TEACHER'S STRIKES IN 1966 RESULTED IN 33 STOPPAGES FOLLOWED BY AN ADDITIONAL 11 IN THE FIRST QUARTER OF 1967. ONLY 35 SUCH STOPPAGES WERE RECORDED IN THE ENTIRE PRECEDING DECADE. OF THE 1966 STOPPAGES, 21 OCCURRED IN 10 STATES, BUT 12 OCCURRED IN MICHIGAN FOLLOWING ENACTMENT OF THE STATE'S PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT RELATIONS ACT IN 1965. IN CONTRAST TO INDUSTRIAL STRIKES WHICH TYPICALLY ARISE FROM AN IMPASSE IN NEGOTIATIONS, MANY TEACHER STRIKES TOOK THE FORM OF PROTESTS "TO" THE PUBLIC OR THE LEGISLATURE RATHER THAN "AGAINST" THE SCHOOL AUTHORITIES. MAJOR ISSUES INCLUDED SALARIES, HOURS OF WORK, THE RIGHT TO SPEAK COLLECTIVELY, AND WORK CONDITIONS. IN MOST SALARY DISPUTES, THE SCHOOL BOARDS AND THE PUBLIC WERE RESPONSIVE TO THE TEACHERS' REQUESTS. THIS LARGE-SCALE REACTION TO THE RIGHT OF COLLECTIVE BARGAINING, ALONG WITH SIMILAR EXPERIENCES IN THE PRIVATE ECONOMY, BEAR OUT THE THESIS THAT, IN THE SHORT RUN, MORE RATHER THAN FEWER STOPPAGES MAY RESULT FROM VIGOROUS AND INEXPERIENCED RESPONSE TO A NEW RIGHT TO BARGAIN COLLECTIVELY. PUBLIC SCHOOL TEACHERS ARE EXCEPTIONALLY WELL ORGANIZED. IN MARCH 1967, THE AMERICAN FEDERATION OF TEACHERS, AN AFFILIATE OF THE AFL-CIO, HAD APPROXIMATELY 125,000 MEMBERS, AND THE NATIONAL EDUCATION ASSOCIATION (NEA) HAD ABOUT ONE MILLION MEMBERS. NEA AFFILIATES PARTICIPATED IN 11 OF THE 33 STRIKES IN 1966, ACCOUNTING FOR MORE THAN 80 PERCENT OF ALL TEACHERS INVOLVED. THIS DOCUMENT APPEARED IN "MONTHLY LABOR REVIEW," VOLUME 90, NUMBER 8, AUGUST 1967. (ET)