One of the biggest issues in the tool kit has been agreed to. Gov. Chris Christie, Assembly Speaker Shelia Oliver, and Senate President Steve Sweeney have all come to a compromise on arbitration reform. The key points include:
– the two percent increases on salaries will not take into account health care and pension cost
– an arbitrator can award a contract that has more than a two percent increase in a single year, if the life of the contract averages at two percent annually.
– an arbitrator must make a decision within 45 days of getting the dispute or face penalities.
– the arbitrator’s pay will be capped at $1,000 a day and $7,500 for a case.
– the agreement will expire in three years. A special task force will be created and report back whether this program was successful and could be tweaked, or extended as is.
