(Source: National Mediation Board press release, January 28, 2015)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The National Mediation Board (NMB) is entering another phase in its more than a decade-long program to improve the processing of rail arbitration disputes. Throughout these reforms, the NMB has held ongoing discussions with rail labor and management and with NMB arbitrators to ensure that changes improve case management and provide prompt access to the resolution of grievances for workers in the railroad industry.
When the Board began its reform efforts, the railroad arbitration process was defined by standards based on language in the Railway Labor Act. The Act still guides the handling of arbitration cases, but the effort to update and modernize the arbitration procedures has resulted in an arbitration program rooted in best practices from the 21st Century, not the 1930’s.
By the end of fiscal year 2014, contemporary audit procedures were in place, cases were being handled in a timely manner, and there was essentially no backlog of cases. Also in 2014, the Board began a pilot program that will change the way arbitrators are paid, and will further expedite the handling of cases.
Beginning in February, 2015, the NMB will formalize and adopt the measures tested in the pilot project, resulting in payment to the arbitrators on a “per case basis” as opposed to the long standing practice of paying arbitrators a daily rate for services. The Board will also implement a “60 day rule” that will mandate some activity on an arbitration case that has been referred to an arbitrator. These changes will result in three important advantages. First, the pay per case approach will allow the agency to accurately budget and track expenses for arbitration cases in a way that meets modern accounting standards. Second, the pay per case approach will allow the arbitrators to control their schedules and process cases much faster than was possible under the traditional pay per day approach. Third, the 60 day rule will ensure that cases are moved through the system and that funds for cases with no activity can be reallocated to cases with a higher priority.
All of the changes in the arbitration program are tracked and managed by a web-based Arbitrator Work Space that offers a one-stop place for arbitrators to be assigned cases, request permission to work, file vouchers and invoices, and record awards.
Because no system is perfect, the Board does not label these latest changes as the “final” steps in the improvement process that started in 2002, but they do represent significant steps to even further ensure that public money is expended wisely, and that the parties who rely on the RLA and the NMB continue to be served well.