Just the Facts About Collective Bargaining (that nobody seems to be considering)

• In Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the UN states that the the ability to organize trade unions is a fundamental human right. Item 2(a) of the International Labour Organization’s Declaration on Fundamental Principles and Rights at Work defines the “freedom of association and the effective recognition of the right to collective bargaining” as a basic right of all workers. (http://www.ohchr.org/en/udhr/pages/introduction.aspx)
• In Title 29 > Chapter 7 > Subchapter II, the US Labor Relations Act states that the government should be "encouraging the practice and procedure of collective bargaining and by protecting the exercise by workers of full freedom of association, self-organization, and designation of representatives of their own choosing, for the purpose of negotiating the terms and conditions of their employment or other mutual aid or protection" (http://www.nlrb.gov/)    
• In 1975, after the state Supreme Court unanimously supported Timberlane teachers in a strike, New Hampshire created a labor-management committee which in turn drafted a bill that Governor Thompson passed as law. The NH Bar Association reports that "The Act declared that the State must 'protect the public by encouraging the orderly and uninterrupted operation of government.'  The Act made bargaining mandatory and created a Public Employee Labor Relations Board 'vested with broad powers to assist in resolving disputes between government and its employees.' " (http://www.nhbar.org/publications/archives/display-journal-issue.asp?id=340)
• In a February 2011 USA Today/Gallup poll, 61% of the American public supports collective bargaining for public employees.  (http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2011-02-22-poll-public-unions-wisconsin_N.htm)