Collective bargaining in California school districts: Are these alternative labor relations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether reported alternative labor relations practices were truly divergent from the established industrial union model of bargaining. In 1987, the Far West Research Laboratory for Educational Research and Development conducted a study of labor relations in California school districts. Administrators and school board members in California generally reported that labor relations in education were adversarial, and non-adversarial alternatives were being explored in some districts. This study compared alternative practices reported in a survey with descriptions of traditional labor relations found in the scholarly literature on the subject. Survey methods and content analysis were utilized. A secondary analysis was conducted of responses to a questionnaire sent to a representative sample of California school administrators and California school board members. Additionally, a telephone follow-up study verified accuracy of data in original data collection.;There are four major components to be studied when determining the state of labor relations: worker organization, negotiation of the agreement, nature of the agreement, and administration of the agreement. The study showed numerous California districts engage in mature labor relations, consistent with the conflict to cooperation theories of labor relations. Additionally, 66 districts have significantly altered the fundamental processes of industrial relations and demonstrate alternative labor practices. These alternative practices include involving teachers in budget development in school districts, negotiating policy trust agreements in addition to labor contracts, setting time limits on negotiation sessions or negotiating continuously during the term of the contract, introducing a third party into the negotiations, and involving teachers in district decision making processes. The majority of districts studied are moving away from traditional, adversarial, industrial unionism and are moving toward cooperative relations. When industrial relations progress to cooperative interaction, the relationship typically remains cooperative and does not return to prior adversarial relations.