A Comparative Survey of Private Sector and Public Sector Arbitration Cases

Lawrence J. Haber
Ahmad R. Karim
J. Douglas Johnson


DOI: 10.2190/9Q7Y-K56K-WJCN-G2TJ

Abstract

Rather than examining arbitrator behavior in a single category of cases, this inquiry examines arbitrator behavior across a wide range of cases in both the public and the private sector. Published awards between 1990 and 1995 are categorized using LAR numbers so that the classification scheme should be reproducible. Inspection of the relative caseload and the union win rates reveals some notable differences between the public and the private sector. The caseload in the private sector is concentrated on basic job security issues, whereas in the public sector the awards are concentrated on issues concerning wages and hours or other conditions of employment. Unexpectedly, the union win rates in the public sector were higher than in the private sector in six of eight categories of cases.

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