Issue 2 would end binding arbitration

Oct. 22, 2011, Fremont News-Messenger

By Jessica Alaimo

CentralOhio.com

» Topic: Binding arbitration

» Currently: All non-uniformed bargaining units can strike, though it is rare. But police officers and firefighters cannot.

Uniformed units instead have a process called binding arbitration, where a neutral party is brought in to resolve the differences between them and their employer. The arbitrator’s decision stands.

» What Senate Bill 5 would do: End this process. Requests for mediation would go through the State Employment Relations Board, and must be done 75 days before the agreement expires.

Under the proposed law, if an impasse still occurs 70 days before expiration, SERB must appoint a mediator.