Stephen Goldberg, a law professor emeritus at Northwestern, recently was chosen to arbitrate a labor dispute between United Steelworkers of America and Ispat Inland, a consortium of four Virginia-based steel companies.
The hearings, scheduled to begin Jan. 10, will settle the terms and conditions of the two parties’ renewed labor agreement. Goldberg was selected to arbitrate a disagreement between the same parties five years ago, but it was settled before he issued a decision. This arbitration will involve choosing between the parties’ positions on the issues.
“I must choose the position of one or the other,” he said. “I can’t do something in between.”
University of Wisconsin Law Prof. Carin Clauss said Goldberg is one of the “biggest names in the business” for labor disputes.
“Steve Goldberg is very famous,” she said. “He was a professor of labor law at NU’s Law School, and he runs a big dispute mediation service. He’s done this at American Airlines … He does this a lot, and he’s very effective at it.”
Representatives for the labor union declined to speak with The Daily. Officials from the steel consortium did not return calls.
Goldberg said this arbitration is identical to the procedure used to resolve disputes about Major League Baseball players’ salaries. Last year, Goldberg presided over disputes between Eric Gagne and the Los Angeles Dodgers and between David Eckstein and the Anaheim Angels.
Goldberg is retired but remains in residence at NU’s Law School. He has arbitrated labor disputes for more than 20 years, including in 2002 as one of three arbitrators between the United States Postal Service and the American Postal Workers Union, the largest collective bargaining contract in the United States. The postal service has approximately 800,000 employees.
— Tina Peng