Agency Mission:
The State Board of Mediation and Arbitration is a state agency that is empowered under Chapter 560 of the Connecticut General Statutes. The objectives of the Board are to save jobs by maintaining peaceful employer/employee relations and to promote equity between labor and management by resolving labor disputes. This is accomplished through the mediation and arbitration services available to employers and employee organizations in the public and private sectors.

Structure and Procedures:
The Board consists of six permanent members, two representing employers, two representing employees and two representing the public in general. No public member may have been the representative of any employer or employee in a labor dispute during the five years immediately preceding the year of his/her appointment. The members of the Board are appointed by the Governor for four-year terms coterminous with the Governor. The Governor may appoint any number of alternates for a period of up to one year or until a replacement is appointed.

The six-member board establishes policy and promulgates regulations for the operation of the board. It provides advice and consent to the Labor Commissioner on the appointment of full-time mediators who are responsible to the board.

Hearings are held before tri-partite panels or a third party neutral. The Board provides mediation services to private/public employers and employee organizations for the purpose of settlement of grievances or mediation of impasses in contract negotiations.

Statutes Administered by Board:
The Board administers binding interest arbitration pursuant to Section 7-473c of the Connecticut General Statutes under the Municipal Employees Relations Act, and Section 5-276 of the Connecticut General Statutes under the State Employees Relations Act.