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    Labor Management Relations Glossary

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    American Arbitration Association (AAA)

    A private nonprofit organization that, among other things, provides lists of qualified arbitrators to unions and employers. It is on the WEB at http://www.adr.org/.

    Arbitration

    See ARBITRATOR (external link)

    Binding Arbitration

    Under § 7121(b)(2)(A), a requirement that arbitration of grievances be binding (as opposed to advisory--which was permitted under Executive Order 11491).

    Exceptions To Arbitration Awards

    A claim that an arbitration award is deficient "on . . . grounds similar to those applied by Federal courts in private sector labor-management relations," or because it violates law, rule or regulation. § 7122(a). Some of the "grounds similar to those applied by Federal courts" are: the award doesn't draw its essence from the agreement, the award is based on a nonfact, the arbitrator didn't conduct a fair hearing, or the arbitrator exceeded his authority. Exceptions involving the latter are claims that the award violates some law or regulation. FLRA's rulings on exceptions to arbitration awards are not normally subject to court review if the arbitration award doesn't involve resolution of an unfair labor practice processed under the negotiated grievance procedure. NTEU v. FLRA, 824 F.2d 61 (D.C. Cir. 1987). In 53 FLRA No. 152, the Authority said that it would remand those portions of arbitration awards "that are challenged by . . . exceptions and that fail to contain the factual findings necessary to determine whether the arbitrator's legal conclusions are consistent with the applicable standard of law." The Authority has no jurisdiction to consider exceptions to awards involving major adverse or performance-based actions. See, e.g., 55 FLRA Nos. 130 and 50. Compare with 49 FLRA No. 90 involving an award dealing with an unsatisfactory rating (but not a performance-based action).

    Final-offer Interest Arbitration

    A technique for resolving bargaining impasses in which the arbitrator is forced to choose among the final positions of the parties--rather than order adoption of some intermediate position (i.e., "split the difference"). It can apply to individual items or "packages" of items. The theory is that each party, expecting that the interest arbitrator will pick the most reasonable of the two final offers, will have an incentive to move closer to the position of the other party in order to increase the odds that the arbitrator will select its final offer as the more reasonable of the two. This in turn narrows the gap between the parties: if the gap is narrow enough it can be bridged by the parties themselves (by, e.g., splitting the difference).

    Grievance Arbitration

    See ARBITRATOR (external link).

    Interest Arbitration

    The arbitrator, instead of interpreting and applying the terms of an agreement to decide a grievance, determines what provisions the parties are to have in their collective bargaining agreement. Also see ARBITRATION (external link).

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