Assignment task:
Can you think of any public policy reasons why the courts developed the concept of employment-at-will in 19th-century America? In thinking about this question, consider that the U.S. Congress made huge land grants to companies willing to undertake the building of the nation's railroads. Can you see how both employment-at-will and public financial support of private enterprise might arise from the same underlying policy considerations?
Putting aside partisan politics, what are the pros and cons of attempts by assorted state legislatures and the Supreme Court to eliminate public employees' collective bargaining rights and decertify their labor unions? In answering this question, consider the current fiscal pressures under which many, if not most, states are suffering. Consider, too, that public employees enjoy protections under the 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, which does not apply to private-sector employees.