New Jersey § 34:13a-14

§ 34:13a-14.

The Legislature finds and declares: a. Recognizing the unique and essential duties which law enforcement officers and

firefighters perform for the benefit and protection of the people of this State, cognizant

of the life threatening dangers these public servants regularly confront in the daily

pursuit of their public mission, and fully conscious of the fact that these public

employees, by legal and moral precept, do not enjoy the right to strike, it is the public policy of this State that it is requisite to the high morale of such employees , the efficient operation of such departments , and to the general well-being and benefit of the citizens of this State to afford an alternate, expeditious, effective and binding procedure for the resolution

of disputes ; and b. It also is the public policy of this State to ensure that the procedure so established

fairly and adequately recognizes and gives all due consideration to the interests

and welfare of the taxpaying public; and c. Further, it is the public policy of this State to prescribe the scope of the authority

delegated for the purposes of this reform act; to provide that the authority so delegated

be statutorily limited, reasonable, and infused with stringent safeguards, while at

the same time affording arbitrators the decision making authority necessary to protect

the public good; and to mandate that in exercising the authority delegated under

this reform act, arbitrators fully recognize and consider the public interest and

the impact that their decisions have on the public welfare, and fairly and reasonably

perform their statutory responsibilities to the end that labor peace between the public

employer and its employees will be stabilized and promoted, and that the general public

interest and welfare shall be preserved; and, therefore, d. To that end the provisions of this reform act, providing for compulsory arbitration, shall be liberally construed.