Explains the history and functions of labor arbitration. Focuses on the limitations placed on the arbitrator and emphasizes the difference between deciding and compromising on a suit. Includes anecdotes from the experience of the author, a prominent arbitrator. (KH)

The New York newspaper strike of 1978 was the direct result of a series of events that started in 1923 when the pressmen's union established a system that provided a minimum fixed number of pressmen per press unit and legitimized a loose labor pool. From that time, the number of pressmen increased through family-dominated union management that…

After attaining a collective bargaining contract with New York City in 1960, the United Federation of Teachers worked successfully to improve salaries and working conditions. But in the aftermath of the 1975 fiscal crisis, the more equitable participation of teachers in policymaking has emerged as a clear goal. (KH)