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 will be on a panel at the upcoming CalPELRA conference in Monterey. The panel also includes arbitrator Carol Vendrillo and Tim Yeung of Renne, Sloan, Holtzman & Sakai. The topic is grievance arbitration. If you are planning to be at the conference, drop in to catch the presentation: Thursday December 7 at 3:30. - 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 have recently obtained permission of the parties to publish a case involving lead nurses at a private hospital. The case had many complex elements, including an NLRB charge, a prior related arbitration decision, and bargaining history. To read the award, with employee names redacted, click here. – 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