Arbitration in Practice: A Profile of Public Sector Arbitration Cases

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to describe the types of cases typically brought to arbitration in the public sector and to analyze the pattern of case resolutions—in what areas is the grievant or management more likely to win, lose, or reach some compromise. Additionally, comparisons of public versus private arbitration cases are examined. The authors analyzed 994 public sector arbitration cases from Labor Arbitration Reports: Dispute Settlements over a seven year period of time (1985–1992). Each case was coded according to the parties involved in the dispute, the type of case, and case resolution. The results of this study suggest that a wide variety of cases are brought to arbitration in the public sector and, depending on the type of grievance, the outcome is quite different. Furthermore, although more cases are found in favor of the union in the public sector rather than private sector, management in both the public and private sectors experience a higher winning percentage. Finally, the results indicate that significantly more termination and fewer suspension cases are brought to arbitration in the private than public sector.