Principles of Arbitration in Wage Rate Disputes

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the principles most commonly relied on by arbitrators in settling, and by fact-finding boards in recommending the solution for, wage rate disputes. The principles examined are (1) the Cost of living, (2) the living wage, (3) the prevailing wage, (4) the reduction in amount of take-home pay and the national interest, (5) productivity, and (6) the ability to pay. Where feasible the approach adopted is to define the principle under discussion, to reveal how it is applied and developed in various factual situations, to raise the problems implicit in its application, and finally to come to conclusions as to its usefulness in correlation with other principles and its limitations under diverse economic conditions. The emphasis throughout is on the primary fact that the function of an arbitration award is to settle a dispute and not to propound a systematic theory of wages. In this regard, it might be noted at the outset that ethical doctrines can have as great an influence as economic principles if the parities are willing to accept them as the basis upon which their differences are to be adjusted. (Author's abstract courtesy EBSCO.)