School bargaining
The district ought to meet
The Columbia Board of Education has decided to stop showing up for bargaining sessions with the teachers’ union. On March 10, district negotiators said they had issued their final proposal and would not attend future sessions.
The union team continues to show up and accuses the district of not bargaining in good faith. The union has the better position. The board team should have continued to show up even if it had no further accommodations to make.
Labor law in the United States essentially requires the two sides bargain “in good faith.” The National Labor Relations Act does not say anything about what contracts should specify in wages and benefits except to recognize basic constitutional requirements, but the law does insist both sides must bargain in good faith.
I’m not sure if this element of the law is the same for the public sector, but the spirit is the same. If the National Labor Relations Board or the courts ever were to become involved, a basic requirement for both sides would be a willingness to meet and discuss.
There is case law on this point. Years ago an employer summarily told a union it had issued its one and only proposal, so there was no reason to continue meeting. The NLRB promptly found an unfair labor act, and ever since a basic rule is both sides keep talking. No court can determine the “good faith” behind a bargaining team’s smiling faces, but it can easily determine a refusal to meet as an indicator.
I doubt Columbia Public Schools and the Columbia Missouri National Education Association are headed for federal court, but even from the standpoint of local political good sense, the school district should remain in the room long enough to show good faith, even if it decides in the end not to agree with anything more that the union team suggests.
After all, the union might suggest something the district can agree to. The sides must stay in session more than long enough to hear each other out. A time will come when both agree further negotiating is fruitless, but it won’t do for either side to announce summarily.
HJW III
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