The article examines how labor grievance arbitration is markedly different than other types of US arbitration. These differences largely trace back to the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) and its encouragement of labor unions, the cartelization of labor.
Although commercial arbitration has been common throughout US history, labor grievance arbitration only began in earnest in 1937, when the US Supreme Court ruled that the NLRA was constitutional. Before that time, employers did not arbitrate disputes in the workplace, as they could resolve matters simply by legally firing the employees who raised grievances. The paper delves into key cases such as Lincoln Mills, which held that labor grievance arbitration is governed largely by federal common law derived from NRLA Section 301. This differs from virtually all other types of arbitration, which are governed by the Federal Arbitration Act.