ABSTRACT
The influence of public employee unions on wages, benefits, and budgets receive more than its fair share of media and scholarly attention. Impacts on personnel procedures and policies represent something of a hidden dimension of public sector unions. The average citizen has little interest in or understanding of public personnel administration (or human resource management [HRM]), particularly the shadowy realm of civil service systems. Yet, the nexus between unions and human resource processes and policies is very important in shaping the nature of government work and the quantity, quality, and cost of services rendered to citizens.
