Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
The public sector currently employs around 40 percent of all union members in the United States. Pressures for cost-effective and quality government services have placed new demands on the labor-management relationship. A fluctuating set of expectations about the appropriate responsibilities of government and a shifting political culture are severely testing the ability of the public sector to meet demands for increased accountability and expanded services.
Especially in an age of knowledge workers, the traditional division between labor and management regarding leadership and work may no longer be viable. Going Public examines the forces affecting labor and management and the prospects for adopting service-oriented cooperative relationships as a key strategy for meeting the expanded demands on the public sector.
Contributors: Robert R. Albright, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; Lorenzo Bordogna, University of Milan; Jonathan Brock, University of Washington; John F. Burton Jr., Rutgers University; Adrienne E. Eaton, Rutgers University; Stephen Goldsmith, Harvard University; Jeffrey H. Keefe, Rutgers University; Charles Kerchner, Claremont Graduate School; David B. Lipsky, Cornell University; Martin H. Malin, Chicago-Kent College of Law; Marick F. Masters, University of Pittsburgh; Sonia Ospina, New York University; Terry Thomason, University of Rhode Island; Robert M. Tobias, American University; Paula B. Voos, Rutgers University; Allon Yaroni, New York University
Table of Contents
I. Critical issues in public sector collective bargaining. Public sector collective bargaining and the imperative for service delivery: an overview / Jonathan Brock and David B. Lipsky -- The reform of public sector employment relations in industrialized democracies / Lorenzo Bordogna -- Unionization trends and labor-management cooperation in the public sector / Terry Thomason and John F. Burton Jr. -- II. The balance between equitable employment practices and efficient service delivery. Restructuring labor-management relations to improve government services / Stephen Goldsmith -- The role and responsibility of union leaders for effective service delivery / Robert M. Tobias -- Enacting labor-management cooperation: new competencies for new times / Sonia Ospina and Allon Yaroni -- III. The effect of the structure of labor-management relations on service quality. Federal labor-management partnerships: perspectives, performance, and possibilities / Marick F. Masters and Robert R. Albright -- Can unions be transformational agents in public sector workplace redesign? / Jeffrey H. Keefe -- The modern guilds: the prospects for organizing around quality in public education / Charles Kerchner -- IV. The legal framework in the public sector: issues, administration, and structure. Public sector labor law doctrine and labor management cooperation / Martin H. Malin -- Wearing two hats: the unionization of public sector supervisors / Adrienne E. Eaton and Paula B. Voos.