Negotiating "A More Perfect Union"? Politics, Power, and Institutional Work of Collective Bargaining in Education

• In Event: Moscone Center North Roundtable Session 1
  In Roundtable Session: Organizational Theory in Practice and Policy: Roundtable

Abstract

Teachers’ Collective Bargaining Agreements are a foundational component of the education policy landscape, and also a source of great controversy. And yet, we know little about the process by which school districts and teachers’ unions negotiate contracts, and how local actors implement new contract provisions. To examine the negotiation process and contract implementation, we collected qualitative data in four districts across two states, interviewing union, district, and school leaders (n=50 total) using concrete prompts related to recent negotiations and hypothetical think-aloud tasks regarding new contract provisions. Combining the lenses of micropolitics with institutional work, we attend to the roles and relationship between local actors (as strategic agents of change) and organizational structure in maintaining or disrupting the existing institutional order.

Authors

• Susan C. Bush-Mecenas, RAND Corporation

• Bradley Marianno, University of Nevada - Las Vegas