Interest Arbitration A Case Study Lancaster Police Benevolent Association And The Town of Lancaster

Abstract

Arbitration is a process wherein a dispute is submitted to an impartial third party for a binding decision. Interest Arbitration involves a dispute over the terms of a proposed collective bargaining agreement. In an Interest Arbitration an impartial third party renders a binding decision on the terms of the collection bargaining agreement. The case study describes a situation where the Lancaster Police Benevolent Association (Union) is negotiating a collective bargaining agreement with the Town of Lancaster. As the parties were unable to resolve the contract through negotiations, an impasse was declared. A demand for arbitration was made by the Union, and the matter was ultimately resolved through the Interest Arbitration process in accordance with the applicable provisions of the Arbitration Procedure contained in the collective bargaining agreement. The case presents the positions of the Lancaster Police Benevolent Association (Union) and the Town of Lancaster on the open issues in the impasse. The case requires students to review the information in the case and develop an appropriate Award (Arbitration decision for the case) for each of the issues. The case represents an actual impasse that went to a formal Interest Arbitration hearing. The Interest Arbitration case is designed for use in a class in Labor Relations/Collective Bargaining or in a Human Relations class. The arbitration process is stressed as well as the difference between Rights Arbitration and Interest Arbitration.