;
and the entire text of the enactment." (citations omitted). 11
"The prior law on public employment relations was set out in a
State Board of Reuents v. United Packina House Food and Allied
Workers." (citation omitted). l2
Circumstances surrounding the
statute's enactment were discussed in an Iowa law review article
in 1969.
l3
Consideration of the Act as a whole, including
statements of public policy, reveals legislative emphasis on
"harmonious and cooperative relationships between government and
its employees. "I4
A more proper reading of Section 20.17(4), and a construction
which I adopt, is that the terms of a proposed collective
bargaining agreement are a matter of public concern and are,
theref
ore, not to be kept private, i .e. , unavailable for public
use. It would be the antithesis of the Act if only the members of
the negotiating teams for the public employer and the employee
organizations were entitled to know the contents of proposed
bargaining agreements.
By making the terms of such agreements
"~itv
of Des Moines v. PERB, 275 N.W.2d 753, 760 (Iowa 1979)
(citing Euan v. Navlor, 208 N.W.2d 915, 918 (Iowa 1973),
Smith v. Thom~son,
219 Iowa 888, 895, 258 N.W. 190, 195
(1935), In re Wilevfs guardians hi^, 239 Iowa 1225, 1231,
34 N.W.2d 593, 596 (1948), and In re Estate of Bliven, 236
N.W.2d at 369 (Iowa 1975).
12citv of Des Moines, 275 N.W. 2d at 760 (citing State Board of
Reaents v.United Packina House Food and Allied Workers, 175
N.W.2d 110 (Iowa 1970).
ole, State and Local Public Employee Collective Baraaininq
in the Absence of ExDlicit Leaislative Authorization, 54
Iowa L. Rev. 539-40 (1969).
14section 20.1, Code of Iowa (1987
) .
