Law Commons^™

Labor And Employment Arbitration Today: Mid-Life Crisis Or New Golden Age?, Theodore J. St. Antonie

Articles

The major developments in employer-employee arbitration currently do not involve labor arbitration, that is, arbitration between employers and unions. The focus is on employment arbitration, arbitration between employers and individual employees. Beginning around 1980, nearly all the states judicially modified the standard American doctrine of employment-at-will whereby, absent a statutory or contractual prohibition, an employer could fire an employee "for good cause, for no cause, or even for cause morally wrong." Under the new regime, grounded in expansive contract and public policy theories, wrongfully discharged employees often reaped bonanzas in court suits, with California jury awards averaging around $425,000." Many …

What The Awards Tell Us About Labor Arbitration Of Employment Discrimination Claims, Ariana R. Levinson

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

This Article contributes to the debate over mandatory arbitration of employment-discrimination claims in the unionized sector. In light of the proposed prohibition on union waivers in the Arbitration Fairness Act, this debate has significant practical implications. Fundamentally, the Article is about access to justice. It examines 160 labor arbitration opinions and awards in employment-discrimination cases. The author concludes that labor arbitration is a forum in which employment-discrimination claims can be-and, in some cases, are-successfully resolved. Based upon close examination of the opinions and awards, the Article recommends legislative improvements in certain cases targeting statutes of limitations, compulsory process, remedies, class …

The Changing Role Of Labor Arbitration (Symposium: New Rules For A New Game: Regulating Employment Relationships In The 21st Century), Theodore J. St. Antoine

Articles

A quarter century ago, in a provocative and prophetic article, David E. Feller lamented the imminent close of what he described as labor arbitration's "golden age." I have expressed reservations about that characterization, insofar as it suggested an impending shrinkage in the stature of arbitration. But Professor Feller was right on target in one important respect. Labor arbitration was going to change dramatically from the autonomous institution in the relatively self-contained world of union-management relations which it had been from the end of World War II into the 1970s. When the subject matter was largely confined to union-employer agreements, arbitration …

Gilmer In The Collective Bargaining Context, Theodore J. St. Antoine

Articles

Can a privately negotiated arbitration agreement deprive employees of the statutory right to sue in court on claims of discrimination in employment because of race, sex, religion, age, disability, and similar grounds prohibited by federal law? Two leading U.S. Supreme Court decisions, decided almost two decades apart, reached substantially different answers to this questionand arguably stood logic on its head in the process. In the earlier case of Alexander v. Gardner-Denver Co., involving arbitration under a collective bargaining agreement, the Court held an adverse award did not preclude a subsequent federal court action by the black grievant alleging racial discrimination. …

Contract Reading' In Labor Arbitration, Theodore J. St. Antoine

Articles

A quarter century ago, I used the phrase "contract reader" to characterize the role an arbitrator plays in construing a collective bargaining agreement. This phrase has almost invariable been misunderstood to refer to reading or interpreting the contract. When I spoke of the "contract reader," it was in the context of judicial review of an award. My point was this: When a court has before it an arbitrator's award applying a collective bargaining agreement, it is as if the employer and the union had signed a stipulation stating: "What the arbitrator says this contract means is exactly what we meant …

The Law Of Arbitration, Theodore J. St. Antoine

Book Chapters

The law did not look kindly on arbitration in its infancy. As a process by which two or more parties could agree to have an impartial outsider resolve a dispute between them, arbitration was seen as a usurpation of the judiciary' sown functions, as an attempt to "oust the courts of jurisdiction." That was the English view, and American courts were similarly hostile. They would not order specific performance of an executory (unperformed) agreement to arbitrate, nor grant more than nominal damages for the usual breach. Only an arbitral award actually issued was enforceable at common law. All this began …

Arbitration: Back To The Future, Theodore J. St. Antoine

Other Publications

A strong new ideological current is sweeping through much of the Western World. At one extreme it manifests itself as a deep distrust of big government. In more modest form, it is a sense of skepticism or disillusionment about the capacity of big government to deal effectively with the problems confronting our society. In continental Europe today there is much talk of the principle of "subsidiarity," the notion that social and economic ills should be treated at the lowest level feasible, usually the level closest to the people directly affected. In the United States there is much talk of "privatization," …

Divergent Strategies: Union Organizing And Alternative Dispute Resolution, Theodore J. St. Antoine

Articles

The Commission on the Future of Worker-Management Relations, the so-called "Dunlop Commission," is focusing on three principal subjects: (1) union organizing, (2) worker participation in management decision making, and (3) alternative dispute resolution (ADR). I am going to concentrate on the last, but first I would like to say a few words about union organizing. After all, unionization and collective bargaining - and for that matter, worker participation as well - can fairly be viewed as special forms of alternative dispute resolution.

Afterword To Chicago-Kent Law Review, Theodore J. St. Antoine

Articles

A unifying theme of this Symposium is as old and enduring as the common law: when and how can a well-established, successful adjudicative institution be adapted to meet the demands of new and substantially different situations? There have been splendid triumphs of transference, such as Lord Mansfield's appropriation of the law merchant in the eighteenth century as a major building block of modem commercial law. There have also been embarrassing failures, like the abortive effort to transport American labor law concepts en masse into the alien British environment of the early 1970s. The common question confronting the participants in this …

A Primer On Power Balancing Under The National Labor Relations Act, James B. Zimarowski

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

The focus of this Article is twofold. First, it addresses the substantive power control mechanisms established and regulated by the National Labor Relations Board (Board) and the courts. Second, it examines the power balancing methodology embraced by these dispute resolution forums. This Article takes the position that power balancing analysis designed to achieve the NLRA's multidimensional policies is a more fruitful endeavor than the analysis of economic efficiency or a partisan approach subject to political considerations.

Conflict Resolution In Industrial Relations, Theodore J. St. Antoine

Book Chapters

Only about one-fifth of the American labor force is unionized. With certain important exceptions, therefore, no formal machinery exists to resolve the various disputes that arise between a majority of the country's workers and their employers. The exception, which will not be treated in detail in this study, relate to (1) the right to organize into unions, which has been protected in most of the private sector since 1935 by the National Labor Relations Act and in the public sector since the 1960s by federal law and regulation covering U.S. Government employees and by statutes in about thirty states covering …

Deferral To Arbitration And Use Of External Law In Arbitration, Theodore J. St. Antoine

Articles

proper definition of the appropriate roles of arbitrators, administrative agencies and the courts depends in great part on the notion that, generally speaking, in labor relations, the interpretation and application of contracts is for arbitrators, and the interpretation and application of statutes is for the administrative agencies and the courts. Arbitrators deal primarily with contract rights and administrative agencies, like the NLRB and the courts, deal primarily with statutory rights. If that distinction is maintained, the problems of deferral to arbitration and the use of external law in arbitration can be more easily resolved.

The Labor Board And The Arbitrators, Theodore J. St. Antoine

Other Publications

The Labor Relations Law Section of the State Bar of Michigan held its second program of the current year, from May 27 through May 30, 1967 on Mackinaw Island, on a variety of subject matters with excellent presentations by the resource people conducting each of the various symposiums. Those who were unable to be present in this joint venture of pleasure and legal presentations will be able to at least vicariously "gather in the sheaves" of the legal wisdom disseminated during the program by the report contained herein. For those who were fortunate enough to attend plus those who didn't, …

Reflections On The Nature Of Labor Arbitration, R. W. Fleming

Michigan Law Review

The use of arbitration as a means of settling labor-management disputes has increased steadily in the past twenty years. Recent decisions of the Supreme Court have underlined the importance of the process. The natural tendency is to compare labor arbitration with the court system as an adjudicatory process. There are, however, significant differences between the two, and this needs to be better understood.

An intelligent evaluation of the differences, and of the labor arbitration tribunal in general, can be made only after an exploration of its origin and history, and after some consideration of the kinds of cases which are …

The National Labor Relations Act And Collective Bargaining, Nathan P. Feinsinger

Michigan Law Review

The purpose of this paper has been to review the policy-making decisions of the National Labor Relations Board in seeking to effectuate the duty "to bargain collectively" under the National Labor Relations Act, in order to ascertain and appraise their direction.

Labor Law - Collective Bargaining - Jurisdiction Of District Court To Vacate An "Unlawful" Order Of The Nlrb, Stephen B. Flood

Michigan Law Review

Respondent, representing a labor organization, petitioned the National Labor Relations Board for certification as the exclusive bargaining agent of a group of professional employees pursuant to section 9 of the amended National Labor Relations Act. After a hearing the Board ordered that nine non-professional employees be included in the bargaining unit. Section 9(b) (1) expressly prohibits the inclusion of non-professional employees in a professional unit unless a majority of the professional members vote for inclusion in such unit. The Board refused to take a vote among the professional employees, and proceeded directly to order an election to determine if respondent's …

Collective Bargaining And The Law, University Of Michigan Law School

Summer Institute on International and Comparative Law

Since 1948 the Law School of The University of Michigan, as a part of its program of public service, has sponsored a series of summer institutes to provide a medium for high-level discussion of legal problems in areas of public concern. In 1950 the subject of the Summer Institute was "The Law and Labor-Management Relations." In 1958 it seemed desirable again to turn to this important field, and the subject selected was "Collective Bargaining and the Law."

The 1958 Institute brought together a distinguished group of experts in labor relations law and produced a series of papers and comment which, …

Labor Law - Lmra - Injunctive Relief For Breach Of No-Strike Agreement, Mark Shaevsky

Michigan Law Review

The collective bargaining agreement between the employer and union contained a no-strike provision. While the contract remained in effect, the union sought wage renegotiations. The discussions were unsuccessful and the union called a strike. Claiming a breach of the no-strike clause, the employer requested an injunction against continuance of the peaceful strike. The district court held that under section 301 of the Labor-Management Relations Act of 1947, which provides that "Suits for violation of contracts between an employer and a labor organization . . . may be brought in any district court ... ," it had authority to enjoin the …

Labor Law - Collective Bargaining - Right Of Power Of Municipalities To Engage In Collective Bargaining, Allen C. Dewey S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, Weakley County Municipal Electric System, sought to enjoin defendant union members and unions from continuing alleged picketing, intimidation of non-strikers and other acts incidental to a strike. Defendants had gone on strike to compel plaintiffs to recognize Local Union 835, IBEW, as the bargaining agent of plaintiffs' employees and to sign a contract with the union. The chancellor granted a permanent injunction on the ground that the strike was illegal and against public policy, as a municipality has no right or power to bargain collectively. On appeal to the Tennessee Court of Appeals, held, affirmed. Even though the …

Labor Law - Collective Bargaining - Duty Of Employer To Furnish Information Relating To Ability To Pay, William H. Leighner S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

A regional negotiating committee of the International Woodworkers of America, AFL-CIO, sent questionnaires to some six hundred employers with whom it had bargaining relations. The committee desired information to assist in measuring wage demands for bargaining with employers in the Pacific northwest lumber and plywood industries. The information requested related to each employee, his job classification, hourly rates, seniority rights, paid holidays, vacations, and annual hours. The employers were also requested to furnish figures showing the annual board-foot production of their respective operations and related sales totals expressed in dollars. The employers declined to provide the data despite repeated requests …

Labor Law - Collective Bargaining - Duty Of Employer To Allow Union Time Study, Paul A. Heinen S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

A dispute arose between the employer and the union as to whether certain duties performed by an employee should be classified as "special assignments" as defined in the labor contract. If these duties were "special assignments" the employee was entitled to a higher job classification. Before arrangements could be made for the third step of the grievance procedure the union asked for permission to enter the plant and analyze the job. Permission was denied by the management and the union filed a charge of unlawful refusal to bargain. The trial examiner found that by refusing the union's request the employer …

Labor Law - Collective Bargaining - Unprotected Activities Of Union As Violation Of Duty To Bargain In Good Faith, Hazen V. Hatch S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

During negotiations for a new contract, the union engaged in harassing action against the employer by promoting an organized refusal to work overtime, extending rest periods without authorization, directing employees to refuse to work special hours, encouraging slow-downs and unannounced walkouts, and inducing employees of a subcontractor not to work for their employer. There was no specific demand which the activity was designed to enforce. The National Labor Relations Board found that this activity was evidence of a failure on the part of the union to bargain in good faith, and was, therefore, a violation of section 8 (b) (3) …

Labor Law - Lmra - Duty Of Certified Union To Represent Bargaining Unit Fairly, Edward W. Powers S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Local N, composed entirely of Negroes, and Local W, composed entirely of whites, and both affiliated with the same international union, had been certified by the National Labor Relations Board as the joint bargaining representatives for the bargaining unit. Subsequent to this certification, the two locals allegedly agreed between themselves that they would be represented by one bargaining committee elected by a majority vote of the unit, and that there would be but one line of seniority in any agreement negotiated by this committee. The committee which was elected consisted solely of members of Local W. It …

Labor Law - Collective Bargaining - Enforceability Of Collective Agreements Under Section 301(A), Douglas Peck S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff, an unincorporated labor organization, filed suit in federal district court to enforce a collective bargaining agreement with defendant. The complaint alleged that defendant was obligated by the agreement to pay employees represented by the plaintiff their full salary for the month of April 1951 regardless of the fact that they had been absent on certain working days. The suit was brought under section 301 (a) of the Labor-Management Relations Act of 1947.On appeal from a court of appeals decision directing dismissal for lack of jurisdiction, held, affirmed, two justices dissenting. An action by a labor organization to enforce …

Labor Law - Labor-Management Relations Act - Right Of Union To Sue On Collective Agreement Under Section 301, Robert C. Fox S.Ed.

Michigan Law Review

Plaintiff union brought suit in a federal district court under section 301 of the LMRA alleging that defendant employer had breached the collective agreement between them by failing to· pay some four thousand employees covered by the agreement for a day on which they did not work. Section 301(a) permits suits for violation of contracts between an employer and a union without respect to the amount in controversy or the citizenship of the parties. Plaintiff sought a declaratory judgment as to the rights of the parties under the agreement, an accounting to determine the amounts of the wages withheld, and …

The Voluntary Arbitration Of Labor Disputes, George W. Taylor

Michigan Law Review

Diverse conceptions about the relationship between collective bargaining and arbitration are at the root of some important current problems about the use of voluntary arbitration to resolve labor disputes. Should voluntary arbitration be considered, in any degree, as an extension of collective bargaining, or should it be basically conceived as an alternative to collective bargaining? In other words, does any part of the criterion of mutual acceptability-the very essence of collective bargaining-carry over when arbitration is invoked, or does "arbitration" connote a process through which employment terms are imposed upon the parties without any regard to the acceptability factor. There …

The Voluntary Arbitration Of Labor Disputes, George W. Taylor

Michigan Law Review

Diverse conceptions about the relationship between collective bargaining and arbitration are at the root of some important current problems about the use of voluntary arbitration to resolve labor disputes. Should voluntary arbitration be considered, in any degree, as an extension of collective bargaining, or should it be basically conceived as an alternative to collective bargaining? In other words, does any part of the criterion of mutual acceptability-the very essence of collective bargaining-carry over when arbitration is invoked, or does "arbitration" connote a process through which employment terms are imposed upon the parties without any regard to the acceptability factor. There …

Lectures On The Law And Labor-Management Relations, University Of Michigan Law School

Summer Institute on International and Comparative Law

The 1950 Summer Institute on International and Comparative Law recognized the great importance, all over the world, of the problems of labor-management relations and the accelerating pace of development of labor law. The Institute sought, through the techniques of lecture, comment, and panel discussion, to provide a basis for an informed appraisal of some of the most challenging questions in this area.

For the most part the program dealt with the problems arising in the attempt in the United States and in other countries to develop and apply legal standards to labor-management relations. Underlying the legal framework, however, are major …

Labor Law-Power Of National Labor Relations Board To Order Disestablishment Of Company Union, Wayne E. Babler

Michigan Law Review

In two recent Supreme Court cases, National Labor Relations Board v. Pennsylvania Greyhound Lines, lnc., and National Labor Relations Board v. Pacific Greyhound Lines, lnc., it was held that the Board had the power under section 10 (c) to order an employer, who had created, fostered and dominated a labor organization of its employees, to withdraw recognition from such organization of its employees, to withdraw recognition from such organization as representative of the employees and to post notices that it was "so disestablished." In so doing the Court reversed the respective circuit courts which had held the Board was …

Comparison Of Some Methods Of Conciliation And Arbitration Of Industrial Disputes, James H. Brewster

Michigan Law Review

In these times when we see combinations of employers co-operating under trade agreements with combinations of employees to conduct immense industries, we are apt to forget the remarkable development of ideas concerning industrial economy that has occurred within a life-time. It was only eighty years ago that the merchants of Boston met to discountenance and check what were then" regarded as unlawful combinations of workmen formed to protest against the long work day, low wages, and oppressive rules of their masters. The sum of $20,0oo was raised at this meeting of merchants and ship owners to fight the movement for …