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In 1967, the government of Canada legislated an innovative mechanism for resolving collective bargaining disputes in the federal public service. Under this legislation, the bargaining agent involved chooses unilaterally whether any impasse in forthcoming negotiations would be resolved by a strike or by arbitration. The dispute resolution choice has been the subject of much controversy, with the debate generally focusing on 2 related issues. First is the question of what factors have influenced the choice of bargaining route and, in particular, the trend away from arbitration. The 2nd issue concerns the impact of the new dispute resolution system on wages. The union's choice between strike and arbitration route is modeled simultaneously with wage determination in the federal public service using the standard self-selection methodology. The model permits exploration of the factors influencing the choice of bargaining route as well as the effect of this choice on wages.