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27 Arb. J. 1 (1972)

handle is hein.journals/dsptrjr27 and id is 1 raw text is: During the past three years, New iork's Public Employment Relations Board was asked to set in motion its Impasse proce- dures to resolve controversies in some 450 school districts. In almost half of these cases, fact finders' reports were ren- dered, recommending wage settlements and other contract terms. To what extent have these recommendations been ac- cepted by the parties, and to what extent do they show a pattern, which parties might rely upon in predicting the out- come of their collective bargaining disputes. On the basis of a close study of fifty cases, the author finds the reports relatively consistent on such matters as negotiability prob- lems, scope of bargaining, and working conditions. There was, less consistency, and therefore less predictability, in the way fact finders dealt with attempts to change policies of school systems, grievance arbitration, release time for officers of teachers' organizations, professional leaves, and extra-cur- ricular pay rates. IMPASSE ISSUES IN TEACHER DISPUTES SUBMITTED TO FACT FINDING IN NEW YORK by Barbara Doering* In New York as in most other states where collective bargain- ing has been mandated for public employees, the strike remains illegal. As an alternative to the use of strikes many states provide a procedure to help the parties at impasse reach settlement. In New York the impasse procedure calls for mediation followed, if necessary, by fact finding with recommendations. The fact finder's recommen- dations are not binding on the parties; it was feared that to make them binding might deter meaningful bargaining. It was hoped, how- ever, that the recommendations, even if not accepted in full, would be the basis for a settlement. In 1969, more than half of New York's 800 districts bargained to impasse and requested the services of a mediator, or fact finder, or both.' In 200 cases a written fact finding report was issued. In 149 of these cases the report was either accepted or was the basis for further negotiation which culminated in settlement. In 33 cases * A member of the Public Employment Relations Board mediation and fact finding panel since 1969, Miss Doering is Extension Specialist at the New York State School of Industrial and Labor Relations, Cornell University. She is also on the arbitration panel of Cornell's Office of the Ombudsman. 1. According to information taken from the files of the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), Albany, NY, some 452 school district disputes were referred to the Board for assignment of a conciliator in 1969.