Originally from Dispute Resolution Journal

To provide a perspective of some of the principal practices and characteristics of grievance arbitration cases, a representative sample of 400 Arbitrator's Case Report forms was randomly drawn from AAA's national headquarter's files for summary and analysis. Descriptive data are presented for case chronology, hearing characteristics, case content, issues identification, and case disposition. Chi-square analyses were conducted to examine the relationship of selected variables with case disposition.

As to the disposition of cases, 25 percent were upheld, 54 percent denied, and 21 percent upheld in part and denied in part. Of the most common issues, employers predominated most often in promotion and transfer cases, whereas unions prevailed most often when fringe benefits were at issue. Discipline and discharge cases had relatively high proportions of "mixed" awards (that is, more that were partially upheld and partially denied.) The author concludes that the use of an attorney, the sex of the arbitrator, and the type of sector (private or public) do not seem to have a statistically significant relationship with the outcome of the case.