US Public Sector: Shifting Power and Shrinking of Rights

Catalog description

Both public education and policing and their unions are being challenged by powerful forces. Although these unions are depicted as quite dominant, this course asks whether their prominence (or weaknesses) arise from collective bargaining and lobbying or from political developments they do not seem to control. We will examine the strengths and weaknesses of collective bargaining and politics as teachers and police unions seek to maintain their power bases. Histories of both union movements will be analyzed, and the inextricable link between these unions' growth and American politics since the close of World War 2 will be deconstructed. The recent attacks on these public sector professions force us to reconsider whether collective bargaining truly insulates these unions and their members from the challenges posed.