Originally from Dispute Resolution Journal

This study is an analysis of 72 arbitration decisions involving health care organizations handed down before and after the 1974 amendment to the Taft-Hartley Act, which gave legal protection to collective bargaining in proprietary health care organizations. These cases primarily involved nonprofessional employees (69 percent) who were represented by a union, which, in turn, represented both health care and nonhealth care employees (57 percent). Sixty-one percent of the cases were at least partially sustained. Union security was an issue in 31 percent of the cases. Previous arbitration or litigation was cited by the parties in 42 percent and 28 percent of the cases, respectively.

Muitivariate analyses revealed no differences in the characteristics of the cases before and after the Taft-Hartley coverage, with the following exceptions: (1) there was an increased tendency to use "expert" witnesses (other than the representatives of the two parties) after 1974, and (2) there was an increased concern about essentiality of services after 1974.