Originally from Dispute Resolution Journal

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THIS review covers decisions in commercial, labor-management and accident claims cases, arranged under four headings: I. The Arbitration Clause and the Arbitrable Issue; II. The Enforcement of Arbitration Agreements; III. The Arbitrator and the Proceedings; and IV. The Amard.

I. THE ARBITRATION CLAUSE AND THE ARBITRABLE ISSUE BARGAINING HISTORY — ARBITRABILITY — CONTRACTING OUT

New York Court of Appeals holds evidence of collective bargaining history irrelevant under federal law to issue of whether dispute arising out of contracting out of bargaining unit work and laying off of bargaining unit workers is arbitrable under terms of governing collective bargaining agreement. Court stated "[a]s the Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit declared in the Bridgeport case (International U. of Electric R. & M. Workers v. General Electric Co., 382 F. 2d 485, 490, cert. den. 379 U.S. 928) when it refused to consider such evidence, 'while this bargaining history may prove very useful to an arbitrator in examining this grievance to determine whether the company has violated any provision of the contract by its sub-contracting of work, it is of no legitimate use to a court in deciding whether to order the company to submit the grievance to an arbitrator'." Fitzgerald v. General Electric Co., 19 N.Y. 2d 325 (1967).