Final position arbitration

Abstract. The tremendous upsurge in public-sector collective bargaining in the last decade has prompted a search for new types of dispute settlement, particularly in so-called essential services. The right to strike for public employees has not been accepted in many jurisdictions, particularly in the United States. Compulsory arbitration is rejected widely by both union and management representatives hecausc it fails to take into account the dynamics of the negotiating process, stultifying rather than encouraging bargaining. Final offer Selection is presented as a possible alternative to strikes and arbitration. The process has been utilized effectively in the United States, particularly in Michigan and Wisconsin. It has not received popular acceptance thus far in Canada, although the committee established to propose new labour legislation in hlanitoba has recommended it. The University of Alberta has used it for determination of faculty disputes and the Ontario Hydro Engineers have also used it. The Finkelinan Report on suggested changes in the federal public service legislatioii refers to it as a possible dispute-settling device. There are many variations of final offer arbitration but, in general, it requires that after negotiations have reached an impasse, an arbitrator, upon hearing the final positions of the parties, would select the ‘most reasonable’ offer. The arbitrator would not be free to compromise hut would be required to accept one pusition or the other in toto. The attractiveness of the process stems from the impetus given to reach agreement on as many issues as possible so that the gamble of convincing the arbitrator is lessened and he has fewer items to consider when making his choice. Thus, the theory stresses the importance of the parties being ‘reasonable’ in their demands. Critics of the system believe that it turns the adjudication process into a poker game and have referred to it as ‘industrial relations roulette.’ With all its disadvantages, to an organization like Michigan Firefighters Union, which cannot countenance a strike, or to the public, which must endure the inconvenience and expenses of strikes in the public service, final position arbitration has much to be said in its favour. Sommaire. L'énorme multiplication des négociations collectives dans le secteur public au cours de la dernière déennie a suscité des recherches pour trouver de nouveaux moyens de resoudre les différends, surtout en ce qui concerned les services dits ‘essentiels.’ De nombreuses juridictions, en particulier aux Etats- Unis, ont refusé le droit de grève aux employés du secteur public. L'arbitrage obligatoire est trés souvent rejeté par les syndicats comme par les employeurs, parce qu'il ne tient pas compte de la dynamique du processus de négociation et tend à restreindre les échanges plutôt qu'à les encourager. Le choix entre des offres définitives est considéré comme une possibilité par rapport à la gré ou à l'arbitrage. Ce processus a été utilisé efficacement aux Etats-Unis et plus particuliérement dans le Michigan et le Wisconsin. II n'a pas eu jusqu'à présent beaucoup de succès au Canada, bien qu'il ait été recom-niandé au Manitoba par la Commission chargée de proposer une nouvelle législation du travail. L'Université de I'Alberta s'en est servie pour résoudre des dif-férends avec le corps enseignant, mmme dailleurs les ingénieurs de l'Ontario Hydro. Le rapport Finkelman qui a proposé des modifications àA lég législation fédérale répissant la fonction publique le mentionne également comme un inoven possible de résoudre des différends II v a toutes sortes de variantes de l'arbitrage des offres définitives mais en général, cette méthode exige que l'arbitre, lorsque les parties àB la négociation se trouvent dans une impasse, et que leurs offres sont définitives, choisisse la ‘plus raisonnable.’ L'arbitre n'est pas libre de faire un compromis entre les deux, il doit accepter I'une ou l'autre des offres in toto. L'intérét de ce processus est qu'il incite les parties à faire tous les efforts pour arriver à un accord sur le plus de questions possibles de façon à réduire la discrétion de l'arbitre. Les parties ont ainsi intérêt àêtre ‘raisonnables’ dans leurs demands. Les critiques du système ont peur que ce genre d'arbitrage transforme le processus d'adjudication en une partie de poker et certains ont appelé l'arbitrage des positions définitives ‘la roulette des relations industrielles.’ Malgé tous ces inconvénients, l'arbitrage des offres définitives demeure attrayant pour le svndicat des pompiers du Michigan qui ne peut pas envisager la grève et pour le public qui doit supporter les désagréments et !es coûts des gréves dans le service public.     

Perceptions of Law Enforcement Officers in Seeking Mental Health Treatment in a Right-to-Work State

The high stress environment of law enforcement places officers at risk for a variety of mental and physical health problems; however, officers are reluctant to seek out treatment. The purpose of this study was to identify which factors associated with law enforcement officers had predictive value in the level of stigma perceived in seeking mental health treatment by currently employed, certified peace officers in Arizona. The factors included sex, age, race/ethnicity, years employed as an officer, size of the department, current rank/position within the department, the type of government operating the agency, and payment of union dues. The study included 454 participants. Participation included the completion of demographic data, the Self-Stigma of Seeking Psychological Help (SSOSH), and the Perceptions of Stigmatization by Others for Seeking Help (PSOSH). Using standard multiple regression, the most significant finding was the relationship between the size of the department and levels of stigma (p = .014); such that, the size was inversely related to the levels of perceived stigma. As the agency size increased, the perceptions of stigma decreased. Such a finding has several implications for law enforcement agencies related to preparedness and training.     

青年的概念

文章讨论了"青年"概念的使用和有用性,讨论了年轻人被概念化的方式,探讨了青年向成年过渡的假设,提出将青年概念看作是一个社会过程的观点.青年时期是重要的,它是成年的临界点,同时它又有很大的问题.媒体话语中的青年流行概念不仅再现了青年而且实际上建构了青年的经历和意义.     

Budgeting for Social Security Or: When Are Savings Really Savings?

Policy and budgetary debate about Social Security is greatly affected by understandings of how the program is financed and, therefore, what steps would make it more affordable in the future. Unfortunately, both the standard justifications for and criticisms of buildups in the Social Security trust funds do not reflect the extent to which such buildups in fact would help finance future program costs. This article argues for a different standard, based explicitly on the fiscal capacity of the federal government and the effect of the government's obligations to pay interest on that capacity. I explain how both this definition of the role of the trust funds, and a broader understanding of fiscal capacity, would affect analysis of Social Security's condition and of possible reforms.