Settlement criteria in public sector interest arbitration must be realistic but also acceptable to the parties. That balance may be difficult to achieve in the public sector, where salaries have…

Smith discusses idiosyncrasies of interest arbitration in the public sector. Economic issues (wages and fringe benefits) present layered problems of wage comparisons, ability to pay, priorities, and uniform wage policy….

The article describes how arbitrator actually resolve ability-to-pay issues; it is not a prescription of how they should. It notes that some arbitrators accept the allocations of funds in governmental…

The report of an industrial inquiry commission of the compensation of hospital employees in Ontario (the “Johnson Commission”) concluded that neither government guidelines nor ability-to-pay should be used by arbitrators…

Professor Gershenfeld’s observations about interest arbitration. He examines the criteria for making monetary decisions, scope problems in the non-monetary areas, the “coercive comparison,” and the role of “public interest” factors…

To control government spending, some states have placed a “cap” on aggregate expenditures. The author examines how such caps affect public sector interest arbitration. For example, in Policemen’s Assn. v….

The author states that, in substance, a public sector interest arbitrator exercises delegated legislative authority and, as such, is an agent of the legislature in establishing wages and conditions of…