Arbitration

ARBITRATION SERVICES

Federal labor policy promotes the use of voluntary arbitration and collective bargaining to resolve disputes between employers and represented employees. Two important features of constructive labor-management relations are voluntary arbitration and fact-finding in disputes and disagreements over establishment or modification of contract terms. As an ingredient of collective bargaining agreements, the arbitration system substantially assures labor peace. Today, all collective bargaining agreements, in essence, contain grievance and arbitration provisions.

Part of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service’s responsibility since its creation has been the provision of panels of arbitrators experienced in dealing with labor matters. FMCS’

Office of Arbitration Services’ (OAS) major responsibilities include:

	Maintaining a roster of arbitrators qualified to hear and decide labor questions in labor-management disputes,
	Providing the parties involved in collective bargaining agreements with a list of experienced panels of arbitrators, and
	Appointing arbitrators following their selection by the involved parties.

Roster of Arbitrators

The Office of Arbitration Services maintains a roster of approximately 1,641 private arbitrators. The maintenance of this roster requires establishment of, and adherence to, high standards of qualification. These are experienced practitioners with backgrounds in collective bargaining and labor-management relations.

Panel of Arbitrators

A computerized arbitration retrieval system enables OAS to produce data pertinent for rapid and accurate panel selections and arbitrator appointments. Panels can be selected on the basis of geographical location, professional affiliation, occupation, experience in various industries and issues or other specified criteria requested by the parties. Turnaround time for the submission of panels in Fiscal Year 1996 was 4.2 days.

The automated system also allows OAS to provide the parties with current biographical sketches of the panels, and to monitor cases.

During Fiscal Year 1996, OAS submitted 30,066 panels to requesting parties in both the private and public sectors. In some instances, the parties requested panels for advisory arbitration of fact finding.

Appointment

The service appointed arbitrators in 10,102 cases during Fiscal Year 1996. In most instances, the parties jointly selected the arbitrators; however, in 40 cases, the parties requested OAS to make direct designations of arbitrators.

Arbitration Services Program Data

Number of Panel Requests, Panels Submitted and Arbitrator Appointments Fiscal Years 1992 Through 1996

Activity	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996
Panel Requests	28,438	27,692	27,036	26,027	25,827
Panels Issued ⁽¹⁾	33,722	32,259	31,610	30,697	30,066
Arbitrator Appointments	13,037	12,231	11,640	11,593	10,102

Frequently, the labor-management parties request more than one panel for arbitration cases, resulting in an increase in the number of panels issued over the number of requests received.

Average Number of Days Charged by Arbitrator for Travel, Hearing and Study Time Based on Closed
Arbitration Award Cases Sampled for Fiscal Years 1992 Through 1996

Activity Charged For	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996
Travel Days	0.41	0.37	0.4	0.41	.43
Hearing Days	1.08	1.14	1.13	1.2	1.12
Study Days	2.31	2.33	2.33	2.33	2.43
Total	3.8	3.84	3.86	3.94	3.98

Arbitrator’s Per Diem Rate Fees and Expenses Charged
Fiscal Years 1992 Through 1996

	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996
Per Diem Rate	489.9	515.52	540.69	560.1	570.67
Amount of Fee	1,868.29	1,982.35	2,104.42	2214.83	2,327.94
Amount of Expenses	242.05	240.03	247.49	244.16	245.80
Total Charged	2,110.34	2,222.38	2,351.91	2458.99	2,537.73

Average Elapsed Time in Days Per Case for FMCS Closed Arbitration Award
Cases Sampled in Fiscal Year 1992 Through 1996

Sequence of Events	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996
Pre-Hearing Phase	249.65	251.42	266.01	261.88	244.84
Between Grievance Filing & Request for Panel	91.88	96.35	104.2	106.93	99.27
Between Panel Request Date & Panel Sent	4.09	3.41	3.44	4.62	4.20
Between Date Panel Sent & Arbitrator Appointment	64.95	62.91	60.31	61.9	53.87
Between Date of Appointment & Date of Hearing	88.73	88.75	98.06	88.43	87.50
Post-Hearing Phase
Between Hearing and Date Award Rendered by Arbitrator	67.22	66.28	76.87	72.71	73.74
Total	316.87	317.7	342.88	334.59	318.58

Number of Issues Reported in FMCS Closed Arbitration Cases Fiscal Years 1992-1996

Total Number of Issues Specific Issues	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996
Total	6,011	5,276	4,949	4,835	4,310
General Issues	1,465	1,400	1,157	849	846
Overtime Other Than Pay
Distribution of Overtime	120	114	83	48	73
Compulsory Overtime	17	17	11	14	12
Other	52	54	26	18	14
Seniority
Promotion & Upgrading	201	186	182	147	143
Layoff, Bumping & Recall	280	248	188	128	130
Transfer	56	57	63	34	44
Other	76	66	66	56	65
Union Officers**	20	17	20	8	15
Strike & Lockout	4	8	4	5	4
Working Conditions***	63	54	48	44	21
Discrimination	48	50	40	32	22
Management Rights	138	152	123	88	81
Scheduling of Work	106	11	93	67	82
Work Assignments	284	266	210	160	140
Economic Wage Rates & Pay Issues	691	645	532	422	391
Wage Issues	94	78	70	58	53
Rate of Pay	161	140	129	89	99
Severance Pay	18	12	14	9	3
Reporting, Call-in & Call-back Pay	31	31	29	15	12
Holidays & Holiday Pay	59	73	60	50	42
Vacations & Vacation Pay	113	11	72	58	70
Incentive Rates & Standards	51	38	30	39	18
Overtime Pay	164	162	128	104	94
Fringe Benefits Issues	264	269	180	125	131
Health & Welfare	139	134	87	69	63
Pensions	33	28	16	15	14
Other	92	107	77	41	54
Discharge & Disciplinary Issues	2,641	2,509	2,286	1,958	1,916
Technical Issues	295	267	225	205	189
Job Posting & Bidding	101	92	85	71	64
Job Evaluation	83	49	42	35	38
Job Classification	111	126	98	99	87
Scope of Agreement	184	193	157	127	122
Subcontracting	124	131	100	81	87
Jurisdictional Disputes	35	31	35	29	14
Foreman, Supervision, etc.	18	25	15	13	17
Mergers, Consolidations, Accretion Other Plants	7	6	7	4	4
Arbitrability of Grievances	223	304	343	245	178
Procedural	29	37	70	63	46
Substantive	153	201	221	149	108
Procedural & Substantive	41	66	52	33	24
Other	0	0	0	0	0
Not Elsewhere Classified	248	—	69	904	188

* Overtime pay issues included under this category Economic: Wage Rates and Pay Issues.
** Included in this classification are issues concerning superseniority and union business.
*** This classification also includes issues concerning safety.

Number of Issues Reported in FMCS Closed Arbitration Cases Fiscal Years 1992 - 1996

Total Number of Cases State & Region	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996
Total	5,558	5,248	4,957	4,835	4,415
New England	97	92	83	69	82
Connecticut	25	25	23	16	9
Maine	14	16	11	13	13
Massachusetts	33	25	26	21	35
New Hampshire	12	16	4	3	6
Rhode Island	6	2	10	4	2
Vermont	7	8	9	12	17

Middle Atlantic	593	580	515	501	475
New Jersey	61	58	39	42	51
New York	169	190	181	181	148
Pennsylvania	363	332	295	278	276

South Atlantic	806	776	717	715	597
Delaware	12	8	4	7	3
District of Columbia	75	89	79	75	65
Florida	206	184	205	187	169
Georgia	114	134	122	132	110
Maryland	98	93	103	100	80
North Carolina	73	70	46	54	44
South Carolina	29	22	16	20	11
Virginia	121	107	73	81	61
West Virginia	78	69	69	59	54

East North Central	1,735	1,668	1,502	1,509	1,474
Illinois	337	378	333	312	358
Indiana	232	229	194	198	200
Michigan	309	273	241	264	303
Ohio	714	652	593	596	512
Wisconsin	143	136	141	139	101

West North Central	615	567	550	524	498
Iowa	90	104	109	104	99
Kansas	64	66	64	65	59
Minnesota	147	129	133	114	126
Missouri	247	223	207	191	180
Nebraska	27	32	20	33	16
North Dakota	6	8	9	11	13
South Dakota	3	5	8	6	5

East South Central	542	449	453	444	370
Alabama	111	118	110	126	98
Kentucky	154	89	149	131	108
Mississippi	32	54	41	43	29
Tennessee	245	188	153	144	135

West South Central	570	521	554	451	420
Arkansas	84	66	70	47	48
Louisiana	76	88	90	83	61
Oklahoma	131	124	133	102	88
Texas	279	243	261	219	223

Number of Issues Reported in FMCS Closed Arbitration Cases Fiscal Years 1992 - 1996

Total Number of Cases State & Region	1992	1993	1994	1995	1996
Mountain	183	199	175	208	175
Arizona	36	29	23	23	25
Colorado	47	56	51	63	61
Idaho	14	11	13	8	11
Montana	26	27	19	32	14
Nevada	16	28	24	20	16
New Mexico	21	31	30	52	30
Utah	18	16	10	6	9
Wyoming	5	1	5	4	9

Pacific	383	382	369	379	290
Alaska	12	16	21	19	9
California	201	210	218	228	174
Hawaii	2	7	11	4	5
Oregon	64	54	38	46	22
Washington	104	95	81	82	80

Miscellaneous	34	14	39	35	34
Philippines	2	0	0	0	0
Puerto Rico	3	13	9	7	6
Virgin Islands	15	0	20	13	14
Guam	3	1	0	0	2
Others	11	0	10	15	12

[ FMCS Home ] [ Up ]

Send mail to: lazurus@fmcs.gov Please restrict comments to technical issues. Comments relating to policy, content or style will not be acted on by the Webmaster.
Copyright © 1998 Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
Last modified: March 06, 1998

ARBITRATION SERVICES

Send mail to: lazurus@fmcs.gov Please restrict comments to technical issues. Comments relating to policy, content or style will not be acted on by the Webmaster. Copyright © 1998 Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service Last modified: March 06, 1998

Send mail to: lazurus@fmcs.gov Please restrict comments to technical issues. Comments relating to policy, content or style will not be acted on by the Webmaster.
Copyright © 1998 Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
Last modified: March 06, 1998