Arbitration -- 2014



Babcock & Wilcox Constr. Co.   (NLRB)

Presumption against the validity of arbitral decisions

Pursuant to the Notice and Invitation to File Briefs issued by the National Labor Relations Board on February 7, 2014, the NAM submitted an amicus brief in Babcock & Wilcox Constr. Co.. The Board asked that parties and interested amici to address whether the Board should adhere to, modify, or abandon its long-established standards for post-arbitral, pre-arbitral, and post-grievance settlement deferral for charges that raise claims under Sections 8(a)(1) and (3) of the National Labor Relations Act, but which are also susceptible to resolution through the employer’s and union’s grievance arbitration process.

On 3/25/2014 the NAM filed its brief arguing that the well-established, court-approved deferral standards that the Board has long used should remain in place without modification. Existing Board standards accommodate the clear preference under the Act for arbitral and other private resolution of disputes, while also protecting employee statutory rights. Further, current standards allow for the fair and efficient resolution of workplace disputes where existing collective bargaining relationships provide for a working arbitral mechanism, and conserve increasingly scarce public and private resources.


Related Documents:
NAM brief  (March 25, 2014)