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External Law In Arbitration Hard-Boiled, Soft-Boiled, And Sunny-Side Up, Theodore J. St. Antoine

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Thirty-seven years ago Bernie Meltzer and the late Bob Howlett squared off at our annual meeting in a classic confrontation on an issue that refuses to die. What should an arbitrator do when there is a seemingly irreconcilable conflict between a provision of a collective bargaining agreement and the dictates of external law? Professor Meltzer was the hard-boiled logician. Arbitrators' proper domain is the parties' contract, said he, and we "should respect the agreement and ignore the law" when the two diverge. Howlett took the softer, more accomodating approach. He reasoned that "every agreement incorporates all applicable law" and so …