Contract disputes between local governments and their employees have led to the commencement of arbitration in the Municipality of Monroeville and the East Allegheny School District.  The process of arbitration is quite different owing to the fact that the disputes are governed by separate state laws, Act 111 of 1968, which governs collective bargaining between police and/or firefighters and their employer, and Act 88 of 1992, which applies to collective bargaining for public school employees.

Both methods of arbitration rely on a panel of three officials, one chosen by the employer, one by the employee, and a neutral third.  Under Act 111, the employer (the municipality) pays the cost of its arbitrator and the neutral; under Act 88, the costs of the neutral arbitrator are split in half (if arbitration is voluntary) or the entire panel cost is split in half between the state and the employer/employees (if arbitration is mandatory).

Since police and firefighters cannot strike, the majority vote of the arbitration panel is final and “…shall be binding upon the public employer and policemen and firemen involved”.  On the other hand since there can be a strike or a lockout in a school district, the majority vote of the panel is final and binding upon the employer and employee unless either party rejects it formally.  If that happens, then a strike can be resumed or initiated, substitute workers may be employed, or a lockout may be resumed or initiated.