City of Cleveland v. Association of Cleveland Fire Fighters, Local 93

Following their attempts to negotiate prospective employment terms, the city of Cleveland and its fire fighters’ union submitted their “impasse issues” to binding arbitration. Applying “factors” designated in the parties’ underlying agreement, the arbitrators selected between the parties’ final negotiation positions for those issues. However, the arbitrators declined to determine the validity or significance of an alleged later “Compact” which purportedly restricted wage increases. They reasoned that the proffered compact was not a “relevant factor” designated for their consideration by the…