This chapter treats arbitrator decision making. First, available published
research is examined for the light it sheds on who arbitrators are and the
role they play in the parties' disputes. Next, the authors draw upon their
own experiences for additional insight on this topic as well as what
prospective arbitrators might expect as members of the profession.

The previous chapter examines the specific standards applied by arbi-
trators in specific types of cases. Arbitration, however, includes more than
fixed standards. Arbitrators are human beings and as a result bring personal
characteristics to their work. As has been said repeatedly throughout this
book, arbitrators are selected by the parties through a market mechanism,
and, therefore, successful arbitrators are generally well versed in their
trade and have personal characteristics the parties, in aggregate, find
acceptable. Even so, some remarks about arbitrators and their decision-
making processes are in order.

Arbitrators are, for the most part, professional neutrals who have gained
the trust of both unions and management. Arbitrators serve two conflicting
masters equally, and the expressed will of the arbitrators' employers is to
be found in their collective bargaining agreements. In one sense, arbitra-
tors are nothing more than "creatures of the contract." It is through the
parties' grievance procedure or submission agreement that the arbitrator
is called to decide a specific dispute. Unlike judges, arbitrators are not

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