Originally from Dispute Resolution Journal

The Arbitration Dilemma

Arbitration is written into most collective labor agreements as the last step in the contractual grievance machinery.

The crux of our dilemma is that grievance arbitration is utilized on a nearly universal basis, but the process is malfunctioning in several ways. This is a source of concern to all who participate in the process, whether as management or union practitioners or as arbitrators. In more homely language, grievance arbitration may be a poor thing, but it is our own. It may be the "worst" procedure for achieving final and peaceful resolution of disputes under ongoing contracts, but it is still better than any known alternative. Certainly, a return to the barricades of economic force is not an acceptable answer.

The present study is based in part on field interviews, but mainly upon indepth correspondence with knowledgeable management and union practitioners. The study is strictly empirical and pragmatic. The sole objective is to report specific suggestions on how to improve grievance arbitration as a process. Although the writer is an arbitrator, we are here concerned primarily with the practitioner critiques and suggestions.