NEW MEXICO'S PUBLIC EMPLOYEE BARGAINING ACT: THE FIRST YEAR FOR SCHOOLS

JENNIFER R. VILLA AND ALBERT A. BLUM

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DOI: 10.2190/R2P0-BX94-KQYT-6DTG

Abstract

In April 1993, New Mexico's Public Employee Bargaining Act (PEBA) went into effect, guaranteeing public employees the right to organize and bargain collectively with their employers. The increase in the number of teachers represented by a union and who eventually will be covered by a union contract supports the importance of the passage of a collective bargaining law to the growth of teacher unions. Of the twenty-five elections conducted during the first year of the law, in only one did the union not win the popular vote. In two elections, the required 60 percent threshold of votes was not met, and the result of one is being contested. In twenty-one elections the union representative was certified with an average voter turnout of 70.03 percent. Eight bargaining units were voluntarily recognized.

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