The following is not meant to be legal advice.
Arbitration developed as a way to use experts versus judges to decide cases. The judge may have contributed to the governor or the person who appoints him/her. The judge may not know anything about labor or employment laws. Like a court case, in arbitration, the parties who choose the forum may be stuck with the results.
In mediation, the mediator may suggest resolutions, but the clients decide on the agreement. The attorneys are there to articulate issues for the clients, not to be advocates or to interrogate. In the end, the goal is to have a written agreement. Some parties like to have the agreement completed by the end of the day so that there is no ambiguity. Even if the parties do not settle, mediation may be valuable to narrow the areas of dispute, decrease discovery because the parties have found out more information, or lead to a settlement in the future.
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