TY - JOUR TI - Public sector collective bargaining during municipal State takeovers: towards a theory of local government employees DO - https://doi.org/doi:10.7282/t3-75zd-ft40 PY - 2019 AB - Local government employees in the United States share a multifaceted relationship with their state governments. This complex relationship between public employees at the local level and their state governments are heightened during state takeovers of a municipality. This study explores the outcomes of public sector collective bargaining during a state takeover of a municipality. Using the theoretical framework of the Public Service Model, this study employs a longitudinal case study strategy of Atlantic City, New Jersey. The study examines the context of Atlantic City Police Officers and Atlantic City Firefighter’s, substantive rights and procedural due process rights during a state takeover. Using ethnographic data (via participative observation), primary data (via interviews) and secondary data (via documentary evidence), collected between the period 2016 to 2019, the study performs process tracing to understand local government employee rights and collective bargaining outcomes during the recent state takeover of Atlantic City, NJ. Process tracing results indicate that when distressed municipalities in home rule states such as New Jersey are placed in state receivership the local government employee’s labor contracts with the city are severely impaired. Further, local government employees also face infringements of substantive rights and procedural due process rights when placed in state receivership. The findings of this study have both practical and theoretical purpose. The study makes practical recommendations for labor unions in other distressed municipalities. On the theoretical front, the study introduces a ‘quadruple legal framework’ to study local government employee rights. KW - Public Administration (SPAA) KW - Public sector unions KW - Collective bargaining -- Local officials and employees -- New Jersey -- Atlantic City KW - Government employee unions -- New Jersey -- Atlantic City LA - English ER -