§ 2.4.13 MAJOR VERSUS MINOR DISPUTE RESOLUTION.

• Jurisdiction: Arizona

§ 2.4.13 Major Versus Minor Dispute Resolution. The RLA and court rulings distinguish between two types of contractual disputes: those concerning an intended change in agreements affecting rates of pay, rules, or working conditions, and those arising out of grievances or out of the interpretation or application of agreements.⁷³ Major disputes refer to controversies arising in negotiation of the new agreement or from attempts to change an existing one. Major disputes also involve attempts to acquire future rights, not the assertion of previously acquired rights. Minor disputes relate either to the meaning or the proper application of a particular contract provision to a specific situation. They are grievance disputes. These distinctions were adopted by the Supreme Court in Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Ry. Co. v. Burley,⁷⁴ as a shorthand method of describing the...