The board of arbitration shall hand down its findings, decision and order (hereinafter referred to as its order) within sixty (60) days after its appointment, unless the Governor for good cause shall extend said period not to exceed an additional sixty (60) days. The order of a majority of the board of arbitration shall constitute the order of the board. The board shall furnish to the Governor and to each of the parties a copy of its order. A certified copy of its order, together with the complete record in the case including the testimony, shall be filed by the board in the office of the prothonotary of the court of common pleas of the county wherein the dispute arose, or in the office of the prothonotary of the court of common pleas of the county where the public utility employer maintains its principal office.

Unless such order is modified or vacated as provided in section 13 of this act,¹ such order together with such agreements as the parties may themselves have reached shall become binding upon and shall control the relationship between the parties from the date such order is filed with the prothonotary of the court of common pleas, and shall continue effective for one year from that date but such order may be changed by mutual consent of the parties. No order of the board relative to wage and rates of pay shall be retroactive to a date before the date of termination of any contract which may have existed between the parties, and if there was no such contract to a date before the date on which the Governor appointed a mediator in the labor dispute.