Red Light, Green Light, Go
Hi folks,
My apologies for getting derailed from my regular posting schedule. The last thing I remember is proposing to write a whole book about just cause! I think that project overwhelmed me so much that I fainted at the prospect of starting and then couldn’t think of another topic.
The past few months have been very busy for me, both personally and professionally. I wrote this on my way home from a two week vacation in Venice, Italy. Before that, I traveled to New York, Chicago (twice), Los Angeles, and Anchorage, Alaska. My carbon footprint in 2026 is an embarrassment. But most of those trips had some work-related components that I’d like to share.
In April, I did a “red light, green light” panel with other arbitrators at a stewards’ conference in Anchorage. “Red light, green light” is a panel technique that probably wasn’t invented by Peter Dahlen at the Labor Arbitration Institute, but was definitely popularized at that conference. Several arbitrators are given hypothetical cases to review on their own, and then at the conference, flip a switch on a red or green light or hold up a red or green piece of paper to indicate how they would rule in that case. Then we explain our decisions. I enjoy doing them and I think the audiences also like it. They think it's entertaining when it seems like the arbitrators are coming down on different sides of the same issue. It’s as though they’ve caught us being subjective! In reality, most of us come to the same conclusions but have a different aspect of the case that drew our attention. Maybe there’s a key missing fact or maybe there’s a mitigating factor we’d like to highlight. They're a great way of generating discussion.
In New York, I had to conduct a video hearing with parties who were in California. When I got to my hotel, the room was insanely small and had neither a usable desk nor a business center. I had to scramble but I found a co-working space near the MOMA that I could rent for the day, conducted the hearing, and then ran to the museum to see the Marcel Duchamp show in the remaining hours of the day. The co-working space was a true liminal space. No one knew where I was! And yet, I was in a familiar setting on a familiar platform. It worked out well and I was proud of my quick thinking to reserve the space.
On to Chicago for the National Academy of Arbitrator’s annual meeting. I had a couple of responsibilities at that conference, including co-presenting on the topic Handling Media Issues. Along with the NAA public relations firm, I spoke to about 50 arbitrators about what to do if a journalist calls, what the Code of Professional Responsibility says about discussing cases, and how to develop an elevator pitch about labor arbitration. I encourage everyone in labor relations to think of a short explanation of the process and to advocate for that process. Often, labor arbitration is misrepresented in the press, and that is due to the ignorance many journalists have about how arbitrators are selected and what the process is. And it’s not just journalists – it’s our friends and neighbors, too. Could you explain labor arbitration is you needed to? Go ahead, I’ll wait.
With all this travel, I obviously have not written a whole book about just cause. But the newest edition of Elkouri & Elkouri’s How Arbitration Works will be released soon, so that can more than scratch your itch. I will post more details when I have them. That link is to the 8th edition; we're putting the finishing touches on the 10th edition.
What I have been doing is planning the NAA Northern California Region’s Meet the Arbitrator conference, which will be held in Oakland, CA, on August 28, 2026. This is a great conference. For starters, it’s inexpensive (only $150 before the end of June!) with lunch included. More importantly, there will be more than 20 arbitrators present for advocates to meet and learn from. We will do our own “red light, green light” discussions. I’m going to debate my colleague Gina Roccanova about AI in Arbitration. Barry Winograd and Cheryl Stevens are going to lead a new advocate basic training class. Arbitrator Barbara Diamond will be spearheading a conversation on Neurodiversity in Labor Relations. It’s going to be a fun day. Register now! (There a discount for groups of 3 or more too but it can't be used on top of the early bird discount). I hope to see you there!
Register now for the Northern California Meet the Arbitrator Conference!
