Labor and Management

I write this at some personal risk to my professional development since last year I left my management job to become a neutral labor arbitrator.

I think that there is a great deal of mythology about whether individual arbitrators are "pro labor" or "pro management". Reputations of individuals notwithstanding, I see something different among "real" arbitrators. The best ones are "pro contract". They see themselves as servants of both parties and really do try to enforce contracts, not just give away cases based on their political views.

I spent roughly half my career in various union jobs - as an organizer, administrator or as a law clerk - and the other half defending a large transportation company from grievances filed by its largest constituent unions.

New legislation is now proposed that would in some ways upend the old card-check/election construct in place since the mid 20th century. The finer details are important but the premise could not be clearer: to make it easier to organize and to give unions a leg up in getting contracts for their members.

The most controversial aspects of the legislation are 1) permitting authorization card checks to substitute for a secret ballot election unless the Union chose to have an election and 2) to accelerate and promote interest arbitration to fashion contracts where the parties can't agree on a contract within a relatively short period of time. Some call the legislation a full employment act for arbitrators, particularly those with experience in interest arbitration. I'm not so sure that's correct but I understand the fear of companies that an arbitrator with insufficient knowledge of an industry could impose a contract that could make it more difficult for a company to compete with, especially, non-union companies.

For junior arbitrators like me, it would be years, if not decades, before I ever was in the position to "write" a contract for two parties. I certainly don't feel qualified to do so at this point in my career even though I negotiated contracts on both sides for many years.

My hope is that cooler heads prevail here and that reasonable compromises can be made to make it easier for unorganized employees to freely choose union representation and to respect the very difficult economic circumstances under which American companies operate. The old gloom and doom predictions from both sides need to fade away and a new conversation needs to focus on the benefits of the orderly adjudication of disputes that don't devolve into courtroom battles. Anyone who knows anything about labor relations would rather have a good arbitrator resolve a dispute than a judge with far less experience attempt the same thing.

Expressing my views might end a career that has barely begun. I wouldn't care if we could rationalize labor relations in an environment that is freer of fear and is more about real problem solving. I'll find something else to do for a living.

Despite all of the pundit chatter, the UAW worked very closely with American automakers long before the economic crisis that was not of its own making. UAW workers are not living in the lap of luxury and the story some Congresspersons want to sell about incompetent auto manufacturing managers are too shrill and include too much hyperbole to give the average citizen a meaningful way to evaluate the range of choices available to return the industry to being an important economic engine that lifted millions into the middle class.

If contracts need to be renegotiated, let that be the solution. Bankruptcies and court-ordered modifications of contracts are not. More organized employees will not spell the end of the world for employers. If done right, it might actually help.