In re the Arbitration between New York State Correctional Officers & Police Benevolent Ass'n & State

Petitioner is the collective bargaining representative for 23,000 state employees. With the prior collective bargaining agreement between the parties due to expire on March 31, 2003, they negotiated to reach a new agreement. In May 2004, petitioner declared an impasse and sought the intervention of the Public Employment Relations Board (hereinafter PERB). When those mediative efforts proved unavailing, the matter was referred to a public arbitration panel pursuant to Civil Service Law § 209 (4) (c).

The parties agreed that the arbitration award would cover the four-year period from April 1,…