Deck 14: Unions, Politics, and the Law

Question 1

Given the Supreme Court and NLRB rulings, what is the scope and finality associated with rights arbitration proceedings in the private sector?

Answer 1

Alternative dispute resolution: It refers to the adopting of techniques like mediation and arbitration in order to resolve the dispute without lawsuit. Moreover, alternative dispute resolution refers to settlement with parties without going to court proceedings. Under this approach, disagreeing parties come and negotiate and reached the consensus without interference of law courts. If the parties involved in the arbitration agreement feel that the decision held by the arbitrator is not valid or reasonable, then the parties can file a suit in the court of law. The court on the basis of available facts and evidence has the power to set aside the order of the arbitrator.
Both the Supreme Court and the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) have upheld the finality of arbitration proceedings. In 1960, the Supreme Court governed on the legitimacy and finality of rights arbitration for settling intracontract disputes.
The Court governed that decisions w.r.t arbitrators were basically not subjected to judicial review. Moreover, it laid down for three basic protections w.r.t arbitration. Firstly, clauses with respect to contractual arbitration necessitate parties to adjudicate unsettled grievances. Secondly, all the grievances need to be determined by arbitrators, but not by the courts. Thirdly, if there is an arbitration clause exist, if an argument is evidently outside the contract provisions, then court will direct for arbitration process. The NLRB, to prevent "forum shopping" and to reduce its caseload has adopted rules for deferring to arbitration when a contract violation and ULP are alleged simultaneously.

Question 2

What possible drawbacks do you see associated with the expansion of expedited arbitration?

Answer 2

Alternative dispute resolution: It refers to the adopting of techniques like mediation and arbitration in order to resolve the dispute without lawsuit. Moreover, alternative dispute resolution refers to settlement with parties without going to court proceedings. Under this approach, disagreeing parties come and negotiate and reached the consensus without interference of law courts. If the parties involved in the arbitration agreement feel that the decision held by the arbitrator is not valid or reasonable, then the parties can file a suit in the court of law. The court on the basis of available facts and evidence has the power to set aside the order of the arbitrator.
An arbitrator is a decision maker who reviews and solves the disputes between two, parties after hearing and testifying the evidences presented before him from the concerned parties. An arbitrator can also be said to be a private judge hired by conflicting parties to resolve their issues.
Expedited arbitration helps to reduce costs and delays involved in many routine cases.
Some of the companies and unions have used expedited arbitration to lessen time postponements and costs. With respect to this arbitration concern, arbitrators hear several cases and submit very short written awards. Mostly, these cases encompass individual discipline and discharge or emergencies. This arbitration facilitates the entry of new arbitrators as it handles the cases in a way that there are relatively simple and straightforward. Hence, the possible drawbacks of this arbitration are that the parties may not have enough time to present all of their evidence or witnesses.

Question 3

What duty, if any, does an arbitrator have to the parties to see that both are competently represented?

Answer 3

Alternative dispute resolution: It refers to the adopting of techniques like mediation and arbitration in order to resolve the dispute without lawsuit. Moreover, alternative dispute resolution refers to settlement with parties without going to court proceedings. Under this approach, disagreeing parties come and negotiate and reached the consensus without interference of law courts. If the parties involved in the arbitration agreement feel that the decision held by the arbitrator is not valid or reasonable, then the parties can file a suit in the court of law. The court on the basis of available facts and evidence has the power to set aside the order of the arbitrator.
In general, arbitration awards are viewed as final by courts, the quality of advocacy is very important. The Supreme Court has reversed an arbitration award where the employee did not have proper representation. During the hearing, arbitrators may recognize quality differences in the preparation of the case. Although arbitrators may question witnesses and probe into other matters, their impartiality could be questioned if it is concentrated on one side's case. It is not clear if an arbitrator can 'make a case for an advocate who is inadequately prepared, but if it's clear to the arbitrator that the grievant rights are not adequately represented, a later appeal could reverse an award based on the inadequately prepared case.
The duty is code of ethics which an arbitrator should follow. The code of ethics provides ethical guidance for many types of arbitration and under these guidelines it should be noted by the arbitrator that both parties are competently represented.

Question 4

Give arguments for and against the greater involvement of attorneys in arbitration, as both advocates and umpires.

Question 5

Forecast what you see as the future of labor arbitration in terms of the expansion or contraction of issues within its jurisdictions and the finality of its decisions.