Northwest Mechanics Deal
I read an article in the NY Times (4/10/2001) on the Northwest labor agreement with its mechanics. A sentence therein stated: "The Northwest deal came a few days before an emergency board appointed last month by President Bush was scheduled to issue a settlement proposal." The article also stated that Northwest previously agreed to accept the proposal in the event a deal between it and its mechanics union was not reached, a promise the union declined to match.
Elsewhere in the article and from other news sources, I got the impression that this proposed settlement would have been considered binding on both parties, and that is my question:
Is any settlement proposal issued by the emergency board or the National Mediation Board (assumed to be two different entities) considered to be binding arbitration, to be imposed on the parties involved? That seems a bit draconian.
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R. J. Emery