Anne Arundel County Question A Would Expand Binding Arbitration Rights for County Workers
Anne Arundel County voters will have an opportunity this November to strengthen collective bargaining by expanding access to binding arbitration for public employees.
Question A, a proposed amendment to the Anne Arundel County Charter, would permit all authorized employee representatives to enter into binding arbitration with the County to resolve labor disputes involving the terms and conditions of employment.
The measure would bring greater consistency to the County's labor relations system by ensuring that authorized employee representatives are not treated differently when it comes to resolving bargaining disputes.
What Would Change?
Under the current Anne Arundel County Charter, binding arbitration is available only to authorized employee representatives of uniformed firefighters and uniformed officers of the County Police Department, Sheriff's Department, and Office of Detention Facilities.
Other labor organizations representing County employees do not currently have the same ability to enter into binding arbitration with the County.
Question A would change that.
If approved by voters, all authorized employee representatives would be permitted to enter into binding arbitration to resolve labor disputes relating to the terms and conditions of employment.
That means the availability of binding arbitration would no longer depend on which group of County employees a union represents.
Why Does Binding Arbitration Matter?
Collective bargaining works best when both sides have meaningful processes for resolving disputes.
Most labor negotiations are resolved through bargaining between employees and their employer. But when negotiations reach an impasse, having a defined process for resolving the dispute can help prevent disagreements from remaining unresolved indefinitely.
Binding arbitration provides a mechanism for a neutral arbitrator to resolve certain labor disputes when the parties cannot reach an agreement.
Question A would expand that mechanism to all authorized employee representatives in Anne Arundel County.
A More Equal Approach to Labor Relations
The County's existing Charter provisions give certain groups of public employees access to binding arbitration while excluding other County labor organizations.
Question A would eliminate that distinction.
Rather than limiting binding arbitration to particular occupations, the amendment would make the process available based on whether an organization is an authorized employee representative.
For Anne Arundel County's organized workforce, that would mean a more consistent approach to resolving labor disputes involving wages, benefits, working conditions and other terms and conditions of employment.
Question A Is About Collective Bargaining
At its core, Question A is about strengthening the collective bargaining process.
Workers should have a meaningful voice when they negotiate with their employer. When disputes arise, workers and their representatives should also have access to fair and effective mechanisms for resolving those disputes.
Expanding binding arbitration to all authorized employee representatives would give more County workers access to the same dispute-resolution process already available to certain other public employees.
It is a question of fairness, consistency and respect for collective bargaining.
Vote FOR Question A
A FOR vote would amend the Anne Arundel County Charter to permit all authorized employee representatives to enter into binding arbitration to resolve labor disputes relating to the terms and conditions of employment.
An AGAINST vote would leave the current Charter provisions in place, continuing to limit binding arbitration to authorized employee representatives of uniformed firefighters and uniformed officers of the County Police Department, Sheriff's Department, and Office of Detention Facilities.
Question A: Expand binding arbitration. Strengthen collective bargaining.