The 4-1-1 on Arbitration: Why Does It Take So Long?
By law, the final step of the grievance process in a collective bargaining agreement (CBA) is arbitration. Every CBA between NTEU and a federal agency contains negotiated provisions about the arbitration process.
The decision whether to go to that final step lies with the union at the national level. Once NTEU invokes arbitration, the arbitrator is selected and notified. The assigned arbitrator is a neutral party–like a judge–who is agreed to by both NTEU and the agency.
The arbitrator will then offer both sides available hearing dates. Arbitrations take one day of hearing—and sometimes more. Arbitrators are often quite busy and are not just hearing NTEU’s cases: they are usually also selected by other federal sector unions, as well as private sector unions.
After the arbitrator offers hearing dates, both NTEU and the respective agency must agree to those dates. The assigned representative’s schedule and witness availability on both sides are additional factors. NTEU strives to schedule hearings at the earliest possible date. |
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