The Truth About Collective Bargaining For Public Service Workers

Deep and serious budget problems brought on by the Great Recession have prompted some politicians to vow to weaken, or even completely strip state and local public service workers of their right to bargain for fair wages and decent benefits. They claim collective bargaining ties their hands. They claim it harms the economy. They claim it is the cause of their budget problems. They’re wrong on all counts. It’s time to stop the lies.

Collective bargaining not only benefits workers who belong to a union, it benefits employers as well.

• Unions increase productivity, by 19 to 24 percent in manufacturing, 16 percent in hospitals and up to 38 percent in construction, and unions decrease turnover.

• Good labor-management relations enable employers to make the best use of their most valuable resources – the skills and expertise of their employees. Unions increase opportunities for worker training.

• Collective bargaining provides a forum where employers and employees can join together to tackle problems. It is a two-way street that does not require any employer – public or private – to agree to any terms they cannot live with.

Collective bargaining and economic well-being go hand-in-hand: Taxpayers are better off in states where public employees enjoy collective bargaining because workers who have more to spend help build a stronger economy.

• The income of residents of states that recognize the right of state employees to unionize is higher1 than elsewhere.

• Eight of the top 10 states in terms of disposable income recognize the right of public employees to bargain collectively. Nine of the bottom 10 states in per capita income do not have public sector collective bargaining.

• Increasing the number of workers in unions by a modest amount could pump $49 billion into the U.S. economy2.

1 U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of Economic Analysis

2 Center for American Progress Action Fund, “Unions Are Good for Workers and the Economy in Every State,” 2/18/09

American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, AFL-CIO

1625 L Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20036-5687 www.afscme.org TEL (202) 429-1145 FAX (202) 429-1120

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The right to join a union and collective bargaining make sense in America, are fundamental to democracy and, for public employees, help ensure honest public services.

• Freedom of assembly is a fundamental part of our democratic tradition. The First Amendment in the Bill of Rights ensures for all Americans the “right of the people peaceably to assemble.”

• The public is best served by public employees whose first loyalty is to their job, not to a political party. In the public sector, collective bargaining insulates employees from politics and patronage.

• Bargaining brings consistency to personnel matters and provides fairness through mutually agreed upon contractual rights and obligations.

• Collective bargaining is a fundamental democratic

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