Transit strike over; healthcare still not resolved

Findlaw (AP) reports: “L.A. Mechanics Reach Deal to End Strike”

“Buses and trains could be rumbling across the city at full strength by the end of the week after a tentative deal was reached ending a transit strike that idled the nation’s third-largest transportation system for more than a month.”

“Transit mechanics and the MTA, the agency in charge of most bus and rail service in Los Angeles, brokered a deal over the weekend that settled all outstanding contract issues except the major source of the labor dispute – health care benefits. Both sides have agreed to resolve their differences on that issue through nonbinding arbitration.”

What kind of settlement is that? Leaving open the main issue? Non-binding arbitration? What if one side or the other doesn’t like the arbitrator’s ruling? My guess is the union will take whatever they get, and the non-binding part is face-saving for the union and a possible out for the employer, which was (wisely) unwilling to agree to binding interest arbitration.