The impact of the New Hampshire Public Employee Labor Board's decisions on labor management relations: Two selected case studies.

摘要

This study seeks to determine what the effect of a Labor Board's decision is on labor relations at the local level. Two New Hampshire school districts were selected for study.; The New Hampshire Public Employee Labor Relations Act, Chapter 273-A of Title XXXIII was enacted in December of 1975 to “foster harmonious and cooperative relations between public employers and their employees”. Section A: 2 of 273: A created a labor relations board consisting of five members appointed by the governor and council. The Labor Board's composition is an equal balance of labor and management representation with a fifth member as chairman. Implicit in the Labor Relations Act is the authority of the Labor Board to define and interpret the terms and conditions of the Act.; Findings of the Labor Board are deemed prima facie lawful. The Supreme Court will not overturn a Labor board decision unless it can be shown by a preponderance of evidence that the decision is unjust, unreasonable or unlawful. Decisions from the Labor Board carry the force of law.; Disagreements between labor and management are often filed as Unfair Labor Practices with the Labor Relations Board. In this study, the two cases selected for study were both filed with the Labor Board as Unfair Labor Practice charges. Both cases concerned just cause and the interpretation of existing contractual language.; In each of the cases, the school board appealed the Decision and Order from the Labor Relations Board to the New Hampshire Supreme Court. In each of the cases the Supreme Court either reversed or reversed in part the Labor Board's decision. The present study examined the underlying conditions present within the district that encouraged either labor or management to seek dispute resolution from the Labor Board. Additional research questions attempt to determine if the attitudes of the respective parties, labor and management, changed toward one another following the Labor Board's decision. The study also examined if the parties found the intervention of the Labor Board to be satisfactory.