I have now phased out my restrictions for in-person hearings. California Governor Newsom ended the state’s COVID public health emergency on March 1, 2023. President Biden announced that the federal COVID emergency ended on April 10. Going forward, individuals do not have to be vaccinated or have a negative COVID test before entering my hearing room. Commonsense precautions - such as adequate room spacing and ventilation - still apply. And please stay home if you are sick! Remote hearings are still the best way to go for many arbitrations, mediations, and factfinding proceedings.

Due to the evolving nature of COVID’s impact on in-person meetings, I have modified my guidelines. The new policy allows unvaccinated people to participate, provided that they have a recent negative COVID test. Here is a link to the new January 2023 guidelines. - Paul

In this complex case involving a classified school employee, I address the issue of improper job classification and its effect on layoff. While the contract prohibits an arbitrator from reclassifying an employee, I found that I could order a “desk audit” to determine proper classification, even after the employee had been laid off. The decision is linked here. - Paul

It has been five years since I was admitted to the National Academy of Arbitrators. I am honored and humbled by the quality and diversity of the parties who continue to select me to be the arbitrator, factfinder, or mediator for your disputes. Many of you pick me repeatedly, even though you may have “lost” prior cases in front of me. I raised my rates when I became an NAA arbitrator, but have held them steady for the past five years. I believe that we arbitrators need to do our part to keep arbitration affordable for the labor-management community. Due to a number of factors - the complexity of the cases for which I am selected, inflation, and the challenges of presiding over in-person and virtual hearings in the pandemic era - I am raising my rates for selections made January 1, 2023 and thereafter. I am maintaining my current rate structure - with party-friendly cancellation rules that promote settlement and transparent no-surprise invoicing for predictable costs. Here is a link to my new rate sheet. As I say at every opportunity on each case, “thank you for selecting me.”

BNA Bloomberg has published three more of my 2021 awards. The first 2021 BNA LA 423 is a case in which the employer unilaterally extended an employee’s probation period, then terminated him. The next one, 2021 BNA LA 424, involves a dispute over accretion of a classification to an existing bargaining unit. Finally, BNA published 2021 BNA LA 425, about a mid-contract reopener and whether the employer failed to execute an agreement for certification pay.

2020 was a slow year for me, as parties postponed arbitration due to the pandemic. In 2021, Zoom hearings became commonplace and my arbitration calendar filled up. Here are three contract case decisions that were recently published by Bloomberg BNA, with the permission of the parties. In the first, SSA Terminals - Machinists Lodge 190, I agree with the union’s interpretation of the CBA but find that it did not prove a violation. In the second decision, Cal State University Monterey Bay and Teamsters Local 2010, I partially uphold the union’s contracting out grievance, awarding back pay to a locksmith. The third decision is J&J Worldwide Services and Stationary Engineers Local 39. In this case, I reject the employer’s use of the severability clause in the contract to justify its violation of the CBA.

Two of my grievance arbitration decisions were recently published in BNA Bloomberg’s Labor Arbitration Reports. One found a violation of promotion procedures at a public employer. It can be read at 2020 BNA LA 1467. The other one upheld a three-day suspension of a courtroom clerk for neglect of duty. It is at 2020 BNA LA 1468.

I had the privilege of serving as program chair for the recently concluded 2021 annual meeting of the National Academy of Arbitrators in Marina del Rey, California. The annual meeting was canceled in 2020 due to COVID, so this was the first North American get-together of the arbitrators since the fall of 2019. We covered topics such as reforming arbitration of police discipline and the future of video hearings. Sara Nelson, President of the Association of Flight Attendants, was our distinguished luncheon speaker. Former NLRB chair Mark Gaston Pearce was a featured speaker. Some of the sessions were recorded and will be made available at https://naarb.org/. - Paul

BNA Bloomberg has published a 2019 decision of mine in Labor Arbitration Reports. The citation number is 2019 BNA LA 193. The case involved two transit drivers at a transit agency who sought promotion to fare inspector. The issue was whether they were still on promotional probation when they were returned to their driver positions. Here is a link to the BNA reprint.

Now that COVID is declining, I have begun to hold hearings live and in-person again. In my first in-person hearing since early 2020, the conference room was large and spread out. Everyone wore masks except witnesses testifying and advocates presenting. It went well, and I expect to be doing more as the weeks and months go on. I also think that some parties on some cases will still want to hold their hearings online, for a variety of reasons. Many of us in the labor-management community feel more comfortable with Zoom and other videoconference platforms than we did before COVID. Stay tuned! - Paul

I hosted and conducted my first grievance arbitration hearing via Zoom last week. The dispute was between a California school district and an association representing school employees. Each participant in the hearing, including witnesses, logged in to Zoom from a separate location. Documents were exchanged in advance and viewed on paper or on a second screen. I was able to place participants in breakout rooms to allow for confidential conversations within the management and union teams. I admitted witnesses into the hearing as needed. Overall, it was a great success. I look forward to working with interested parties to do more of these. - Paul

BNA Bloomberg has published three additional grievance arbitration decisions. The first, 139 LA 1689, finds that the employer violated the CBA when it failed to promote the more senior employee. The second, 2019 BNA LA 23, upholds a written reprimand for discourtesy to a customer but removes the charge of failure to follow instructions for not showing up at a Weingarten interview. The third new published award is 2019 BNA LA 35. In this private sector decision, a charge of unilateral change was deferred by the NLRB to the parties’ grievance procedure. The award finds that the employer violated the CBA when it installed cameras in the plant and did not bargain the effects with the union.

BNA Bloomberg has published three more of my 2018 arbitration decisions. The first 139 LA 214 concerns a union’s failure to prove that the employer had been interpreting the contiguous overtime guarantee provisions incorrectly. The second decision 139 LA 329 upholds the union’s claim of a past practice on the use of educational leave. The third 139 LA 1506 finds that the employer improperly denied a promotion to a bargaining unit member.

For the first time, I have submitted several of my arbitration decisions to the Labor Relations Reporter, published by BNA / Bloomberg. Three have been published so far: City of Los Angeles - Engineers & Architects Association (138 LA 424), City of Los Angeles - Engineers & Architects Association (138 LA 386) and City and County of San Francisco - Operating Engineers Local 3 (138 LA 510).  I was impressed by the job the editors did in summarizing the awards and finding appropriate topics for cross-referencing.  Of course, these awards received the approval of the parties prior to being submitted for publication. - Paul

I am pleased to report that I was inducted into the National Academy of Arbitrators on May 26, 2018. The ceremony took place at the Academy's annual meeting, held this year north of the border in Vancouver, British Columbia. My five fellow inductees were from Ontario, Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Texas. The NAA includes about five hundred active labor-management arbitrators from the US and Canada. - Paul

Three of my arbitration awards have been published by BNA / Bloomberg.  They appear in the March 28, April 4 and April 18, 2018 issues of the Labor Relations Reporter. This is the first time I have submitted decisions to BNA for publication consideration. I was impressed by how the editors summarized the decisions and provided cross-reference topics for readers. The citations are 138 LA 386, 138 LA 424, and 138 LA 510. - Paul

I am speaking on a panel about grievance arbitration at the upcoming CalPELRA conference in Monterey. The other panel members are arbitrator Carol Vendrillo and attorney Tim Yeung from Renne, Sloan, Holtzman & Sakai. The panel topic is arbitration of disciplinary grievances. If you are planning to attend the conference, I hope to see you at the session: Thursday December 7 at 3:30 PM. - Paul 

I will be raising my rates for all services, beginning with selections made after January 1, 2018. The reason for this is twofold. One, I have not raised my rates since I opened my arbitration practice in 2012. Two, I have been notified that I will be accepted into the National Academy of Arbitrators. I bring to the table more experience as an arbitrator than I did when I first launched my practice.

Up until this point, I have not charged for travel time. However, as my practice has expanded beyond the greater San Francisco Bay Area, I have become aware that I need to add a travel time charge, as most arbitrators do, for hearings that are farther afield. My travel time charges will be the equivalent of half my hearing per diem.

One aspect of my rate structure I have carried over is my commitment to provide financial incentives for parties to settle their disputes prior to hearing. As such, my cancellation fee will remain at half the cost of going forward with the hearing.

I am well aware of the limited resources that employers and unions have available for labor arbitration and mediation. My goal over the years has been to make my services affordable. On the other hand, I also believe that arbitration and mediation are vital components of a robust and dynamic labor-management relationship. As such, time and money spent on retaining neutral arbitrators and mediators can add tremendous value. My rate structure attempts to balance those factors.

If you have any questions about my new rates, feel free to ask. - Paul

I recently submitted my application to become a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators (NAA). The NAA is the leading organization of labor-management arbitrators in North America. I was pleased to learn that the NAA's Board of Governors approved the recommendation of the Membership Committee to accept my application. My status as a member of the NAA will not become official until I attend a new member orientation at the next annual meeting, in May 2018. To see the criteria for NAA membership, click on this link. - Paul

I recently received permission from the Oakland Unified School District and the Oakland Education Association, the representative of the certificated staff, to publish a grievance arbitration award. The case concerned the interpretation of a complex salary formula negotiated by the parties in their collective bargaining agreement. To read the award, click here. - Paul