ABSTRACT
The Pennsylvania Public Employee Relations Act (PERA), also known as Act 195, became effective in October 1970. The Pennsylvania Labor Relations Board (PLRB) was created in 1937 to administer the Pennsylvania Labor Relations Act (PLRA) governing labor-management relations in the commonwealth's private industries. In 1970, with the passage of Act 195, the legislature delegated to the PLRB similar responsibilities in the newly created public sector. Act 195 grew out of the report and recommendations of the Hickman Commission, which was appointed by Governor Raymond Shafer in 1968. The commission was chaired by Leon F. Hickman, a former vice-president of the Aluminum Company of America, and consisted of representatives of public employers, organized labor, the state legislature, and the legal profession. The commission recommended the adoption of a comprehensive collective bargaining law covering all public employees. One of the most notable recommendations was for inclusion within the law of a limited right to strike, an almost revolutionary concept among the fifty states. The Pennsylvania legislature accepted this recommendation, and at the time of enactment, only Hawai 'i had adopted legislation granting public employees the limited right to strike.
