Contract (interest) arbitration has deeper roots in American labor relations than does grievance arbitration and, when utilized, is regarded as a more significant process. The author provides a brief historical perspective of the arbitration of contract terms, contrasts attitudes of management and labor toward the process as disclosed by the author’s own survey of various industries, and describes impediments to and criticisms of the process, including the criticism that mandatory interest arbitration is an obstacle to effective collective bargaining between the parties. Industries, such as construction and newspapers, that have experienced disastrous strikes, embrace voluntary arbitration of unresolved contract terms.