The Volokh Conspiracy has moved to the Reason.com website. There law prof Jonathan H. Adler summarizes the findings of different studies looking at the effect of extending collective bargaining rights to law enforcement officers and public school teachers. Hat tip to Instapundit for the link.
Sheriffs deputies in Florida received 27% more formal complaints about unprofessional behavior after collective bargaining was granted. This happened during a period when police in nearby communities, who already had bargaining rights, experienced no similar increase.
Economists looked at the outcomes for 35-49 year olds of having been taught by K-12 teachers with bargaining rights vs. those taught by teachers w/o such rights. They found former pupils taught by teachers whose unions had bargaining rights worked fewer hours per week and made less money 2-3 decades after leaving public school.
COTTonLINE has long believed that government employees should have neither collective bargaining rights nor the right to strike. Civil service protections and generous government benefits should suffice.
