The primary purpose of this study is to give the administrator, supervisor and classroom teacher a graphic resume of the rise and development of teachers' unions in the educational system of the United States. Many educators have become passive to unionization, and as a result of their passiveness they have given added impetus to a force that must ultimately be reckoned with. It is believed that this study can be used to advantage as a handbook to all desiring insight into this comparatively new problem.

The collective bargaining practices among Utah's council-manager municipalities was studied through a review of existing literature and two surveys, one of which· focused upon the policies and practices of Utah's fourteen municipalities governed under the council-manager system and having a population of 2,000 or more . The second survey was a microcosmic study of Ogden City's collective bargaining practices as defined by administrators and employee representatives. The first survey involving the collective bargaining practices of Utah's fourteen council-manager municipalities indicated that two factors were present . They are: (1) formal employee organizations existed in areas with the largest and densest population structures, and (2) all municipalities surveyed had some form of collective negotiation procedure for employees. The amount of bargaining, or number of issues bargainable, appeared to depend on formality of procedure involved and merit service classification . It appeared that the most bargaining took place under a merit-formal combination, and the least under a nonmerit-advisory situation. The Ogden study examined Ogden's home rule government, the current status of existing employee organizations, and various aspects of the bargaining situation . Four employee organizations exist in Ogden--one national union and three independent local associations--with individual bargaining methods oriented toward betterment of the employment situation. Though each employee organization seeks recognition in a different manner and is limited on issues bargainable, all have received noticeable concessions in the past.

With the introduction of enterprise bargaining in 1991, decentralised wage determination in Australia was generally expected to widen the gender wage gap (see Chapter 3). However, as discussed in Chapter 4, the research that underlies this expectation is typically based upon aggregated data and suffers from a number of deficiencies. In contrast, this dissertation utilises unit record data from the extensive 1995 Australian Workplace Industrial Relations Survey (AWIRS95) commissioned by the former Department of Workplace Relations and Small Business to test the hypothesis that enterprise bargaining has affected the gender wage gap in Australia. Whilst the passing of four years between 1991 and the time of data collection may not have allowed for the landmark industrial relations change to have worked itself through the labour market, a noteworthy and major feature of AWIRS95 is that it identifies workers and workplaces operating under enterprise bargaining agreements, as well as containing a female/male split of the enterprise bargaining status (see Chapter 5). Along with hourly earnings data derived from AWIRS95, a clear assessment can be made of gender wage gaps for employees under enterprise bargaining and those not employed under enterprise bargaining. The thesis uses OLS earnings regressions to identify the part of any gender wag gap that can be justified by the difference in measured characteristics between males and females, as well as identifying the part that remains unexplained (see Chapter 7). Given the potential that workplace characteristics can affect the integrity of OLS results, a random effects model is also used (see Chapter 8). Interestingly, the OLS and random effects results are virtually identical (see Chapter 9). It needs to be noted that the component of the gender wage gap that is unable to be justified by direct statistical reference to the regression model has been attributed to discrimination in the labour market. However, this is something of a misnomer as the unjustified component also captures the impact of: � model misspecification, including excluded variables; � mismeasurement; and � errors of calculation. 111 Every effort has been made to reduce these effects. Nevertheless, there may be an element of discrimination in the regression model utilised in this thesis that is not discernible through the observable and measurable variables (see Chapter 3). Results of analysis undertaken in this thesis indicate that the gender gap, as well as the unexplained component thereof, are larger for employee data associated with enterprise bargaining than is the case for workers not so employed. Even so, the result is not deemed to be statistically significant, as is further supported by extensive sensitivity testing (see Chapters 7 and 8). Further research is needed to support the posed hypothesis. Nevertheless, the thesis still provides a wide range of interesting outcomes in providing a greater understanding of an observable gender wage gap in Australia, as well as the associated and contributing characteristics of employees and employers. It is in this capacity that the research work recorded in this thesis provides a new level of knowledge and understanding, particularly given the thorough use made of recent microdata and the observed earnings effects of selected variables. As a consequence, the results of this thesis will form a solid foundation upon which further gender wage gap debate, policy formulation and labour economics research can stand.

<p><p>Drawing on participatory knowledge creation, this thesis examines the diverse ways in which social capital of poor, rural women in Bangladesh serve as a “capacity of individuals to command scarce resources, by virtue of their membership in networks or broader social structures” (Portes 1995:120). It addresses how women’s capacity to command resources, needed for their livelihood and for a dignified life, is influenced by cultural practice, power and gender relations, which interplay within and around their networks. Women are represented as active participants who are shown to celebrate, adapt, sustain, negotiate and resist the circumstances of their lives. Women find space to manoeuvre in the situations they face, strategize in their dealings with various actors, and manipulate resources and constraints.</p></p><p><p>The author argues that the social capital of women and the portfolio of bonding, bridging and linking relations that women have, or do not have, are keys to an understanding of the bargaining processes in their households and communities. Among the research participants, women’s ability to eventually change cultural practice, power- and gender relations depends upon whether women, individually or collectively, have a variety of bonding, bridging and linking relations to strengthen their bargaining power.</p></p>

<p>Calmfors and Driffill in 1988 argued that there is a humpshaped relation between the degree of centralisation in wage bargaining structures within an economy and unemployment. They collected aggregate economic data from 17 different OECD economies and ranked them according to their relative degree of centralisation to prove their model. The model was further developed by Rowthorn who in 1992, using individual data from the same countries, concluded that there is a negative linear relationship between the degree of centralisation in wage bargaining structures and wage dispersion.</p><p>During the past two decades the Russian economy, as well as the Russian trade union movement, has transformed greatly. Membership rates in trade unions have fallen and bargaining leverage of trade unions vis-á-vis employers has decreased. Using data from ten sectors within the Russian economy (collected in interviews with trade union representatives in Moscow, June 2006) this essay questions whether the theoretical assumptions above hold in the Russian context. By ranking the sectors according to their relative degree of centralisation in wage bargaining structures and using these rankings as explanatory variables in econometric analyses with unemployment rates and wage dispersion rates as dependent variables, this essay finds little proof that the theoretical framework of Calmfors and Driffill holds within the Russian economy. However, Rowthorn’s model of centralisation and wage dispersion seems to be more valid.</p>

<p>During the Fall of 2001 a survey created by Kathleen Cannings and sponsored by the Swedish Medical Association was sent out to a random sample of 1 out of every 12 medical doctors in Sweden. Using this data, linear regressions have been estimates to study the effects of variables such as age, gender, and unionization on the wages of Swedish doctors. The results indicate that variables such as age, tenure, and union bargaining all have a positive impact on wages. The relative wage advantage was around 7 percent for both age and union bargaining, while the effect of tenure was lower by about 5 percent. These three variables have more positive effects for male doctors, which suggest that gender discrimination is still a reality in the medical field. During 2001, male physicians could expect an almost 6 percent higher average wage than their female colleges.</p>

<p>The research conducted has been undertaken to engage the stakeholders to explore the possibility of establishing workplace forums. The gains of workplace forums with respect to sharing decision making is a distinct advantage both business and labour seemingly do not realise because of a continued resolve to negotiate conditions of service annually exclusively. The research was undertaken by designing an interview questionnaire for distribution. The population for this research includes a cross section of employers from the industry in the Western Cape, parties to the Hairdressing Beauty and Cosmetology Bargaining Council, the Employers Organisation and the Employees Organisation or Trade Union. The criteria set for the questionnaire anticipate responses of respondents to the challenges before and after the possible incorporation of section 84 of the Act Finally the research results indicate that the parties to a collective agreement in this industry still gravitate towards distributive collective bargaining by negotiating salaries, wages and conditions of employment in Bargaining Councils.</p>

During the Fall of 2001 a survey created by Kathleen Cannings and sponsored by the Swedish Medical Association was sent out to a random sample of 1 out of every 12 medical doctors in Sweden. Using this data, linear regressions have been estimates to study the effects of variables such as age, gender, and unionization on the wages of Swedish doctors. The results indicate that variables such as age, tenure, and union bargaining all have a positive impact on wages. The relative wage advantage was around 7 percent for both age and union bargaining, while the effect of tenure was lower by about 5 percent. These three variables have more positive effects for male doctors, which suggest that gender discrimination is still a reality in the medical field. During 2001, male physicians could expect an almost 6 percent higher average wage than their female colleges.

Calmfors and Driffill in 1988 argued that there is a humpshaped relation between the degree of centralisation in wage bargaining structures within an economy and unemployment. They collected aggregate economic data from 17 different OECD economies and ranked them according to their relative degree of centralisation to prove their model. The model was further developed by Rowthorn who in 1992, using individual data from the same countries, concluded that there is a negative linear relationship between the degree of centralisation in wage bargaining structures and wage dispersion. During the past two decades the Russian economy, as well as the Russian trade union movement, has transformed greatly. Membership rates in trade unions have fallen and bargaining leverage of trade unions vis-á-vis employers has decreased. Using data from ten sectors within the Russian economy (collected in interviews with trade union representatives in Moscow, June 2006) this essay questions whether the theoretical assumptions above hold in the Russian context. By ranking the sectors according to their relative degree of centralisation in wage bargaining structures and using these rankings as explanatory variables in econometric analyses with unemployment rates and wage dispersion rates as dependent variables, this essay finds little proof that the theoretical framework of Calmfors and Driffill holds within the Russian economy. However, Rowthorn’s model of centralisation and wage dispersion seems to be more valid.

The purpose of the study was to identify and describe the nature of change, relative to the roles and responsibilities of personnel administrators in selected Indiana public school corporations, resulting from mandated teacher collective bargaining.Personnel administrators with seven or more years of experience were selected to insure that participants in the study had had experience both before and after the enactment of Public Law 217. In-depth taped interviews were conducted with nine personnel directors.The responses of personnel directors participating in the study were compared, correlated and contrasted with statements made by authorities in the field relative to private and public sector personnel administrators. Major findings were:Additional Time Requirements1. Personnel directors are devoting additional time to record keeping activities, such as:a.Formulating reduction in force lists and call back lists.b. Reviewing and revising student enrollment by building and class as necessary.c. Developing expanded salary schedules which reflect broader range of teacher educational preparation.d. Maintaining information relative to the number of graduate hours taken and advanced degrees earned by teachers.e.Maintaining information relative to teacher fringe benefits.f.Maintaining information relative to compensation for extracurricular responsibilities.g.Maintaining information relative to number and type of leave days taken by teachers.h.Maintaining teacher requests for transfers.i.Maintaining detailed information relative to teachers holding temporary contracts.j.Maintaining information relative to teacher seniority by school system and building.2. Personnel directors are devoting additional time to activities required for the collective bargaining process, such as:a. Collecting and organizing financial and personnel information.b. Providing and explaining financial and personnel information to the chief spokesman.c. Preparing salary schedules to determine cost of various teacher group and board proposals.d. Compiling and analyzing statistics relative to the number of various teacher leave days taken and days on which leaves occurred.e. Developing expanded salary schedules which reflect broader range of teacher educational preparation as required by the agreement.3. Personnel directors are devoting additional time to consultation, such as:a. Providing guidance to building administrators relative to teacher evaluations.b. Advising building administrators regarding granting of teacher leave days.c. Discussing the status of negotiations with building administrators, superintendent and board members.d. Providing guidance to building administrators relative to contract implementation.4. Personnel directors are devoting additional time to grievance activities, such as:a. Reviewing teacher evaluations to prepare for grievance hearings.b. Meeting with union officials to hear grievances.Preparing for grievances and arbitration hearings.5. Personnel directors are devoting additional time to inservice training activities, such as:a. Explaining evaluation procedures and instruments to building administrators.b. Explaining the intent of contract language to building administrators to insure uniform contract implementation.6. Personnel directors are devoting additional time to cooperative activities with union officials, such as:a. Providing personnel and financial information relative to teacher seniority, salaries, and fringe benefits.b. Developing and revising teacher evaluation instruments.c. Hearing grievances and jointly determining equitable settlements.7. Personnel directors are devoting additional time to other activities, such as:a. Considering leave requests of teachers.b. Planning for staffing needs and teacher vacancies.Changed Organizational Relationships1. The majority of personnel directors have been placed in the grievance structure and now represent the superintendent, usually at the second or third step of the grievance procedure. Therefore, personnel directors now have more line authority to make binding decisions regarding grievances.2. Because personnel directors now have line authority in the grievance structure, personnel directors may support or reverse the decisions of building administrators regarding grievances. Therefore, building administrators are now consulting more with the personnel director relative to the handling of employee grievances at the initial step of the grievance structure.3. Building administrators are now seeking advice and approval of personnel directors regarding teacher evaluations and granting of leaves.4. The majority of personnel directors participate in the negotiation process either as chief spokesman or members of the negotiating team. As the administrative representative in the collective bargaining process, personnel directors are now the main communication link between the teacher union, superintendent and board of education.5. As the administrative representative in the collective bargaining process, personnel directors have been given the additional responsibility of insuring that principals understand the intent of contract language and implement the contract accordingly.Direct Participation in the Negotiations Process1. The majority of personnel directors participate in the negotiation process either as chief spokesman or members of the negotiating team.a. As chief spokesmen, new roles and responsibilities of the personnel director include:(1) Consultation with the superintendent relative to the selection of negotiating team members.(2) Consultation with the superintendent and other administrative personnel concerning the collecting, organizing and writing of board proposals for negotiations.(3) Consultation with the superintendent and other administrative personnel relative to the development of a negotiation strategy.(4) The presentation of school board proposals.(5) Receiving teacher union proposals during negotiations.(6) Communications between the teacher union, superintendent and school board.(7) Consultation with the superintendent and board members concerning the development of school board counterproposals.(8) The equitable and expeditious conclusion of negotiations.b. As members of the negotiating team, new roles and responsibilities of the personnel directors included:(1) Providing relevant and necessary personnel and financial information to the chief spokesman.(2) Explaining and describing pertinent conditions surrounding negotiations, personalities of the individuals involved in negotiations, and attitudes within the community.