IN SUPPORT OF PUBLIC EMPLOYEE RIGHTS TO ORGANIZE AND BARGAIN COLLECTIVELY

WHEREAS, the American Federation of Teachers acted as a pioneer in advancing collective bargaining rights for teachers, college faculty and other public employees from the first American collective bargaining agreement for teachers in Butte, Montana, in 1936 to the New York City teacher strikes for recognition and bargaining rights in the early 1960s to AFT's present-day defense of public employee union rights throughout the country; and

WHEREAS, these and other early efforts of the AFT led directly to the adoption of public employee collective bargaining laws in many states throughout the country; and

WHEREAS, the International Labor Organization has defined the right to organize and bargain collectively as a basic human right that is honored by democratic countries around the globe for both private and public sector employees; and

WHEREAS, surveys of worker attitudes across the country indicate strong support for meaningful representation rights for all workers; and

WHEREAS, experience in all sectors of the economy has demonstrated that services to the public are improved where there is a meaningful system of communication between employees and management. Service improvement is also most evident where frontline employees have a voice in decisions that affect their work, where employees have the right to choose their own representatives to deal with management and where there is a strong union to represent the interests of employees. The framework for improving the institutions where AFT members work has been established through meaningful collective bargaining. These conclusions are at the heart of the recent report and recommendations by the Secretary of Labor's Task Force on Excellence in State and Local Government through Labor-Management Cooperation; and

WHEREAS, the AFT has established as a priority the strengthening and improvement of the institutions where AFT members work. This commitment is a prominent theme of the AFT constitution; the report of the AFT committee on the future; the work of AFT program and policy councils for K-12 teachers, paraprofessionals and school-related personnel, higher education, nurses and health professionals, and state and local government employees, and the work of AFT locals and state federations; and

WHEREAS, an expanded scope of bargaining allows for greater employee input and involvement in the work performed and the quality of the services provided. The development of higher standards and a high performance workplace require that management and the union be able to discuss workplace issues on the broadest possible scale; and

WHEREAS, there remain 14 states that do not provide collective bargaining rights to public employees in the United States. In the 27 states that provide some form of collective bargaining rights to state employees, only 55 percent are covered by collective bargaining agreements, while only two-thirds of local government employees are covered by state collective bargaining laws; and

WHEREAS, the current political climate has led to widespread attacks on public employee bargaining rights that have resulted in state laws that severely diminish the scope of bargaining for teachers, college faculty and other public employees in Oregon, Michigan and Illinois. Union security rights have been cut back in Indiana where the legislature successfully passed a prohibition on the collection of agency fees over the veto of the governor. In Ohio the rights of unions to actively participate in and make financial contributions to political campaigns have been significantly reduced while other states, like Kentucky, have maintained "Hatch Acts" that severely restrict the ability of public employees to participate in their government. Many states across the country have witnessed a resurgence of proposals in their legislature and in some cases through ballot referendum that would restrict and even abolish public employee rights to organize and bargain collectively; and

WHEREAS, these attacks diminish the ability of workers and their unions to participate in efforts to improve public services and seriously erode the professional and economic well-being of all workers:

RESOLVED, that the AFT continue its strong support for collective bargaining rights for all workers. The AFT will continue to oppose all efforts to restrict the rights of workers to organize and bargain collectively. The AFT will work in support of political candidates, regardless of political party affiliation, who endorse the expansion of collective bargaining rights and also oppose any retrenchment in these rights; and

RESOLVED, that the AFT will work with its state federations and local unions, as well as with coalitions of unions and community groups, to build support for collective bargaining rights for all public employees and to protect and expand those rights where they now exist.