Public Sector Labor Relations Scholarship: Is There a “There,” There?

Abstract

Public sector union membership is thriving compared to the private sector. Moreover, public employee unions play a signifi cant role in policy making at every level of government. Yet research on public sector labor relations is sporadic and uneven, perhaps negligible. Why so? Th is article surveys the literature on public sector unionism and seeks to answer that question. Its conclusion points to a course of action for renewing interest in this seminal fi eld among public administration, management, and policy scholars.

Unionization and Work Attitudes: How Union Commitment Influences Public Sector Job Satisfaction

“…After five decades of growth, labor unions represent a significant policy‐making presence in government organizations (Kearney ; Riccucci ), but recently, legislators have sought to limit public employees’ bargaining rights. It is not surprising that legislatures would seek to limit public sector collective bargaining, particularly when many assume that unions increase the cost of government.…”

Are Federal Labor‐Management Partnerships Decreasing Conflict? Evidence from the Last Eight Years of Reported Data

“…Finally, researchers could examine whether there is a better metric for the success or failure of a partnership than the rate of cases fi led with the FSIP in a given year. Regardless of the approach, more research needs to be done to understand labor-management relationships in the public sector, and the partnerships established by President Obama's executive order present a renewed opportunity to do so (Riccucci 2011).…”

“…Th e rate of union membership in the public sector is over fi ve times higher than in the private sector, 35.7 percent compared to 6.6 percent, with over 60 percent of nonpostal federal executive branch employees represented by unions (Bureau of Labor Statistics 2015; OPM 2014a). Despite the impact that labor-management relations have on public management, the academic labor-management literature on has primarily focused on the private sector (Riccucci 2011). Th is is problematic because of diff erences in the laws that govern public and private sector bargaining and the impact that unionization has on each sector (Katz 2013;Riccucci 2011).…”

“…Despite the impact that labor-management relations have on public management, the academic labor-management literature on has primarily focused on the private sector (Riccucci 2011). Th is is problematic because of diff erences in the laws that govern public and private sector bargaining and the impact that unionization has on each sector (Katz 2013;Riccucci 2011).…”

Governance and the Impact of Public Employee Unions on Organizational Performance

“…been uneven (Riccucci, 2011). Scholars have discussed the history and growth in size and strength of public unions (Kearney, 2010) and compared them to their counterparts in the private sector (Mesch, 1995;Riccucci, 2007;Seroka, 1985).…”