There is no federal law providing public sector employees the right to bargain collectively. Instead, each state regulates the rights of both public and private sector employees to unionize and bargain collectively, whether through state law passed by the legislature or through decisions handed down by the judicial system. Currently, all but five states either require or permit school districts to bargain a contract with the local teachers' union.
Not only do states define the obligation of districts to bargain, they also decide what issues can be negotiated. Issues such as wages, hours and terms and conditions of employment are generally subject to bargaining, even though states may have additional regulations governing these issues.
See an example of how this works.
In Massachusetts, salary is a mandatory subject of bargaining, but the state also defines the minimum salary that a teacher can earn. In other words, while the district and union negotiate the details of the salary, the negotiations occur within the framework of the minimum salary established by the legislature.
The language of states' state bargaining rules statutes has a considerable impact on the balance of power between management (school districts) and labor (teacher unions). School districts are likely to interpret state guidance on what can be bargained as narrowly as possible, while unions are likely to interpret the phrase as broadly as possible. Disputes most often arise over what is considered a "term and condition of employment". This ambiguity in language leads many of these differences to be settled by state labor relations boards, case law, state school boards or even the state's attorney general.
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