Arbitration is an alternative dispute resolution process where parties present evidence to an impartial arbitrator, who makes a final and binding decision. It is commonly used to settle labor, commercial, and international disputes. The arbitration process is typically outlined in an agreement and involves selecting an arbitrator, scheduling a hearing, presenting evidence and arguments, and receiving a final ruling. While arbitration is a more informal and private process than litigation, its use has increased as courts now generally support and enforce arbitration awards.

1. General Overview of Arbitration

2. What is Arbitration? Means to resolve disputes outside of court Labor and Management present evidence Arbitrator makes final and binding ruling Arbitration is different from mediation

3. Arbitration Uses Commercial Arbitration: long used as substitute for court actions International Arbitration: used as settlement of differences between nations Labor Arbitration: began during late 19th century Labor Arbitration advance rapidly after U.S. became involved in World War II

4. Simple Mechanics of Arbitration Arbitration authorized by Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) Parties select arbitrator Arbitrator and parties set hearing date Hearing Held Decision Final and Binding Award Enforcement

5. Aristotle’s Quote About Arbitration “For an arbitrator goes by equity of a case, a judge by the law, and arbitration was invented with the express purpose of securing full power for equity” Image of Aristotle

6. Chief Justice Warren E. Burger Quote: “I cannot emphasize too strongly to those in business and in industry…that every private contract of real consequence to the parties ought to be treated as ‘candidate’ for binding arbitration” Chief Justice Warren E. Burger Served on Supreme Court 1969 to 1986

7. Voluntary Arbitration Use Voluntary form of arbitration terms Private Commercial Contractual Example Industries using voluntary arbitration Maritime Securities Labor Medical Construction

8. George Washington’s Will “ I hope, and trust, that no disputes will arise concerning them;…..my will and direction expressly is, that all disputes shall be decided by three impartial and intelligent men, known for their probity and good understanding…and such decision is, to all intents and purposes to be binding on the parties as if it had been given in the Supreme Court of the United States.”

9. Courts and Arbitration Courts originally did not favor arbitration Most state and federal courts now support arbitration Routinely enforce arbitration awards Federal Arbitration Act and State Acts enhanced support Courts accept arbitration as alternative to litigation

10. Procedures Arbitration not required to follow court procedures Court may compel a refusing party to arbitrate Arbitration usually coordinated by an agency Agency coordinates various procedural activities

12. Use of Administrative Agency Rules

14. Timeliness Parties may make arbitration relatively quick and inexpensive compared to litigation However, bulk of arbitration cases requires several weeks or months Arbitration issues are becoming increasingly complex Time requirements increase with complexity Parties and/or selected arbitrator may not be readily available Nonetheless Arbitration is speedier than litigation

16. Multiple Days of hearing are expensive

18. Advantages Arbitration Over Litigation Court costly, prolonged and technical procedures of courts not well adapted to labor-mgt. relations Courts are not often versed in labor relation problems Supreme Court stated in the Steelworkers case: “The labor arbitrator performs functions which are not normal to the courts; the considerations which help him fashion judgments may indeed be foreign to the competence of the courts”.

19. Other Arbitration Considerations Prompt compliance with the award obtained in most cases Court actions seeking compliance or vacation of award is infrequent Discovery rights, attorney fees, punitive damages and supervised equity relief are typically unavailable Lack precedential value in development of the law of collective bargaining Faulty final and binding decisions may not be subject to review as are trial judge decisions

20. Labor Arbitration Observation Arbitration….is a school, an arena, a theatre. Everyone both participates and observes. The whole company of actors-arbitrator, union and employer officials, the…[grievant], and the witnesses (mostly employees)—sits at one table. Argument, assertion, testimony, charge and countercharge, even angry abuse-sometimes spontaneous, sometimes “for the record” –flow freely in quick continuous intercourse. The arbitrator may let the discussion takes its head for a moment, then rein it in; an occasional question, a request for clarification…… Labor Arbitration and the Individual Worker Jaffe, Annals of The American Academy of Political and Social Science 34, 40-41 (May 1953)

21. Arbitration - Substitute To consider… arbitration as a substitute for court litigation or as the consideration for a n0-strike pledge is to take a foreshortened view of it. In a sense it is a substitute for both—but in the sense in which a transport airplane is a substitute for a stagecoach. The arbitration is an integral part of the system of self-government. And the system is designed to aid management in its quest for efficiency, to assist union leadership in its participation in the enterprise, and to secure justice for the employees. Shulman, Reason, Contract, and Law in Labor Relations, 68 Harv. L. Rev.999, 1024 (1955)

22. Conclusion Next Lesson: Examine the Rules of the Road as a Union Advocate Read Chapter 1 of the Union Steward’s Guide Textbook Be sure to take this lesson’s practice quiz, read the case study, complete the assignments, and participate in the forum.