The Future of Public Sector Labor-Management Relations JAMES T. BENNETT George Mason University, Fairfax, VA 22030 MARICK F. MASTERS University of Pittsburgh, PA 15260 I. Introduction Unionism in the U.S. has changed dramatically over the past 50 years. Union mem- bership overall has shrunk to historically low levels and has become increasingly con- centrated in the public sector. The public employee unionization rate has eclipsed that of the private sector fourfold. A recent symposium in this journal on "The Future of Private Sector Unions in the United States" (Part I, Spring 2001 ; Part II, Summer, 2001 ) addressed the important question of the future of private sector unionism. In introducing this symposium, Bennett and Kaufman (2001a, p. 227) observed: As we enter the twenty-first century, the labor movement is again at low tide, at least in the private sector where most of the work force is employed. In the decade after World War II, union density (proportion of the wage and salary work force organ- ized) in the private sector stood at roughly one-third; today it stands at less than ten percent. Membership has also fallen by over five million, although the rate of descent has not been as sharp and continuous as for union density. This observation raises the important question of what the future holds for pub- lic sector unions. Given that unionism is increasingly a public sector phenomenon, the future of unionism itself will be substantially affected by developments affecting government employees. Thus, we address the issue of the future of public sector labor relations and unions over the next two decades in a multi-part symposium. We set the stage for this symposium by reviewing relevant contexts and trends affecting public sector labor-management relations. We review the current legal envi- ronment regarding public sector bargaining and unionization at the federal, postal, and nonfederal levels of government. In addition, we examine trends in unionization, the central challenges confronting the public sector, and competing perspectives on the propriety and utility of public sector unions. II. The Legal Environment The legal environment governing public sector labor-management relations is hetero- geneous. The heterogeneity reflects, in part, the diversity in public sector employment JOURNAL OF LABOR RESEARCH Volume XXIV, Number 4 Fall 2003