Connecticut General Statutes

Conn. Gen. Stat. § 10-153a (2026)

Rights concerning professional organization and negotiations. Duty of fair representation. Annual service fees negotiable item

✓ current as of May 2026
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(a) Members of the teaching profession shall have and shall be protected in the exercise of the right to form, join or assist, or refuse to form, join or assist, any organization for professional or economic improvement and to negotiate in good faith through representatives of their own choosing with respect to salaries, hours and other conditions of employment free from interference, restraint, coercion or discriminatory practices by any employing board of education or administrative agents or representatives thereof in derogation of the rights guaranteed by this section and sections 10-153b to 10-153n, inclusive.

(b) The organization designated as the exclusive representative of a teachers' or administrators' unit shall have a duty of fair representation to the members of such unit.

(c) Nothing in this section or in any other section of the general statutes shall preclude a local or regional board of education from making an agreement with an exclusive bargaining representative to require as a condition of employment that all employees in a bargaining unit pay to the exclusive bargaining representative of such employees an annual service fee, not greater than the amount of dues uniformly required of members of the exclusive bargaining representative organization, which represents the costs of collective bargaining, contract administration and grievance adjustment; and that such service fee be collected by means of a payroll deduction from each employee in the bargaining unit.

(1961, P.A. 562; 1969, P.A. 811, S. 1; P.A. 76-403, S. 1, 11; P.A. 79-422; P.A. 83-72, S. 1, 9; P.A. 87-250, S. 2, 11; P.A. 93-426, S. 6.)

History: 1969 act substituted for “without prejudice”, “free from interference, restraint, coercion or discriminatory practices by any employing board of education ...”; P.A. 76-403 included rights to form or assist and to refuse to form or assist organizations as well as rights to join or not join and included protection in the exercise of rights mentioned and bestowed right to negotiate in good faith; P.A. 79-422 added Subsec. (b) re annual service fees for bargaining representation; P.A. 83-72 amended Subsec. (a) to include all statutory references to provisions of teacher negotiation law, Secs. 10-153b to 10-153n, inclusive; P.A. 87-250 amended Subsec. (a) to include hours as a subject to be negotiated in good faith; P.A. 93-426 inserted new Subsec. (b) to impose a duty of fair representation on teachers' and educational administrators' collective bargaining representatives and redesignated existing Subsec. (b) as (c).

See Sec. 10-153k re applicability of this section to incorporated or endowed high schools or academies.

Cited. 162 C. 393; Id., 575, 578. By agreement on submission of question to arbitrator, Waterbury Board of Education waived objection to procedural limits of arbitration in teacher contract. 168 C. 54. Secs. 10-153a–10-153j include coverage of teachers employed in summer school programs. 177 C. 68. Agency shop clause in collective bargaining agreement prior to 1979 amendment expressly authorizing such clauses was valid and did not offend public policy. 180 C. 459. Cited. 184 C. 116; 190 C. 235; 200 C. 376; 201 C. 685; 202 C. 492; 205 C. 116; 206 C. 113; 210 C. 286; 216 C. 253; 217 C. 110; 231 C. 922; 234 C. 704; 239 C. 32.

Cited. 5 CA 253; 23 CA 727; 35 CA 111; 42 CA 700; judgment reversed, see 240 C. 835; 43 CA 133. Arbitration award granting certain teachers compensatory damages for missed preparation periods did not violate public policy requiring salaries and other conditions of employment to be collectively bargained because grievance arbitrations are not collective bargaining arbitrations subject to Teacher Negotiation Act and compensatory damages are not synonymous with compensation. 196 CA 463.

Cited. 38 CS 80.

Subsec. (c) (former Subsec. (b)):

Not a violation for local organization to allocate part of service fee to the state and national organizations. 206 C. 25.

Notes of Decisions
Cited in 33 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1972–2026 · leading case: Kilpatrick v. Bd. of Educ., 535 A.2d 1311 (Conn. 1988).
Kilpatrick v. Bd. of Educ., 535 A.2d 1311 (Conn. 1988). · cites it 17× “The plaintiff claims that service fees that the defendants collected from the plaintiff were illegal because they exceeded the dues of the FEA, and thereby violated General Statutes § 10-153a (b). 1 The trial court denied the plaintiff’s request for a permanent injunction and…”
Glastonbury Educ. Ass'n v. Freedom of Info. Comm'n, 23 Media L. Rep. (BNA) 2441 (Conn. 1995). · cites it 6× “The sole issue in this certified appeal is whether the Appellate Court properly concluded that, in the circumstances of this case, compulsory arbitration proceedings under the Teacher Negotiation Act (TNA); General Statutes § 10-153a et seq.; are exempt from the public meeting…”
Cimochowski v. Hartford Pub. Schs., 802 A.2d 800 (Conn. 2002). · cites it 6× “[a]ct, it is a mandatory subject of bargaining for the administrators’ unit and/or the teachers’ unit that members of an administrators’ unit whose positions have been eliminated or whose positions have been lost to other administrators, may bump into or be assigned to a…”
Connecticut Educ. Ass'n v. State Bd. of Labor Relations, 498 A.2d 102 (Conn. App. Ct. 1985). · cites it 10× “The issue involved boils down to two questions: (1) whether General Statutes § 10-153a et seq. (the Teacher Negotiation Act) and General Statutes § 10-151 2 (the Teacher Tenure Act) when read together, allow an administrator unit member whose position has been eliminated or who…”
West Hartford Bd. of Educ. v. Connecticut State Bd. of Labor Relations, 460 A.2d 1255 (Conn. 1983). · cites it 6× “The labor board concluded that the school board did not bargain in good faith thereby violating § 10-153e (d) of the Teacher Negotiation Act (act); 1 General Statutes §§ 10-153a through 10-153n; when it failed to provide information requested by the defendant West Hartford…”
Wethersfield Bd. of Educ. v. Connecticut State Bd. of Labor Relations, 519 A.2d 41 (Conn. 1986). · cites it 7× “The plaintiff, Wethersfield Board of Education (hereinafter school board), as the duly constituted board of education for the town of Wethersfield, is an employer within the meaning of the Teacher Negotiation Act, General Statutes § 10-153a et seq. The defendant, Wethersfield…”
Connecticut State Bd. of Labor Relations v. Bd. of Educ., 411 A.2d 28 (Conn. 1979). · cites it 4× “” General Statutes § 10-153a. (Emphasis added.”
Bd. of Educ. of the Town of New Milford v. New Milford Educ. Ass'n, 205 A.3d 552 (Conn. 2019). · cites it 4× “The parties submitted six issues for arbitration before a three member arbitration panel, pursuant to the Teacher Negotiation Act, General Statutes § 10-153a et seq., only two of which are at issue in this appeal.”
Town of Stratford v. State Bd. of Mediation & Arbitration, 153 L.R.R.M. (BNA) 2990 (Conn. 1996). · cites it 4× “n the municipal employer and the municipality, and that when “the Connecticut legislature intended to refer to ‘the legislative body of the municipality,’ it did so explicitly”; (2) the legislative history of MERA discloses that under that statutory scheme, the municipal *55 ity…”
Mazur v. Blum, 441 A.2d 65 (Conn. 1981). · cites it 2× “The plaintiff’s contention, that “party to the arbitration” refers to the individual employee who is represented by the union as well as to the union itself, is a construction that is neither supported by the statutory language nor the purpose of the statutory scheme.”
Hartford Principals' & Supervisors' Ass'n v. Shedd, 522 A.2d 264 (Conn. 1987). · cites it 2× “General Statutes §§ 10-153a through 10-153n.”
Kolenberg v. Bd. of Educ., 536 A.2d 577 (Conn. 1988). · cites it 2× “*123 The Teacher Negotiation Act; General Statutes §§ 10-153a through 10-153n; and the arbitration statutes; General Statutes §§ 52-408 through 52-424; evidence a preference for resolving disputes between teachers and boards of education through contract grievance proceedings,…”
— Conn. Gen. Stat. § 10-153a(a) — 1 case
Am. Fed'n of Teachers v. Ledbetter, 387 S.W.3d 360 (Mo. 2012).
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