News on Collective Bargaining

Teachers and Collective Bargaining in Missouri

In a very important decision, the Missouri Supreme Court has recently agreed to hear an appeal filed by Missouri NEA on a collective bargaining suit against the Independence School District.

Article I, section 29 of the Missouri Constitution, written in 1945, clearly states that "employees shall have the right to organize and to bargain collectively through representative of their own choosing." Currently, thirty-four states, including all that border Missouri (except Arkansas ), allow teachers and other public employees to bargain collectively.

Sprinfield v. Clouse

However, in a 1947 case (Springfield v. Clouse), the court ruled that this constitution right did not apply to public employees such as fire fighters, police and teachers. Last summer, a Jackson County Circuit Court ruled that the Independence School District had rescinded agreements with associations representing district bus drivers, custodians, and teachers without bargaining with the associations or obtaining their consent. But the court concluded that the District's conduct was not unlawful because of the 1947 ruling against public sector collective bargaining.

The Missouri Supreme Court's decision to hear the MNEA-backed appeal to this ruling is heartening news. It is interesting to note that MSTA, MSBA (Missouri School Boardassociationn) and the MSCA (Missouri Council of School Administrators) all submitted briefs in opposition to the court taking the appeal.

MSTA v. MSTA?

This puts our MSTA friends in the odd position of having paid their dues dollars to an organization that argues against their right to bargain for higher wages and better working conditions. Further, if the court rules in favor of the appeal and overturns Springfield v.
Clouse, they would then be in the position of clamoring for bargaining representation that they fought against having.

The Missouri Supreme Court will begin hearing the appeal on February 21 and should issue a decision no later than June. We are hopeful that the court will overturn the original Clouse decision so that teachers in Missouri can stop their "collective begging" and, like teachers in 34 other states, begin bargaining for better terms and conditions of employment. Missouri teachers are currently ranked 43rd in salaries nationwide.