A Case Study in Subnational Constitutionalism: the State Constitutional Rights of Public Employees in the United States to Collectively Bargain

Charles F. Szymanski

Charles F. Szymanski Vytautas Magnus University, Kaunas

Keywords: collective bargaining, strike, organizing, state constitutions, constitutional law

Abstract

While the United States Constitution has attracted considerable attention at an international level, less focus has been made upon the constitutions of the individual states that comprise the United States.

This article examines the capacity of such state constitutions to provide collective bargaining rights to public sector employees, who are not given such rights under either the federal constitution or by federal legislation. Existing state constitutional provisions that address the bargaining rights of public employees, as well as interpretive case law, are examined in detail. The aim of the article is to ultimately aid states with similar dormant constitutional provisions, or states contemplating the adopting of such clauses to their own constitutions, by providing a model to follow and drafting mistakes to avoid.

References

Statement of Albert Shanker, Hearings on S.3295 and S.3294.

Smith v. Arkansas State Highway Employees, Local 1315, 441 U.S. 463, 99 S.Ct. 1826.

United Federation of Postal Clerks v. Blount, 325 F.Supp. 879 (D.D.C.).

City of Springfield v. Clouse, 206 S.W.2d 539 (Mo. 1947).

Independence Nat. Educ. Ass'n v. Independence School Dist., 223 S.W.3d 131 (Mo. 2007).

Dade County Classroom Teachers' Ass'n v. Ryan, 225 So.2d 903 (Fl. 1969).

Dade County Teachers Ass'n, 225 So.2d at 905-906.

Davis v. Henry, 555 So.2d 457 (La. 1990).

In the Matter of the State of New Jersey v. Prof. Ass'n of the N.J. Dept. of Education, 315 A.2d 1 (N.J. 1974).

City of Tallahassee v. PERC, 410 So.2d 487 (FI. 1981).

City of Tallahassee, supra, (retirement benefits bargainable in public sector); Hillsborough Govt., Employees Ass'n, 522 So.2d 358.

City of Rocky River v. State Employment Relations Board, 539 N.E.2d 103, 115 (Oh. 1989).

Anchorage Educ. Ass'n v. Anchorage School District, 648 P.2d 993, 996 (Alaska 1982).