When may the parties to labour relations use a private mediation or arbitration instead of the statutory scheme, and what follows once they decide to do so?
General information · Not legal advice
Material to check
In a practice file we read the mutual agreement or the collective agreement itself, since the provision ties the private method to what those papers provide, and the report made to the Labour Relations Commission. We also read any dated record showing the day the mediation or arbitration actually commenced, because the periods the provision names run from that day.
These are types of material to look for, not evidence already verified by PRO SE.
Where readings differ
One reading takes the provision as a permission addressed to the parties to labour relations: the mediation and arbitration Sections of the Trade Union and Labour Relations Adjustment Act do not obstruct them from resolving a labour dispute by another mediation or arbitration method as their mutual agreement or collective agreement provides, and once they so decide they must report it to the Labour Relations Commission.
Another reading stresses that the private choice carries only the specific provisions the Act names with it: where mediation is chosen, the two provisions the Act names for mediation apply and the mediation period runs from the day the mediation was commenced, and where arbitration is chosen, the one provision the Act names for arbitration applies and the period in which labour dispute acts are barred runs from the day the arbitration was commenced.
Your judgment
What in the file could show that both sides agreed to the chosen method, and on which day the mediation or arbitration commenced?
PRO SE does not make this decision or keep a case record on this public site.When to reconsider
We look at this again if the provision is amended to name different provisions for private mediation or arbitration, or if a decision explains what counts as the commencement of such private mediation or arbitration.