Collective Bargaining Rights for State Employees – Yes
Whether state employees should have collective bargaining rights raises a number of issues. Anyone is worthy of his or her hire. From this comes the moral issue of pay and conditions being dictated by others with no redress. There is the issue of human rights and there is the issue of justice.
When someone accepts a job offer they know the conditions under which they will be working. Here a number of factors come into play. The competence of the person in charge varies considerably. While most individuals will try and be accommodating, if the boss is not an easy person to work with, what can someone with no bargaining rights do? This is especially relevant if they enjoy their work and the colleagues they work with.
The financial functioning of the state can change the conditions of work because of financial set backs and the circumstances of world markets which impact on the state. This can mean pay cuts and work changes for which the employees have no means of negotiating the best way forward. The usual assumption is that employees will always be demanding of more money and perks but, in fact, the ability to discuss an issue which affects their working lives can be productive in ways which are not immediately visible. Having different points of view is a way of finding the best way forward. Sometimes employees come up with solutions which are beneficial to all.
Human rights means treating employees with respect. Employees do an important and useful job at whatever level. To ride roughshod over them, imposing conditions which were not there when they were employed, is to treat them as of no worth. No sensible employer who expects the workforce to act as rational and sensible people is successful with this approach. It causes resentment and reduces the ability of the person to work well.
We all expect to be treated justly. By listening to employees feelings about their work the state can learn how to improve the service and how to improve the conditions for the workforce. This does not necessarily mean costs will rise, because the person doing the job can often see ways of doing it more efficiently. When employees are given responsibility for themselves and their work they respond like rational people.
To disenfranchise a group of state employees demotes them to the level of slave. They are forced to accept conditions which are sometimes unworkable. They are being shown that the work they do is not valued by the community they serve, which translates to a personal level of not being respected for doing an honest job.
With collective bargaining rights, a skilled arbiter can hear both sides of a dispute and make rational and practical suggestions on how to proceed. Justice, human rights and morality are being considered. Any country which considers itself democratic can only be aware of these points.
