INTEREST ARBITRATION IN THE NEW strongECONOMYstrong.pdf

INTEREST ARBITRATION IN THE NEW ECONOMY Matthew J. Bartmes INTRODUCTION In late 2008, the US economy suffered a grievous blow. Some called it the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. Not surprisingly, that economic collapse has had a significant impact on public sector collective bargaining. In the public sector, many employees with collective bargaining rights are prohibited from striking, and a variety of alternate impasse procedures exist throughout the states. 1 The focus here is on one form of alternate impasse procedure, interest arbitration, in which a neutral arbitrator or panel of arbitrators are charged with determining the terms of collective bargaining agreements as to issues the parties have not reached agreement on. The arbitrator or panel adjudicates the disputes based on statutorily designated factors.2 Interest arbitration is regarded as part and parcel of the collective bargaining process in many jurisdictions, and an important tool for both public employers and unions. This paper explores the impact that the 2008 economic collapse has had on arbitrators’ deliberative processes in awarding contracts. The available data is simply too limited for a meaningful empirical study. The time frame under discussion, roughly November 2008 through October 2009, is too limited to allow for a large sample size. Not all states that provide for binding interest arbitration make interest arbitration awards publically available. The Labor Arbitration Reporter publishes very few interest arbitration awards, and there is naturally a delay between when the award is issued and when it is published. Moreover, among the jurisdictions that provide for binding arbitration, use of interest arbitration varies significantly, leading to a necessarily disparate award sample vis-à- 1 See generally JOSEPH R