ABSTRACT
The fact that the number of teacher strikes has risen nearly pari passu with the number of state bargaining statutes has led to some interesting speculation. There has been ample historical documentation of the influence of legislation on strike activity in general. Persuasive as the arguments may be, the close temporal correlation between teachers’ strikes and state bargaining legislation may be illusory. Several states followed suit with repressive legislation, legislation that granted no bargaining rights for public employees but instead imposed a set of harsh sanctions on strikers. Perhaps no issue in the subject of labor relations has evoked quite as much controversy as the public employee strike. Among public employees there has been no group nearly as militant in its bargaining tactics as public school teachers. Concurrent with the upsurge of strikes there has been observed a steady growth in the number of state laws granting collective bargaining rights to public school teachers.
