CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – A forum exploring public sector workers and collective bargaining rights will take place Wednesday (March 9) from 5 to 6:30 p.m. in Room 43 of the School of Labor and Employment Relations, 504 E. Armory Ave., Champaign.
The forum, “Spotlight on Public Sector Collective Bargaining: A Public Forum Featuring Experts and Dialogue,” will feature labor professors discussing the events in Indiana, Ohio and Wisconsin, as well as broader implications, says Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld, the dean of the School of Labor and Employment Relations at the University of Illinois.
The panelists include Ariel Avgar, Monica Bielski Boris, Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Peter Feuille and Craig Olson, all professors of labor and employment relations at Illinois.
Topics to be discussed include:
- Why do public sector workers in about 40 states have collective bargaining rights?
- Are public sector workers overpaid?
- Are public sector worker benefits excessive?
- What can be learned from innovations in public and private sector collective bargaining?
The event is free and open to the public. Following brief opening remarks by the panelists, the forum will be an open forum, in the spirit of this “historic and teachable moment,” Cutcher-Gershenfeld said.
