Factors in Higher Education - Collective Bargaining in Florida and North Carolina
Stutts, Alan Taylor
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Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/2142/66689
Description
Title
Factors in Higher Education - Collective Bargaining in Florida and North Carolina
Author(s)
Stutts, Alan Taylor
Issue Date
1981
Department of Study
Political Science
Discipline
Political Science
Degree Granting Institution
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Degree Name
Ph.D.
Degree Level
Dissertation
Keyword(s)
Education, Higher
Language
eng
Abstract
Previous literature which considers "why" faculty bargaining emerges in a four-year institution of higher education usually points to the economic, structural, institutional or legal characteristics of the institution. However, it is this researcher's contention that the "political culture" of the State in which the institution is located, is equally important, if not more so.
The researcher choose two states, North Carolina and Florida, each of which has dealt with public employee bargaining, including four-year higher education, differently. North Carolina has legislation which prohibits it, while Florida has legislatively supported it.
The following hypotheses were proposed: (1) The State University System of Florida and The University of North Carolina exhibit similarities with respect to those characteristics that reportedly influence the level of faculty support for collective bargaining, except in the area of statutory authorization. (2) Faculty in public four-year institutions of higher learning in North Carolina would support collective bargaining if the statutory authorization were present. (3) The prohibition of collective bargaining for public employees in North Carolina is reflective of the political culture of the state.
In short, the researcher is suggesting that conditions might exist within an institution of higher education which produce support for faculty bargaining. However, if the political culture in which the organization functions is not supportative of the organization exhibiting a particular characteristic (i.e. bargaining) it will not emerge.
Relative to the first hypothesis the researcher observed characteristics in both The University of North Carolina and The State University System of Florida prior to collective bargaining in other four-year systems of higher education. These characteristics included: salary and salary increases below the cost-of-living for the geographic area; salary increases not awarded on an across-the-board basis; and decisions concerning compensation, promotion, tenure and teaching assignment determined at the institution of system level. Such conditions continue to exist in The University of North Carolina.
Data concerning the second hypothesis revealed: (1) Faculty in The University of North Carolina's constituent institutions would support collective bargaining if statutory authorization permitted; (2) A single issue cannot be pinpointed as producing unanimous agreement among The University of North Caolina faculty as the sole basis for their support of collective bargaining. However, as in the State University System of Florida, economic variables, structural variables and to a more limited extent, institutional characteristics could be identified in selected situations as the basis for faculty support of collective bargaining; (3) Faculty were not as willing to extend their support of collective bargaining to include the approval of a strike as a legitimate means of collective action.
The researcher observed with regard to the third hypothesis that: (1) Differences existed in Florida and North Carolina between those characteristics of the political culture that earlier research suggested as influencing the level of support for public employee bargaining; (2) The previously mentioned characteristics in North Carolina would suggest an environment less supportative of public employee bargaining than in Florida; (3) The most statistically significant differences between the political cultures of North Carolina and Florida appeared as characteristics relating to inter-party competition and the innovative character of government.
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