether binding arbitration should be legislated in that state as a means of resolving labor disputes between a local school district and its employees. The brochure reviews the history of…

This paper contains an analysis of case law as it relates to the scope of bargainable issues and its possible impact on public two-year postsecondary institutions in Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania's Public Employee Relations Act defines three categories of collective bargaining issues: (1) mandatory subjects of negotiation, (2) permissive issues of…

This booklet presents a method of teaching the history of labor unions in a creative and interesting manner. The labor pioneers presented in this booklet have been chosen with the thought that they would provide inspiration for young people who are studying the 300 years or more of Pennsylvania history. These laborers, who came from the ranks of…

This document presents Pennsylvania guidelines for interpreting child labor legislation. In Section I employment certification of minors under the child labor law, the school laws of Pennsylvania, and the federal law are discussed. In Section II the issuing officers responsible for issuing employment certificates are identified, procedures for…

This article outlines the significant legal decisions regarding collective bargaining in Catholic schools, identifies the governance structures employed in Catholic schools and the methods of translating these governance structures into documents required by civil law, and concludes with the citation of two recent court decisions that demonstrate…

This volume is intended to help public administrators and attorneys deal with the legal problems in Pennsylvania public sector labor relations. In it, the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board is discussed and public sector labor relations court decisions are cited. The volume is intended to be a reference book and to reveal inconsistencies in…