An Examination of the Economic Status of Michigan Public Sector Employees 1980-1990

Abstract

Public sector collective bargaining is a recent and lengthy chapter in the book of labor relations. One subject that is given considerable attention by public administrators and students of labor and industrial relations is the impact of public sector collective bargaining methods on wages. In fact, many scholars continue to debate whether a particular group of public employees gain larger economic awards over other workers due to the accessibility of certain bargaining procedures, which are available only to particular employees. The topic of this thesis is an examination of the economic status of Michigan public workers from 1980 to 1990. A number of factors will be used to analyze several wage scales. From these data it is anticipated that some assessments can be made about one period in the history of Michigan public sector labor relations.