The State Government Dilemma: Civil Service vs. Collective Bargaining Laws

Today, can public unions make better decisions than state or local civil service commissions? Is there obvious legal conflict in the state statutes permitting unionism and civil service? The rise of public unionism and the steady increase in the number of public employees during the past two decades contribute great complexity to the administration of state and local governmental personnel systems. In the 19th century, reform organizations emphasized a need to end the "spoils" system with civil service reform at the federal, state, and local levels. Civil service then developed its own "bureaucracy." In addition, public employees in the 1960s saw their counterparts in private industry making all types of wage and fringe-benefit gains under the nation's National Labor Relations Act. State and local unionism rose sharply in the 1960's and 1970's and collective bargaining statutes were enacted in a majority of states, often without amending existing civil service laws. A "conflict of laws" rose with intense pressures on the legislatures for "accommodation" statutes. Such statutes would have spelled out the legal relationship of civil service to collective bargaining. When these were not forthcoming, the courts entered the picture and judicial "accommodation" decisions developed. Conflict of laws still exists in great measure and "gray" areas abound, causing frustration to government, unions, personnel, and labor practitioners. The writer recommends ways in which the situation can be clarified.