Arbitrator Gottesman’s Decision of November 4, 2013

On November 4, 2013, Arbitrator Michael Gottesman issued a second decision related to several questions concerning implementation of the merger and establishment of a single union, SMART.  The Transportation Division requested that General President Nigro hold off posting the Gottesman decision until after November 19^th, and that the parties would publicize the decision simultaneously.  He agreed.   This agreement was not meant to withhold the information, but to allow the parties to utilize the time to finalize language in the few unresolved sections of the SMART Constitution.
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Unfortunately, it has come to my attention that selected pieces of this decision have been distributed to various parties and when viewed individually, or more importantly not within the full context of the decision, the reader may form a false or misleading impression of the Arbitrator’s intent.  Therefore, I believe it is important to release the full Arbitrator Decision at this time for all to read and so those who have received only specific sections of the document have the ability to view those items within the intended context. 
General President Joseph J. Nigro
 
Arbitrator Gottesman’s Decision of November 4, 2013