Does It Matter Who Bargains for the Municipality? Evidence From Police and Firefighter Bargaining Outcomes

Abstract

Numerous studies have investigated the impact of form of government, city manager-council versus elected mayor-council, on the labor and spending outcomes of local governments. However, for cities with collective bargaining agreements with their employees, this comparison may be incomplete. It is the chief negotiators, who may not be managers or mayors, that have the primary responsibility for bargaining with public employee unions. This study identifies the officials who actually lead the bargaining for municipalities and measures their effect on police and firefighter compensation and department spending. The major finding is that the type of official used by a city has no effect on bargaining outcomes. This supports the Deno-Mehay (1988) view of local government that argues that variations in local government management structure do not matter since all officials must ultimately satisfy the preferences of the median voter. (145, H70)