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Public Employees: No Right to Strike

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Title: Public Employees: No Right to Strike


1
Public Employees No Right to Strike
  • President Franklin D --The employer is the whole
    people
  • The punishment prescribed for violation of these
    statutes varies from none in several states to a
    fine of 5,000 dollars and imprisonment for one
    year in one state
  • courts have denied the right to strike because of
    public policy
  • sovereignty is inherent in the people
  • To say that they can strike is the equivalent of
    saying that they can deny the authority of
    Government and contravene the public welfare.

2
Public Employees No Right to Strike
  • A second theory set forth by the courts to
    justify strike injunctions is that a strike is
    unnecessary because the government employer is
    not seeking a profit.
  • a government employee union can exert a grossly
    disproportionate pressure because of the type of
    services rendered
  • argument that public strikes endanger public
    health and safety witness the New York
    Sanitation Department strike of 1967, in which
    10,000 tons of garbage per day piled up on the
    city streets.

3
Congress has expressly forbidden federal employee
strikes
  • Congress has expressly forbidden federal employee
    strikes and has provided for quite stringent
    punishments for such actions. It is provided in 5
    U.S.C. ?7311 (1967) that "An individual may not
    accept or hold a position in the government of
    the District of Columbia or the government of the
    United States if he . . . (3) participates in a
    strike, or asserts the right to strike, against
    the Government of the United States or the
    Government of the District of Columbia. . . .
  • Further, title 5 U.S.C. ?3333 (1967) requires
    that an individual who accepts government
    employment must execute an affidavit that he will
    not violate the anti-strike provision

4
Supreme Court
  • Federal government control over the actions of
    its employees was protected by the Supreme Court
    in United States v. United Mine Workers of
    America.
  • In United States v. United Mine Workers of
    America, the United States Supreme Court held
    that the Norris-LaGuardia Act did not encompass
    federal employees.

5
Section 2 of the NLRA
  • public employees are specifically excluded from
    the National Labor Relations Act.

6
Section 2 of the NLRA
  • bill's drafter had excluded government employers
    from NLRB jurisdiction to avoid a "debatable
    question
  • House Report fails to identify the "debatable
    question," it probably concerned the conflict
    between the NLRA's guarantee of the right to
    strike and the notion that public employees
    should not enjoy such a right.

7
Section 2 of the NLRA
  • Section 2 of the NLRA provides "'employer' . . .
    shall not include the United States . . . or any
    State or political subdivision thereof. . . ."
    the United States or any wholly owned government
    corporation, or any Federal Reserve Bank, or any
    State or political subdivision thereof "

8
contractor-employer an "employer" within section
2(2)?
  • Right of Control Test --If the contractor-employer
    does not retain sufficient control over hiring,
    firing, wages, and working conditions, the Board
    deems it a nominal employer and considers the
    exempt government entity the true "employer" for
    labor relations purposes.
  • Political Subdivision Test , an entity qualifies
    as an exempt political subdivision if it is
    either "directly created by the state so as to
    constitute a governmental arm," or "administered
    by individuals who are responsible to public
    officials or the general electorate.

9
contractor-employer an "employer" within section
2(2)?
  • Joint Employer Tests whether the entities'
    operations were so integrated and whether the
    entities shared such joint control over labor
    relations
  • Intimate Connection Tests --if the services they
    provided were "intimately connected" with the
    operations of the exempt entity

10
  • statute legislatively grants public employees the
    right to strike. Eleven states (Alaska, Hawaii,
    Idaho, Illinois, Minnesota, Montana, Ohio,
    Oregon, Pennsylvania, Vermont, and Wisconsin)
    currently have this system. 37 The states that
    allow public sector strikes do so with some
    degree of control. Either by statute or by the
    courts' equitable power, strikes are allowed only
    in some instances. The right to strike is limited
    to public employees whose absence from their jobs
    would not immediately endanger the public
    welfare. 38

11
State common law
  • Generally, the common law has regarded public
    employee strikes as illegal "per se." 21 This
    "per se" rule is simple and harsh.
  • First, (sovereignty argument )a strike against
    the government is said to be tantamount to a
    denial of governmental authority. Second(public
    employment are established by the legislature the
    executive branch, cannot respond to strike
    pressure ), the terms of public employment are
    deemed not to be subject to bilateral collective
    bargaining because they are set by the
    legislative body. Third( excessive bargaining
    power, distorting the political process ), since
    legislative bodies are responsible for public
    employment decision making, allowing strikes
    would grant public employees excessive bargaining
    leverage, resulting in a distortion of the
    political process. Fourth(essential service ),
    public employees provide essential services
    which, if interrupted by employee strikes, would
    endanger the public welfare.

12
Illinois legislature
  • Illinois legislature enacted two comprehensive
    collective bargaining statutes, one covering
    educational employees (the Illinois Educational
    Labor Relations Act or "IELRA") and the other
    covering state and local government employees
    outside the educational sector (the Illinois
    Public Labor Relations Act or "IPLRA")
  • the IELRA and the IPLRA allow strikes by all
    employees except police officers, firefighters,
    paramedics, and security personnel.

13
Louisiana
  • the Simon v. Jefferson Davis Parish School Bd.,
    289 So. 2d 511 (La. App. 3d Cir. 1974).
    Louisiana state public labor disputes provided
    the strike involves "non-essential" employees.
  • THE LOUISIANA TEACHERS' TENURE ACT

14
Arkansas law
  • Potts v. Hay and City of Ft. Smith v. Arkansas
    State Council No. 38, AFSCME AFL-CIO.
  • Wilson v. Pulaski County Association of Classroom

15
California
  • COUNTY SANITATION DISTRICT (No. 2) v. LOS ANGELES
    COUNTY EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION
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