Alumni spotlight: Nicholas Pittner, JD

July 24, 2023

Nicholas A. Pittner is a first-generation college student from Ottoville who began at The Ohio State University at Lima in 1960 when courses were housed at Lima Senior High School. He earned his Bachelor of Arts in Economics in 1964 and went on to graduate from law school. He has served as the trial counsel for numerous precedent-making cases involving education law at the state- and federal-court levels, including the constitutionality of Ohio’s school funding laws in DeRolph v. State of Ohio. He is Ohio State Lima’s 2018 Alumni Hall of Fame Recipient.

His retirement project has been to write a book focused on collective bargaining in the public sector – Better Bargaining: Navigating the Minefield of Public Sector Collective Bargaining. The depth of experience that comes from his nearly 40-year experience in public sector collective bargaining provides the framework for many of the examples in the book. 

Nicholas Pittner, Hall of Fame Recipient

Why did you write this book?

During the course of nearly 40 years of advising public sector clients engaged in collective bargaining I concluded that the private sector bargaining model is not well suited to public sector bargaining. Costly mistakes can be made on either side of the bargaining table.  In the public sector, the taxpayers bear the ultimate cost of the contract and much of the harm in the event of a strike. The book is designed to make participants on both sides  aware of the nuances of the bargaining process and the strategies that can make it work more effectively for them.

What is the book about?

Better Bargaining: Navigating the Minefield of Public Sector Collective Bargaining provides a step-by-step guide through the bargaining process, from planning to bargaining to dealing with problems that arise along the way.  The first part relates to the bargaining process, with a detailed description of commonly used bargaining models as well as an in-depth discussion of the economic and psychological factors that govern the process. Numerous suggestions for overcoming obstacles are included.  The second part is a detailed description of a number of provisions commonly found in public sector labor contracts.  Though Ohio public school bargaining is often used as an example, the information is relevant to public employers and employees in every state that permits public sector collective bargaining. 

What inspired the topic?

Many public employers spend the largest portion of their operating budgets to pay costs committed by collective bargaining, including employee wages, insurance, and other employment benefits. Bargaining mistakes can be extremely costly, and if strikes result from those mistakes, the costs escalate substantially.  At the end, the taxpayers end up paying the bill.  I believe that, in many cases, bargaining can be accomplished more effectively when both sides have a better understand the full import of the issues on the bargaining table, the underlying motivation often behind those issues, and the cost of the choices they are called upon to make.  In many cases that information will permit them to develop strategies far better suited to the public sector than the adversarial private sector model. The bargaining book is dedicated to helping those involved in the bargaining process attain faster, less expensive, and more effective results. 

What is your biggest hope for the book?

I would like to see the bargaining book become an essential resource for those engaged in public sector collective bargaining across the country, resulting in more effective contracts and better labor relations going forward. 

What are your future plans?

I have spent a great deal of time litigating issues related to public school funding in Ohio and I hope to share some of the information I’ve learned in that process.