STATE BOARD OF ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION
ANNUAL REPORT - FISCAL YEAR 2006

This report is made pursuant to 26 M.R.S.A. § 931 (1988 and Supp. 2005).

Administrative Developments. For the first time in its 96-year history, the Board engaged in rule-making, starting last year and concluding this year. The rules were required by the enactment of Chapters 670 and 674 of the Public Laws of 2003, which authorized a special panel of the Board to set rates of compensation for forest products harvesting and/or hauling operations involving certain large forest landowners. The Board decided this was an opportune time to adopt procedural rules, codifying its long-standing practices for its traditional collective bargaining dispute resolution services and thereby assisting the parties who appear before the Board in preparing and presenting their cases. Last year, proposed rules were drafted and made available to interested parties and to the public, public comment was received and a public hearing was conducted. The Board incorporated many of the public comments into the draft rules and, on June 16, 2005, voted to adopt the rules as amended. On September 28, 2005, the rules were approved as to form and legality by the Attorney General and were accepted for filing by the Secretary of State. The rules became effective on October 3, 2005.

There were no changes in the complement of the Board this year. The primary members of the Board are Chair Shari B. Broder, an attorney from Freeport whose practice is concentrated in the area of alternative dispute resolution; Employee Representative Robert F. Bourgault, a Labor Consultant from Biddeford; and Employer Representative Virgil E. Beane of Cumberland Center, Senior Vice President (retired) of Hannaford Brothers Company. The alternate members are: Alternate Chairs Peter P. Michaud, Esq., of Cape Elizabeth, Of Counsel with the Portland law firm of Thompson, Bull, Furey, Bass & MacColl and who focuses his practice on mediation and arbitration, and Barbara L. Raimondi of Auburn, an attorney with the firm of Trafton and Matzen in Auburn; Alternate Employee Representatives Chester G. ("Chuck") Hillier of Monmouth, Assistant Negotiator with the Maine State Employees Association, and Shawn C. Keenan, of Bath, General Counsel of the Maine Education Association; and Alternate Employer Representatives Harry R. Courtois of Biddeford, Labor Relations Officer (retired) for the City of Bangor and a former Chief of Police in Biddeford, and Kate S. Debevoise of Yarmouth, an attorney with the firm of Bernstein, Shur, Sawyer and Nelson in Portland. The competence of the Board's membership remains high, consisting of able neutrals and partisan members known throughout the Maine labor relations community.

Roger A. Putnam of the Maine Labor Relations Board (MLRB) staff coordinated the Board's activities and served as the primary liaison with the client community. MLRB Executive Director Marc P. Ayotte served as the Board's general administrator and legal advisor.

Activities of the Board. The 17 total cases filed this year compares with 21 total filings in the previous fiscal year. During the last twenty years, the year with the greatest number of filings (75) was FY 1987 and the fewest cases were filed this year. During that period, an average of 35.4 cases were filed each year.

In the past several years, the bulk of the Board's case load has involved hearing and resolving grievance disputes, requiring interpretation of collective bargaining agreements. Grievances are disputes that arise due to differing interpretations by the parties of the provisions of their collective bargaining agreement. Of the 17 requests for services received this year, 16 involved grievance arbitration matters. The cases filed this year were as follows:

Bargaining Agent	Employer	Issue
AFSCME, Council 93	Cumberland Cty. S.D.	College ed. stipend
AFSCME, Council 93	Cumberland Cty. S.D.	Written reprimand
AFSCME, Council 93	Limestone P.W.D.	Call-in pay
AFSCME, Council 93	Lincoln County Comm.	U. Change in payday
AFSCME, Council 93	Lincoln Cty. S.D.	Change in payday
AFSCME, Council 93	Lincoln Cty. Comm.	Holiday pay
AFSCME, Council 93	Penobscot Cty. S.D.	Return to work grievance
AFSCME, Council 93	Winthrop P.D.	Termination
Bridgton Fed. of Pub. Ees	Bridgton P.D.	Written reprimand
Bridgton Fed of Pub. Ees	Bridgton P.D.	Filling open shifts
Merrymeeting EA/MEA/NEA	MSAD #75	Discipline/Just cause
Teamsters Local 340	Cumberland Cty. S.D.	Leave time deduction
Teamsters Local 340	Fort Kent P.W.D.	Overtime
Teamsters Local 340	Lincoln P.D.	Court/detail comp.
Teamsters Local 340	Van Buren P.D	Discipline
Teamsters Local 340	Westbrook F.D.	Discrimination/retaliation

Conciliation is a process during which the partisan members of the assigned Board panel, the Employee and Employer Representatives, meet with "their" respective party, assess that party's real needs and concerns in the matter at issue, and help the party to determine the relative strengths and weaknesses of their position. The partisan members then caucus to ascertain whether an agreed-to resolution is possible and, if so, work with the parties in achieving settlement. The Board believes that parties resolving their dispute through mutual understanding and accord is far preferable to having a solution be imposed by fiat of a third party; accordingly, we attempt to conciliate every case presented to us. Of the eleven (11) grievance arbitration cases on which the Board met this year, settlement was reached in five (5) cases. Seven (7) cases were withdrawn by the parties prior to hearing, one (1) case was dismissed and five (5) cases are pending. Two of the cases that were withdrawn involved the same parties and concerned the same individual grievant. At the suggestion of the executive director, the cases were submitted to mediation/arbitration with the State mediator who had helped the parties to craft the agreements. It was hoped that the mediator would facilitate resolution of the disputes because of his unique perspective and his professional relationship with the parties and with the grievant. In the circumstances, the mediator was required to issue an arbitration decision covering both cases.

The Board also received one (1) request for fact-finding services this year; no requests were received last year. The latter type of case arises when parties, with or without the assistance of a mediator, are unable to reach accord on an initial or successor collective bargaining agreement. The following requests for fact-finding were received this year:

Bargaining Agent	Employer	Result
Brunswick P.B.A.	Town of Brunswick	In abeyance pending contract ratification

Interest arbitration is the final step of the statutory dispute resolution mechanism under the various public sector labor relations laws. The major difference between fact-finding and interest arbitration is that, in the latter process, the panel's determinations are binding on the parties, except in regard to disputes concerning wages, pensions, and insurance. The Board did not receive any requests for interest arbitration this fiscal year.

Legislative Developments. No bills affecting the Board or its jurisdiction were considered by the Legislature this year.

The Board of Arbitration and Conciliation is pleased with its achievements, particularly with its reputation for fairness in the labor relations community. The Board's mission is to improve the labor-management climate in the public sector by providing high quality professional services to our client community, helping in the resolution of their disputes.

Dated at Augusta, Maine, this 30th day of June, 2006.

Respectfully submitted,

Marc P. Ayotte, Executive Director
Maine Labor Relations Board

Maine Labor Relations Board

PANEL OF MEDIATORS

Board of Arbitration and Conciliation

STATE BOARD OF ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION ANNUAL REPORT - FISCAL YEAR 2006

Board of Arbitration
and Conciliation

STATE BOARD OF ARBITRATION AND CONCILIATION
ANNUAL REPORT - FISCAL YEAR 2006