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# 

# Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT

## 

## 

> **Fiscal Year 2004**
>
> **Annual Performance Plan**

2100 K STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON, D.C. 20427

*What is FMCS?*

The Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service is an independent federal
agency that was created in 1947 to deal with record numbers of strikes
and work stoppages that were crippling the U.S. economy in the period
immediately following World War II. In the Labor-Management Relations
Act of 1947 (also known as the Taft-Hartley Act), Congress directed FMCS
to provide mediation, conciliation and arbitration services to labor and
management to alleviate damaging workplace strife during collective
bargaining and other industrial relations disputes. Resolving conflict
between our nation's unionized employees and their employers through
provision of mediation services remains the FMCS' top priority. Since
1947, however, the agency's charter has been expanded by several pieces
of legislation and Executive Orders that assign new venues for
application of the mediators' conflict resolution skills.

The agency's mission statement reflects both this original Congressional
mandate and the FMCS' expanding role as provider of a range of conflict
resolution services on behalf of the federal government. The mission
statement also charges the agency to preserve its critical role and
reputation as a valued neutral both in the institution of collective
bargaining and the general practice of conflict resolution:

-   *Promoting the development of sound and stable labor-management
    relationships,*

-   *Preventing or minimizing work stoppages by assisting labor and
    management to settle their disputes through mediation,*

-   *Advocating collective bargaining, mediation and voluntary
    arbitration as the preferred process for settling issues between
    employers and representatives of employees,*

-   *Developing and advocating the art, science and practice of conflict
    resolution through the use of ADR,*

-   *Assisting parties in conflict through the provision of conflict
    resolution services,*

-   *Fostering the establishment and maintenance of constructive joint
    processes to improve labor-management relationships, employment
    security and organizational effectiveness.*

*How Does FMCS Fulfill This Mission?*

# **Abstract**

> FMCS has a wide array of interventions and offerings that the agency
> can draw upon to provide conflict resolution services consistent with
> its mission statement. Each intervention or conflict resolution
> "product" is specifically designed to address the particular customer
> need in question. Therefore, the agency constantly strives to
> familiarize itself with current trends and external issues that affect
> the service requirements of its customer base. This Performance Plan
> will identify the breadth and scope of FMCS conflict resolution
> activities *and* explain the performance measures used to determine
> program or activity efficacy, all in compliance with the most recent
> Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA).

# **List of Services**

# 

# The following is a complete list of FMCS interventions and activities in the service of its mission:

> **Collective Bargaining Interventions**

-   Dispute Mediation

-   Preventive Mediation

-   Education, Advocacy and Outreach

######### Arbitration Services

> **Alternative Dispute Resolution Interventions & Services**

-   EEO Mediation

-   Grievance Mediation

-   Dispute Resolution Systems Design

-   Regulatory Negotiation

-   Negotiated Rulemaking

-   Stakeholder Consensus Building

> **International Dispute Resolution Services**
>
> **Mediation Technology Services**

######## FMCS Institute for Conflict Management

> **Academic Partnerships**
>
> **FMCS Roster of Neutrals**
>
> **Labor-Management Grants**
>
> **Youth Violence Prevention and Conflict Resolution Program**
>
> Each of these services has distinct objectives and measurable impact
> goals. However, taken as a whole, FMCS services are integral and
> frequently interdependent in the agency's efforts to fulfill its
> mission of conducting effective conflict resolution interventions
> *and* promoting the adoption of best practices in conflict resolution
> by the broadest possible range of private, public and federal sector
> organizations.

**Performance Plan**

> This is the fiscal year 2004 Annual Performance Plan, submitted by the
> Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) in accordance with
> the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA) of 1993. In it we
> seek to build on the goals, objectives and performance measurement
> criteria established in the FMCS 1999 Performance Plan, and to remain
> consistent with the 2001-2006 FMCS Strategic Plan. At present, FMCS
> performance planning is continually analyzed and modified by an
> ongoing process; three years of performance reports and clarification
> of various critical indicators are enabling us to more accurately and
> realistically measure our agency's results. This Plan for fiscal year
> 2004 will be subjected to the same scrutiny and evaluation.
>
> **Customer driven.** The story of the creation of FMCS and the
> agency's 55-year record of achievement demonstrates how conflict
> resolution is very much a "customer" driven business. Therefore, this
> Performance Plan will explain:

-   How external trends and issues are currently affecting the practice
    of labor-management conflict resolution;

-   How FMCS develops creative new tools, and refines traditional tools,
    in an effort to respond to the aforementioned issues, improve its
    practice and ensure useful response to customers' needs;

-   The methods FMCS uses to measure the efficacy and performance of its
    conflict resolution practice;

-   The agency's impact goals, and how they are being met;

-   Why government, through the FMCS, is the best provider of conflict
    resolution services;

-   How the future of conflict management and conflict resolution looks,
    both in the labor-management relations sphere and beyond, and, how
    FMCS is preparing to meet the challenges that lie ahead.

*What are the External Issues and Concerns Affecting Labor-Management
Conflict Resolution, and What Do They Mean?*

# **Abstract**

> General trends in labor-management relations have created a
> significantly different environment for FMCS operations than that of
> just a few years ago. Additionally, the catastrophic events of
> September 11, 2001 had a measurable impact on labor-management
> relations and the role of FMCS on the very next day. The wide spectrum
> of changing customer circumstances and the serious nature of customer
> needs demand an FMCS that is cognizant of its performance under
> present-day, real-world operating conditions.

# **Real-World Conditions Affect FMCS Customers & Services**

> Following is a summary of the most relevant changes and trends that
> are affecting FMCS, our customers and the business of conflict
> resolution:

-   **9-11 (1).** The events of September 11, 2001 and the subsequent
    anthrax contamination in our postal system caused innumerable delays
    in the processing of F-7 "notices of bargaining"; many F-7s were
    simply lost. FMCS experienced a substantial loss of business in all
    areas of the country. Many parties involved in ongoing collective
    bargaining, or that were due to begin bargaining around 9-11, simply
    agreed to extend their agreements or postpone their contract
    negotiations. Labor-management conflict all but disappeared,
    especially in the northeast region of the country. For the most
    part, the labor-management community viewed contract negotiations,
    preventive mediation training and other ADR activities as
    unimportant or irrelevant in the face of a national disaster.

-   **9-11 (2).** Since the attacks of September 11, 2001, the resultant
    security fears and the perceived need for increased vigilance in
    general have affected FMCS' approach to labor-management conflict
    resolution. To some extent, the desire for additional security
    measures in certain workplaces has affected contract negotiations
    and other mid-term bargaining. On a grander scale, parties have
    shown much less willingness to travel for bargaining,
    labor-management conferences, preventive mediation and training, and
    certain labor-management cooperative partnership work.

-   **Declining performance of the economy in general**. Tighter budgets
    mean parties are less willing to make time and money available for
    training sessions (even though FMCS training does not cost the
    parties monetarily), preventive mediation, and labor-management
    partnership work.

-   **Increase in labor market shortages in certain industries and in
    certain regions across the country.** Labor market shortages have
    implications both at the bargaining table, for training programs and
    on motivation for a cooperative working relationship. The current
    BLS projections call for employment demand to increase by 14% while
    labor supply will increase just 12%. In absolute terms, there will
    be 20.2 million more jobs in 2008, but only 16.9 million additional
    workers to fill them. This shortfall of 3.1 million workers will
    cause labor market shortages. The potential for work stoppages
    increases as labor conflict rises. As an example of such conflict,
    mandatory overtime and weekend scheduling issues force companies to
    struggle to provide continued service or production in spite of
    numerous vacancies.

-   **Increase in length of renegotiated collective bargaining
    agreements.** In 1994, 92 percent of all collective bargaining
    agreements in the country were for 3-year terms, or shorter in
    length. A full 25 percent of collective bargaining agreements in
    that year were for two years or shorter. By 1999, the number of new
    collective bargaining agreements that exceeded three years had
    jumped from 8 percent to 22 percent. An additional 9.1 percent were
    for five years or longer, and there were twelve contracts that
    exceeded nine years in length. Data from fiscal years 2000-2002
    reflect a continuation of this trend. On one hand, this trend
    portends a potential for increased labor-management stability
    resulting from fewer negotiations, however, on the other hand, there
    is a danger that when negotiations do occur, they will be extremely
    contentious due to the accumulation of unresolved issues over a
    greater period of time. This trend to longer contract periods has
    resulted in conflict being shifted from the collective bargaining
    arena to mid-term conflict. In addition to increasing the complexity
    of dispute mediation for collective bargaining, and therefore the
    time federal mediators must spend working with such cases, this
    trend has also increased the demand for FMCS services to help
    resolve conflict during the term of the contract in the form of
    grievance mediation. In addition, this trend to longer contracts has
    also amplified the call to foster labor-management cooperation and
    preventive initiatives during these expanded periods of contract
    administration.

-   **Rapid turnover in leadership.** This issue mainly affects union
    leadership, although it can affect management leaders in certain
    organizations. Though FMCS has not conducted a formal study,
    anecdotal and experiential evidence shows the rate of turnover of
    union leadership to be increasing rapidly. Inexperienced leaders
    often do not have a grasp of relevant workplace issues, business
    concerns, industrial relations systems or the negotiation process.
    This frequently has a pronounced negative effect on the collective
    bargaining process, and makes it more difficult for *both* parties
    to reach a settlement. In this way, rapid turnover endangers the
    well being of the economy by increasing the likelihood of a work
    stoppage. This phenomenon also diminishes the value of critical FMCS
    preventive mediation efforts: even when leaders receive adequate
    training and consultation, turnover removes those leaders and new
    ones arrive, perpetuating the leadership vacuum.

-   **Consolidation of organizations.** As union membership has declined
    steadily and significantly from its peak in 1979, there has been a
    corresponding increase in union mergers. These mergers make
    economies of scale possible by eliminating duplication of effort.
    This allows the combined entity to increase financial and
    administrative resources, as well as to augment organizing and
    bargaining power. Union mergers have also reduced the diversity of
    policies, practices and philosophies within the ranks of organized
    labor. There have been 133 mergers between 1956 and 1994, and over
    half of them came after 1980. On the management side, corporate
    mergers and their attendant consequences, such as workforce cuts and
    frequent culture clash, put a strain on positive labor relations by
    challenging long-held notions of equity and fairness and by
    disrupting established channels of communication.

-   **Changes in global marketplace.** The pace of integration of free
    markets across the globe has increased, dramatically stimulating the
    frequency of innovation in the workplace. New technologies and the
    proliferation of the Internet have also upset traditional modes of
    doing business. As the security and stability in the marketplace and
    workplace that was once expected gives way to this accelerated
    change of pace, organizations must fight for their very survival.
    This situation has profound implications for contract negotiations,
    cooperative relationships, education and training. Further, in many
    parts of the world, accelerated market liberalization, rapid
    privatization of government-owned industry and increased political
    support of free market economic policies is not matched by similar
    growth in industrial relations processes or conflict resolution
    capabilities.

-   **Changing workplace demographics**. The demographic composition of
    the work force will change significantly because of changes both to
    the population itself and to labor force participation. Two factors
    are of particular significance: first, the portion of the workforce
    populated mainly by "baby boomers" (composed mostly of white males)
    will move into the later stages of work life and increasingly move
    out of the workforce into retirement. Second, a 3.1 million
    shortfall in the workforce will bring about increased diversity in
    the labor force as new immigrants are used to fill the gap. By 2008,
    a greater percentage of the workforce will be older, female,
    Hispanic, Asian, African-American, and immigrant. These changes have
    broad implications for training, labor-management cooperation, and
    conflict management processes employed in the workplace.

-   **Changing structure of workforce**. The Bureau of Labor Statistics
    predicted that in the ten-year period 1998-2008, the total workforce
    is expected to grow by 14%. Virtually all of these jobs will be in
    service-producing industries. Manufacturing's share of total jobs
    was predicted to decrease by 89,000 jobs. Expected productivity
    gains are anticipated to offset job loss so that manufacturing will
    maintain its share of total output. Health services will show a 67%
    gain as the second fastest growing industry during that same time
    frame. This structural change, coupled with the increased emphasis
    placed on new organizing by labor unions, will result in altered
    collective bargaining environments with non-traditional priorities,
    particularly in service industries.

-   **Increased acceptance of ADR as a means of resolving workplace
    conflict brings new challenges**. The use of alternative dispute
    resolution (ADR) is not new: mediation was commonplace in religious
    communities in colonial New England, for example, and various types
    of arbitration have been utilized to resolve commercial disputes for
    hundreds of years. The widespread and increasingly systematic use of
    ADR for labor-management, family, neighborhood, environmental,
    tribal, intergovernmental, international, legal and workplace
    disputes *is* new. A quick Internet search for "alternative dispute
    resolution" will likely yield over a quarter of a million hits. A
    recent survey conducted by the Equal Employment Opportunity
    Commission (EEOC) found that 96 percent of all federal agencies are
    using ADR for workplace disputes.

-   **Increasing youth violence in schools and communities**. Our
    nation's public schools have become dangerous places, and the
    problem is no longer confined to high schools. In a few cases,
    children as young as ten and eleven have perpetrated horrific acts
    of violence; in many more cases, students of these ages have been
    caught with weapons on school campuses. The term "juvenile
    delinquency" does not begin to address the problem any longer: we
    hear, and talk about, acts of "juvenile violence" in all our
    nation's schools, suburban and inner city, across races and social
    classes. An FMCS mediator who collaborated on a scholarly article on
    this subject found research supporting evidence that "28 percent of
    boys in America come to school every day armed with guns, knives,
    and other dangerous instruments for their own protection".

# Conclusion {#conclusion .heading-box}

> FMCS will continue to service its traditional customer base in labor,
> business and industry in the organized sectors of the economy, and in
> government for federal (and often state and local) sectors, to promote
> the institution of collective bargaining and the value of third-party
> neutral mediation. Changes in the structure of business and industry,
> the economy, the workforce and attitudes toward alternative dispute
> resolution -- particularly in a post-September 11 world -- will
> continue to alter the face of customer needs and FMCS practices, tools
> and services. In addition, the range of FMCS customers who seek
> conflict management or resolution assistance has expanded greatly, far
> beyond the traditional collective bargaining arena, and certainly
> beyond our domestic borders. The impact goals and performance measures
> set out in this Performance Plan reflect the evolving nature both of
> our work and of our customer base.

FMCS Develops and Applies Tools to Handle Customer Needs

# Abstract {#abstract-2 .heading-box}

> A brief look at how Congress and the Executive have increased the role
> and responsibility of FMCS over the years can help any observer
> understand how the agency has had to continually grow its expertise,
> and refine its methods, to innovate and expand its offerings in order
> to meet the new challenges. Apart from a comprehensive array of
> collective bargaining interventions in keeping with FMCS' original
> mission and core business, the agency is also a leading provider of
> arbitration services, alternative dispute resolution services and
> interventions both domestically and internationally, technology-based
> conflict resolution services, custom-designed educational courses and
> training programs, full-fledged academic partnerships to encourage
> government-academia joint exploration, mediator credentialing,
> labor-management cooperative enterprise grants and a dynamic new youth
> violence prevention and conflict resolution program.

# 

# Background {#background .heading-box}

The FMCS charter has been continually expanded over the years by
additional Congressional legislation and Executive Orders that have
widely increased the agency's purview and field of operation. Due to the
agency's current status -- that of a federal organization that sits at
the fore of conflict resolution activities nationwide -- it is worth
examining the chronicle of the FMCS' expansion in mandate.

-   In 1974, Congress extended the FMCS' jurisdiction beyond "industries
    affecting commerce" to non-profit health care institutions. By 1999,
    health care institutions represented 16.5 percent of the agency's
    business.

-   In 1978, Congress extended the FMCS' jurisdiction to the federal
    government sector. By 1994, 11.2 percent of FMCS cases were in the
    federal sector. Presently, 8.7 percent of all FMCS cases are in the
    federal sector.

-   In 1978, Congress enlarged the FMCS mission with the
    Labor-Management Cooperation Act. The Act explicitly authorized and
    directed the agency to "encourage and support" joint
    labor-management committees "established for the purpose of
    improving labor management relationships, job security and
    organizational effectiveness, enhancing economic development or
    involving workers in decisions affecting their jobs including
    improving communication with respect to subjects of mutual interest
    and concern." The Act also authorized FMCS to provide grant funds to
    establish new labor-management committees, or to expand existing
    committees.

-   In 1979, Congress extended the FMCS' jurisdiction to the U.S. Postal
    Service.

-   In 1990, the Administrative Dispute Resolution Act and the
    Negotiated Rulemaking Act expanded FMCS' role as a resource for, and
    provider of, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) services.

-   The 1996 Administrative Dispute Resolution Act affirmed the two 1990
    Acts mentioned above, and authorized FMCS to provide consultation,
    training, dispute resolution systems design, third-party neutral
    services and facilitation of regulatory negotiations to all federal
    agencies (and to state and local government where the federal
    government is involved). The intent behind these laws was to expand
    the use of ADR throughout the federal government to reduce
    litigation costs and promote better decision-making processes
    through facilitated negotiations and consensus building.

\* \* \* \*

# Collective Bargaining Interventions {#collective-bargaining-interventions .heading-box}

There are three integral components of FMCS Collective Bargaining
Interventions: Dispute Mediation (DM), Preventive Mediation (PM), and
Education, Advocacy and Outreach (EAO). Though each component has
distinct performance goals and indicators to help measure progress
toward those goals, they are in practice one complete service. Different
aspects of this methodology are applied at different points in
bargaining relationships: all FMCS mediators are required to be fully
proficient with all components of collective bargaining interventions.

Following is a description of FMCS collective bargaining intervention
tools and their corresponding performance goals:

1.  **Dispute Mediation**. An FMCS mediator assists labor and management
    to reach agreement in a collective bargaining negotiation. These
    include initial contract negotiations involving an employer and a
    newly certified union bargaining unit, successor contracts, and
    mid-term contract negotiations. Some grievance mediation may also be
    required to handle grievances that arise during the term of an
    agreement. Dispute mediation has been the primary focus and most
    visible service provided by FMCS for over 55 years as mediators have
    worked diligently to avert or reduce the duration of work stoppages.

2.  **Preventive Mediation**. The changing nature of workplace labor
    relations and the economic environment in which they exist have
    required mediators to become purveyors of best conflict resolution
    practices and catalysts for positively changing relationships, as
    well as the traditional crisis interventionists for contract
    disputes. Mediators must be able to assist, train, motivate and
    inspire labor and management to transform their relationships to
    become participatory, more collaborative, and more creative.

> FMCS preventive mediation techniques range from the highly innovative
> to the basic, the traditional, the tried-and-true approaches.
> Mediators help the parties (1) develop and implement joint
> problem-solving and innovative conflict resolution methods, such as
> labor-management committees and other employee participation
> decision-making processes; (2) utilize non-confrontational methods of
> bargaining, such as interest-based bargaining and enhanced
> conventional negotiation; (3) develop more constructive channels of
> communication and relationship management, such as steward-supervisor
> training; and (4) help certain parties explore high-performance
> workplace strategies.
>
> The demand for these services is driven by the need to improve
> competitive economic productivity and the overall performance of the
> American workplace in order to increase the standard of living of all
> Americans with better jobs and greater profits for all.

3.  **Education, Advocacy and Outreach**. Customer outreach is central
    to our ability to fulfill agency performance goals. Over the past
    few years, in response to a national customer survey, FMCS required
    each mediator to make a concerted effort to keep his or her customer
    base, potential customer base, and the public in general informed
    and educated about the agency's full range of conflict resolution
    intervention and training services. This education, advocacy and
    outreach (EAO) work is now a critical element of each mediator's
    job.

> EAO activities have three primary goals: (1) to inform the nation's
> collective bargaining community about the full range of services
> available; (2) to gather valuable feedback about how FMCS can improve
> its services, and (3) to promote wider understanding, acceptance and
> proper use of the collective bargaining process and third-party
> neutral assistance in the prevention and constructive resolution of
> labor-management (and other types of) disputes in the public arena.
>
> Additionally, mediators lecture at educational institutions, showcase
> FMCS services at professional conferences, work with local
> labor-management committees and other community organizations, and
> meet one-on-one with members of the collective bargaining community.
> Through outreach and strategic alliances with other practitioners and
> organizations, we leverage our resources and thereby extend our reach.
> This will directly promote achievement of our impact goal: the
> diffusion of "best practices" beyond those we serve directly to the
> rest of the nation.

# Performance Goals FY 2004: Collective Bargaining Interventions {#performance-goals-fy-2004-collective-bargaining-interventions .heading-box}

## **Performance Targets**

-   Increase number of meetings conducted by increasing dispute
    mediation activity during contract administration;

-   Maintain total number of people and parties assisted;

-   Increase EAO meetings;

-   Maintain number of cases closed in traditional collective bargaining
    dispute mediation.

> ***What are the Agency-wide Strategies for Meeting Performance
> Targets?***

-   Survey customers to understand needs and ascertain that agency
    activities are meeting those needs;

-   Develop new products and services to heighten efficiency of
    intervention activity and meet new, emerging customer needs;

-   Promote the grievance mediation process to ease contract
    administration conflict;

-   Increase use of technology in collective bargaining interventions;

-   Take national leadership role in dissemination of conflict
    resolution "best practices";

-   Foster academic partnerships and inter-organizational cooperation to
    improve methodology and build outreach capability;

-   Equip and train 5 mediators to become industry-specific experts, to
    take a leadership role in innovating the practice of conflict
    resolution for each of 5 particular industries -- construction,
    healthcare, aerospace, telecommunications, and transportation.

> ***What are the Regional Strategies for Achieving Agency-Wide
> Performance Targets?***

-   Make personal contact with parties when cases are assigned,
    particularly when handling initial contract negotiations;

-   If parties have little or no bargaining experience, offer
    pre-bargaining training and information-dissemination sessions;

-   Offer use of FMCS field office facilities and conference rooms for
    meetings;

-   Develop database of model contract language for inclusion in
    contracts;

-   Engineer early FMCS intervention in initial contracts;

-   Identify and reach out to traditional "non-users" and "low-users" of
    FMCS services;

-   Train and implement use of Modified Traditional Bargaining and
    Enhanced Conventional Negotiation;

-   Make a more systematic effort to keep lines of communication with
    parties open in the case of long-term contracts in order to offer
    mid-term GMs and PMs;

-   Initiate EAOs during dispute mediation interventions and offer PM
    services for after settlement is reached;

-   Meet and train newly elected or appointed union and management
    officials and representatives.

\* \* \* \*

# Arbitration Services {#arbitration-services-1 .heading-box}

Today, most collective bargaining agreements contain grievance and
arbitration provisions. From its inception, FMCS has provided
arbitration services by maintaining a roster of private arbitrators. A
goal for FMCS arbitration services has always been the establishment of
standards in the areas of credentialing, continuing education, ethics
and the provision of a customer complaint mechanism.

Arbitration is used almost universally to resolve disputes arising over
interpretation of contract provisions in collective bargaining
agreements during their terms. It is favored by national labor policy,
and arbitration provisions are treated as an implied "no-strike" clause.
Upon request by parties, FMCS furnishes a panel of arbitrators,
generally numbering seven names, or a list from a specific geographic
area, from which the parties can select a neutral to hear and decide
their arbitration case. Unlike mediators, who rely on their powers of
persuasion to assist parties in settling disputes, arbitrators exercise
the power to render binding decisions. Presently there are approximately
1,300 professional arbitrators on the FMCS roster.

Historically, there had been no comprehensive training available for new
arbitrators admitted to FMCS' roster. Therefore, in 1999 FMCS began to
offer arbitrator training through the FMCS Institute for Conflict
Management as a means of ensuring that a sufficient cadre of qualified
private arbitrators will meet the future needs of FMCS' labor and
management customers. Participation in the FMCS-sponsored training would
substitute for the requirement that applicants submit five signed and
dated arbitration awards. Arbitrators are required to meet all other
qualifications prior to admission to the roster. The training course is
substantive, and is intended to provides arbitrators with an overview of
FMCS' arbitration polices, procedures and standards, as well as training
in the skills required to conduct labor arbitration hearings. Curricula
include advocate training to educate labor and management on more
effective use of the arbitration process, as well as a variety of
regional Arbitration Symposiums.

# Performance Goals FY 2004: Arbitration Services {#performance-goals-fy-2004-arbitration-services .heading-box}

## 

> ***Performance Targets***

-   Maintain the number of arbitrator panels that will be provided in FY
    2003;

-   Keep elapsed time between receipt of arbitrator panel request
    (filing of R-43 form) and provision of arbitrator panel at 5 days or
    less;

-   Ensure and maintain a cadre of experienced, skilled arbitrators for
    the arbitration roster;

-   Increase the number of panels generated by customers over the
    Internet.

> ***What are the Strategies for Meeting Performance Targets?***

-   Revise the agency's Arbitration Policies and Procedures (24 CFR,
    Sec. 1404) to capture the agency's new arbitrator roster admission
    policies;

-   Develop and implement curriculum on arbitrator ethics;

-   Provide labor arbitration training through the FMCS Institute;

-   Provide arbitration user (advocate) training through the FMCS
    Institute;

-   Continue conducting regional arbitration seminars and conferences to
    educate customers and attract arbitration roster applicants;

-   Continue screening arbitrator roster applicants with Arbitration
    Review Board;

-   Continue rigorous evaluation of standards and levels of compliance
    with Arbitration Review Board;

-   Conduct annual arbitration service evaluation survey with customers;

-   Partner with educational institutions such as law schools to
    increase arbitration training options.

> ***What External Concerns Factor into Target Achievement?***

-   Number of R-43 forms (request for arbitration panel) filed with FMCS
    by parties;

-   Popularity of arbitration clauses in collective bargaining
    agreements;

-   Nationwide reputation of FMCS Arbitration Services.

\* \* \* \*

# Alternative Dispute Resolution Interventions & Services {#alternative-dispute-resolution-interventions-services .heading-box}

Outside the labor-management arena, FMCS has been involved in
"alternative dispute resolution" (ADR) for more than thirty years. The
initial involvement in ADR for FMCS included the resolution of land
disputes, Native American issues and workplace mediation in government.
The Administrative Dispute Resolution Act of 1990 and the Negotiated
Rulemaking Act of 1990, and the Administrative Dispute Resolution Act of
1996, which reauthorized the earlier Acts, expanded FMCS' role as
resource and provider of ADR services. The intent of the Acts is to
expand the use of alternative dispute resolution throughout the federal
government in order to reduce litigation costs and promote better
government decision-making. These statutes authorize FMCS to provide
consultation, training, dispute resolution systems design and third
party neutral services to all federal agencies (and to state and local
agencies where the federal government is involved), including the
facilitation of regulatory negotiations. FMCS has also responded to
requests for ADR service from its existing customer base. The demand and
interest from federal agencies, state agencies and the private sector
for FMCS to provide alternative dispute resolution activities has
increased significantly since the agency introduced these services.

Due to the fact that there are no appropriated funds for the expansion
of ADR services to FMCS customers, the agency provides them on a cost
reimbursement basis.

# Performance Goals FY 2004: ADR Services {#performance-goals-fy-2004-adr-services .heading-box}

> ***Performance Targets***

-   Maintain the number of ADR cases closed in FY 2003;

-   Maintain the number of people exposed to ADR techniques;

-   Maintain the number of regulatory negotiations, and develop
    additional capacity to assist in intra-governmental disputes;

-   Increase assistance to private sector customers who request ADR
    services.

\* \* \* \*

# International Dispute Resolution Services {#international-dispute-resolution-services .heading-box}

The work of FMCS extends well beyond domestic borders. FMCS plays an
important role in promoting collective bargaining and all forms of
dispute resolution abroad by providing people in other countries with
information and training in the use of mediation, arbitration and other
forms of alternative dispute resolution. Our work in the international
arena is a small, but integral part of our services. With proliferation
of international trade pacts, the globalization of the marketplace, and
rapid technological advances that have a dramatic effect on the
workplace, requests for FMCS assistance from abroad have increased
significantly in the last five years. More countries are viewing
industrial relations and conflict resolution systems as a means of
securing economic growth, stability and competitiveness. In many regions
with developing economies, such as Eastern and Central Europe, and many
nations in South America, Central America and the Asia-Pacific region,
industrial relations and conflict resolution systems and institutions do
not exist at all. As a result, FMCS has become a major resource for
training and technical assistance in industrial relations practices,
cooperative labor-management relations and conflict resolution
techniques. Federal mediators conduct briefings and training programs
for foreign labor, management, and government leaders in the United
States and overseas.

Our international activities, including training and assistance in
designing industrial labor relations systems, conflict resolution
systems, and mechanisms for social dialogue and consensus
decision-making, are supportive of U.S. foreign assistance policy. These
efforts promote sustainable economic development as well as peace and
the expansion of democratic institutions in other nations. Negotiating
skills and conflict resolution capabilities are critical for developing
peaceful and constructive labor-management relationships abroad, and for
promoting greater workplace democracy and even solutions to human rights
problems. As the nations of the world struggle to compete effectively in
an increasingly integrated global marketplace, many are re-examining the
role and structure of their labor relations systems and exploring
workplace governance issues. In addition, this international sharing of
information has enhanced our abilities as an agency to understand
complex global issues that affect everyday collective bargaining in the
United States. Labor and employment disputes are no longer limited to
the borders of the United States, and this broadened international
expertise has enhanced FMCS' abilities to assist our traditional
customers in resolving disputes that have international implications or
influences.

As with our domestic ADR services, due to the fact that there are no
appropriated funds for the expansion of ADR activities to customers,
FMCS provides them on a cost reimbursement basis. This is accomplished
through funding from the U.S. Department of Labor, U.S. Department of
State, United States Agency for International Development (USAID),
Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), International Labour
Organization (ILO) and other international and domestic sources. In
addition, we have partnered with a number of non-governmental (NGO)
providers of dispute resolution activities to assist in the delivery of
international services.

# Performance Goals FY 2004: International Dispute Resolution Services {#performance-goals-fy-2004-international-dispute-resolution-services .heading-box}

> ***Performance Targets***

-   Maintain the number of foreign governments and foreign organizations
    assisted in FY 2003;

-   Host international workplace dispute resolution summit in FY 2004;

-   Develop closer associations with other international dispute
    resolution and industrial relations institutions;

-   Develop closer institutional and financial ties with the Department
    of Labor, USAID, and the ILO.

\* \* \* \*

# Mediation Technology Services {#mediation-technology-services .heading-box}

One of the chief activities of Mediation Technology Services is
development and implementation of the FMCS Technology Assisted Group
Solutions (TAGS) System. The TAGS System is a powerful network of mobile
computers and customized software that skilled FMCS mediators use to
help groups, solve problems more effectively, make better decisions,
implement decisions more successfully, conduct internal elections,
conduct successful remote meetings, and conduct online surveys, all from
any Internet browser connection.

Using a mixture of group discussion and TAGS tools, participants can
categorize and prioritize ideas, use electronic "ballots" to anonymously
indicate their level of support for each idea, view tabulated results
on-screen, and discuss results in an effort to reach consensus. Once
agreement is reached, participants can use TAGS to assign tasks with
completion targets and implementation timelines. The mediator can print
out complete meeting notes before participants leave the meeting and
archive meeting data for future use (or shred the information to ensure
confidentiality). This technology does not replace expert mediation
skills and human interaction among participants in a face-to-face
meeting. Instead, the mediator uses this technology to enhance
participant interaction and outcome.

**On the Internet.** Think of TAGS as a virtual conference center.
Participants enter a TAGS conference by clicking a link in an e-mail
message, or by entering their user ID and password at the TAGS Web site,
[\<http://tags.fmcs.gov\>]{.underline}.

Participants can go directly to a prescribed topic or enter a secure,
virtual conference room and select a topic. Topics can include "live"
remote meetings, surveys, documents to review, asynchronous
brainstorming sessions, an opportunity to assess ideas and view results,
action planning sessions, ODR (online dispute resolution) grievance or
EEO claims, ratification votes or elections of officers, or one of many
other online TAGS functions. In some cases, participants can complete
entire tasks online that used to require multiple face-to-face meetings.
At other times, online work is designed to shorten and better focus the
time spent face-to-face.

**Face-to-face meetings.** In a well-run traditional meeting,
participants individually voice ideas while a facilitator tries to
capture them on a flip chart, one-by-one. In a TAGS meeting,
participants simultaneously contribute ideas with our easy-to-use
software on a network of computers. All ideas immediately post to an
electronic flip chart displayed on each person's computer and on a large
screen at the front of the room. Participants build on others' ideas and
continue to offer new ideas in their own words and with complete
anonymity.

**Applications.** TAGS has been highly effective in interest based
negotiations, traditional bargaining, surveys via the Internet,
strategic planning, remote meetings, and collaborative processes like
labor-management committees and partnership initiatives. TAGS can also
improve our agency's delivery of complex alternative dispute resolution
services, such as negotiated rulemaking and mediation of large, complex
public policy disputes, especially when it is necessary to bring large
groups of people together via the Internet.

-   Youth violence prevention. FMCS built on our peer mediation work and
    developed a special version of TAGS to help communities address
    school violence issues. It offers young people, parents, school and
    community leaders an important tool to more effectively meet the
    challenge of school and community violence.

-   Interest-based problem solving. During FY 2002, the TAGS System
    helped parties engage in this interest-based process more
    effectively, often reducing the time necessary to achieve real
    solutions to complex problems. The TAGS System helped participants
    engage more openly and honestly, share knowledge and opinions more
    con­structively, generate better ideas and build stronger commit­ment
    to joint action. In certain cases, it helped minimize the impact of
    geographic separation and mini­mize transac­tion costs associated with
    the labor-management relationship.

-   Streamlining internal FMCS processes. The TAGS System has also
    enhanced the internal administrative procedures of FMCS. The agency
    has 71 field stations. Leadership is dispersed throughout 10
    locations including Washington, DC. The TAGS System has proven its
    ability to increase internal communications and information
    gathering for critical decision-making, supporting strategic and
    performance planning. By utilizing the FMCS intranet, leadership
    meetings are enhanced with pre- and post-electronic dialogue. Field
    managers and national office managers have the ability to "meet"
    on-line to brainstorm and categorize ideas, build consensus to
    facilitate effective implementation, share best practices, increase
    field staff input before making leadership decisions, and enhance
    the flow of internal information necessary to make good decisions.

> **Future applications.** During fiscal years 2003 and 2004, FMCS will
> expand the use of the TAGS System to determine whether it can improve
> Negotiated Rulemaking and Public Policy Mediation provided by FMCS
> through our Alternative Dispute Resolution Services. Experience using
> the TAGS System over the past 3 years has demonstrated that it can
> reduce the time required to conduct large group processes, increase
> facilitator effectiveness when working with large groups, and bring
> parties together via the Internet when no other viable form of
> communication is possible.

# Performance Goals FY 2003 & 2004: Mediation Technology Services {#performance-goals-fy-2003-2004-mediation-technology-services .heading-box}

> ***Performance Targets***

-   Train FMCS customers to use TAGS to implement better group-based
    problem solving, conduct internal elections, conduct remote
    meetings, and conduct online surveys;

-   Make TAGS-enabled Electronic Conference Centers available for FMCS
    customers in Atlanta, Boston, Cleveland, Dallas. Kansas City, Las
    Vegas, Louisville, Miami, Minneapolis, Newark, Oakland, St. Louis
    and Washington, D.C.;

-   Help FMCS customers use TAGS to minimize the impacts of geographic
    separation and minimize transaction costs associated with group
    decision-making;

-   Continue to develop and implement a system which integrates various
    FMCS stand alone systems to integrate payroll/personnel, budget and
    accounting, travel, procurement, grants, property management,
    arbitration and mediation assignment, tracking and reporting;

-   Provide TAGS development and support for the FMCS Youth Violence
    Prevention initiative.

\* \* \* \*

# FMCS Institute for Conflict Management {#fmcs-institute-for-conflict-management-1 .heading-box}

The FMCS Institute for Conflict Management was created under authority
granted by the Labor-Management Relations Act of 1947, the
Administrative Dispute Resolution Act of 1996, and additional authority
contained in our appropriations language:

> *Provided, that notwithstanding 31 U.S.C. 3302, fees charged, up to
> full cost recovery, for special training activities\...shall be
> credited to and merged with this account, and shall remain available
> until expended.*

To that end, the Institute develops customized training courses and
materials to provide the skills necessary for labor, management and
neutrals to approach the modern problems of labor-management relations,
employee conflicts, the impact of technology, and the work and role of
the professional neutral.

In the agency's experience, difficult subjects are often better handled
in a classroom atmosphere, away from the shop or office floor, thus
minimizing communication barriers between supervisor and employee and
creating a nurturing atmosphere of mutual help, understanding, empathy,
creative idea generation and safe experimentation. FMCS responded to
this need, as expressed by the agency's customers, by creating the FMCS
Institute to make preventive mediation training and education more
accessible and to present this training in an environment that differed
from the traditional preventive mediation settings.

The FMCS Institute does not compete or conflict with our statutory
preventive mediation activities; rather, it expands and enhances
training and education opportunities for our current customers in the
organized sector of the nation's economy, as well as executing our
customers' requests for ADR education and training. In addition, the
Institute has begun supporting the agency's International Dispute
Resolution Services by sharing research and curricula components that
are customized for courses delivered to international customers.

Current FMCS Institute activities include training in: mediation, labor
relations, collective bargaining, dispute resolution skills, arbitrator
and arbitration skills, facilitation and process skills, group dynamics
and multi-party facilitation, multi-party mediation, cultural diversity,
equal employment opportunity (EEO) complaints, workplace violence
prevention, and coping with grief in the workplace.

The FMCS Institute is committed to both theoretical innovation and
instruction rooted in experiential learning. Therefore, the curriculum,
literature and materials list for each course is revised *continuously*
to reflect the most evolved concepts and approaches to conflict
management. Further, as appropriate, leaders in a particular conflict
management field (mediation and arbitration) from distinguished neutral
associations, such as the National Academy of Arbitrators, team with
FMCS commissioners to lead training courses.

# Performance Goals FY 2003 & 2004: FMCS Institute {#performance-goals-fy-2003-2004-fmcs-institute .heading-box}

> ***Performance Targets***

-   Increase the number of courses offered from ten to twelve.

> ***Desired Outcomes***

-   Provides a neutral "classroom" educational environment removed from
    any social or organizational barriers that are present in the
    workplace;

-   Provides needed skills training for key persons in management and
    unions for which traditional on-site Preventive Mediation programs
    are not feasible;

-   Provides individual training for management or union collective
    bargaining negotiators, or for newly elected union leaders and newly
    promoted supervisors and managers;

-   Provides training for labor and business organizations that wish to
    train only a few employees at a time;

-   Trains a cadre of union or company personnel to assist federal
    mediators in large group training for their organizations, thereby
    reducing the number of federal mediators required and allowing FMCS
    to reach more people in the organizations;

-   Develops and trains a cadre of arbitrators and mediators so that
    FMCS can maintain qualified rosters and continue to supply lists of
    agency-endorsed, credentialed neutrals to meet the needs of its
    labor-management customers;

-   Trains retired FMCS mediators and arbitrators in the specific skills
    necessary to work under agency supervision in the mediation of Equal
    Employment Opportunity complaints, allowing FMCS to mediate more
    cases for federal agencies.

-   Provides training in workplace violence prevention and response;

-   Provides training in coping with grief in the workplace;

-   Administers on-line arbitrator ethics instruction (currently in
    development with Sullivan University).

-   Applies theoretical constructs, in consultation with FMCS' academic
    partners, to help practitioners in the field 'put theory into
    practice'.

-   Provides support through curriculum development, materials and
    instructors, for the ADR and International Dispute Resolution
    Services of FMCS.

\* \* \* \*

# Academic Partnerships {#academic-partnerships .heading-box}

FMCS is acutely aware that a vast theoretical resource committed to
conflict management and resolution in the workplace exists throughout
our nation's university and college systems. Talented researchers have
for years developed theories, models, and constructs valuable to
practitioners of alternative dispute resolution techniques whether they
are mediators, facilitators, negotiators, arbitrators, fact-finders,
investigators, EEO specialists, labor relations officers, union
officials, external advocates, lawyers, or other professionals in the
field of work place productivity support.

New approaches to leadership, management, motivation, morale, justice,
cooperative organizational development and other collaborative systems
are being developed daily, as are those specialized skills necessary to
maintain an open and safe work place environment, free of discrimination
and retribution.

In order to benefit from the ongoing knowledge the academic world can
provide, FMCS began in 2001 to develop special relationships in order to
share resources and opportunities with several of the academic
institutions around the country that have expressed a similar interest.
The term "Academic Partnership" represents a special relationship
developed with universities and colleges that take the form of shared
resources, joint research, curricula, internships, mentoring and
externships.

**Partner institutions.** FMCS has entered into a variety of such
partnerships with a number of schools over the last two years, and the
agency anticipates continuing to develop these relationships. They
include:

-   The Usery Center at Georgia State University (electronic
    conferencing center)

-   The Strauss Institute at Pepperdine University

-   The ADR and Law Schools at the University of Missouri

-   The Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University (electronic
    conferencing center)

-   The University of North Texas (electronic conferencing center)

-   Sullivan University (electronic conferencing center with
    "e-learning" and distance learning)

-   Southern Illinois University (electronic conferencing center)

Additional exploratory meetings and conversations continue with a number
of other colleges and universities, including:

-   The Law School at Howard University

-   The Law School at the University of Hawaii

-   The Florida International University at Miami, FL (electronic
    conferencing center)

-   George Washington University

-   The American University

# Performance Goals FY 2004: Academic Partnerships Program {#performance-goals-fy-2004-academic-partnerships-program .heading-box}

> ***Performance Targets***

-   Increase the number of academic partnership arrangements;

-   Use academic partners to help develop curricula and training
    materials for FMCS;

-   Work with academic partners to translate training materials, and
    TAGS interface, into Spanish;

-   Work with academic partners to develop increased e-learning and
    distance learning capacities;

-   Develop on-line training for arbitrator and neutral rosters;

-   Develop joint programs for 5 in-house specific industry experts.

\* \* \* \*

# FMCS Roster of Neutrals {#fmcs-roster-of-neutrals .heading-box}

In addition to the collaborative work described above with the academic
institutions, FMCS embarked upon a "credentialing initiative" in FY 2000
and FY 2001 that has gathered nationwide support, and will continue into
FY 2004. The agency's examination of trends in mediation and other forms
of ADR showed an increase in the demand for employment mediation. In
order to make sure that this increased demand does not outstrip the
agency's ability to accommodate requests for mediation, FMCS developed
the concept of the roster of neutrals. By creating a nationwide Roster
of Neutrals, FMCS will simultaneously allow for increased demand *and*
raise the professional bar of alternative dispute resolution (ADR)
professionals by establishing standards for experience, education,
training and other attributes. A roster will enable FMCS to suggest
neutrals from outside the agency for current and future customers in
employment disputes. A marked proliferation of workplace disputes and
statutory employment claims has meant a clamor for greater access to a
larger pool of neutrals. The carefully maintained neutrality of FMCS,
and its status as a government agency, makes FMCS a natural choice for
maintaining this roster, just as FMCS currently maintains a roster of
arbitrators.

**Credentialing elements.** In order to raise the bar in the practice of
ADR to a profession, major elements have, and continue to be, examined.
Some of these elements include, but are not limited to, the following:

-   Number and type of cases in each area (e.g. labor, employment,
    commercial, environmental, etc.) the mediator has worked with;

-   Origin of mediator's training;

-   Nature, duration and type of formal or informal curriculum
    completed;

-   Type and levels of continuous education pursued and achieved;

-   Origin of mediator's ethics training;

-   Nature, type, and current status of any ethics training received;

-   Establishment of a consumer complaint procedure and investigation
    and reporting system for process or ethical violations;

-   Examination of validity of applicant biography.

To address concerns about efficacy in development and ensure widespread
acceptability, FMCS conducted focus groups for private sector, public
sector, federal government and academic representatives that have met
three times (each session lasted several days) over fiscal years 2000,
2001 and 2002 to critique the Roster of Neutrals initiative, to develop
criteria for establishing credentialing standards, and to create review
and application procedures.

# Performance Goals FY 2003 & 2004: Roster of Neutrals {#performance-goals-fy-2003-2004-roster-of-neutrals .heading-box}

> ***Performance Targets***

-   Finalize roster admission qualifications during FY 2003;

-   Finalize admission procedures during FY 2003;

-   Develop a charter roster of about 250 neutrals during FY 2003 &
    2004;

-   Use FMCS Institute and academic partners to develop programs to
    satisfy educational requirements for inclusion on roster;

-   Implement monitoring system to ensure ongoing compliance by roster
    members;

-   Review roster in FY 2004 to assess whether enlargement is necessary;

-   Commence accreditation program in FY 2004 to allow educational
    institutions to apply;

-   Establish formal review process for two-year roster members to
    undergo in FY 2005.

\* \* \* \*

# Labor-Management Grants {#labor-management-grants .heading-box}

The Labor-Management Cooperation Act of 1978 authorized FMCS to provide
grants and technical assistance for the establishment and operation of
facility-wide, area-wide, and industry-wide labor-management committees,
including across the public and federal sectors. In awarding grants,
FMCS looks for innovative approaches to collaborative labor-management
relations and joint problem solving initiatives. Labor-management
committees funded under this grants program have addressed a wide array
of complex issues that can pose significant problems to labor-management
relationships, such as health care cost containment, total quality
management, and industry competitiveness issues.

Congress first appropriated funds for the labor-management grants
program in 1981. Since that year, FMCS has awarded \$20.5 million in
funds to over 290 labor-management committees. While the statute
authorizes a funding level of up to \$10 million, actual funding has
never exceeded \$1.5 million annually.

# Performance Goals FY 2004: Labor-Management Grants Program {#performance-goals-fy-2004-labor-management-grants-program .heading-box}

> ***Performance Targets***

-   Maintain the number of labor-management committee grantees
    supported;

-   Maintain current monitoring of grantees to identify best practices
    that have potential uses across geographic areas and/or industries;

-   Maintain number of workers and manager positively impacted by
    committees established through the grants program;

-   Increase use of TAGS technology for Grant Review Boards;

-   Increase use of technology to reduce the required number of
    face-to-face meetings.

\* \* \* \*

# Youth Violence Prevention & Conflict Resolution Program {#youth-violence-prevention-conflict-resolution-program .heading-box}

In response to recent and persistent waves of violence in our schools,
and the lack of innovation in handling this growing problem, FMCS
devoted significant energy over the past year to develop a
technology-based approach focused on helping high-risk communities
mobilize existing resources toward violence prevention. The method
developed by FMCS applies the TAGS system (discussed above) to bring
school- and community-based stakeholders together to identify factors
for school conflict and youth violence within their community. Once
potential sources of conflict and violence are identified, the same
technology enables the stakeholders to cooperatively develop solutions
and implementation plans to address the problems. Aggressive ongoing
assistance from FMCS mediators helps monitor successes, engender
adjustments where needed, and ensure replicability.

The pilot projects have already gone forward. Six communities that
represent a broad cross-section of our nation's youth (Phase I) were
identified, stakeholders from each of those sites were invited and
assembled (Phase II), and federal mediators are presently collaborating
with these stakeholders to develop unique software applications tailored
to each site's specific needs (Phase III). FMCS is also enlisting
support from the agency's academic partners to monitor the efficacy of
the program (Phase IV).

# Performance Goals FY 2003 & 2004: Youth Violence Prevention {#performance-goals-fy-2003-2004-youth-violence-prevention .heading-box}

> ***Performance Targets***

-   Expand youth violence prevention initiative to include (1) 6 new
    communities in addition to 6 existing sites in FY 2003, then (2)
    25-30 sites in FY 2004;

-   Develop an interactive CD-ROM for pre-school/primary school children
    in FY 2003, and develop age-appropriate software for middle school
    youth in FY 2004.

#### Desired Outcomes

-   Decrease instances of youth violence and conflict;

-   Prepare the workforce of tomorrow to resolve conflict in non-violent
    ways.

#### Performance Indicators

-   Number of reported incidents of youth violence in a given geographic
    area;

-   Number of youths exposed to, and number of partner communities
    participating in, the FMCS Youth Violence Prevention program.

\* \* \* \*

# Labor-Management Conferences {#labor-management-conferences .heading-box}

Among the most effective forums to promote the development and wider use
of innovative and joint approaches to problem solving and
labor-management cooperation are conferences sponsored (or co-sponsored)
by FMCS. The biennial National Labor-Management Conference, for example,
is recognized as the premier labor relations learning event in the
nation. Regional events in different parts of the country bring together
business, labor, government and academic labor-management practitioners
and scholars to share experiences and best practices.

# Performance Goals FY 2004: Labor-Management Conferences {#performance-goals-fy-2004-labor-management-conferences .heading-box}

> ***Performance Targets***

-   Maintain or increase number of participants at national, regional
    and local labor-management conferences;

-   Maintain or increase level of FMCS sponsorship of national, regional
    and local labor-management conferences.

> ***Desired Outcomes***

-   Provides a network for labor and management to share best practices;

-   Creates useful forums for communication, education and demonstration
    on "hot" issues in a collegial environment, away from the bargaining
    table;

-   Propagates a culture of labor-management cooperation within
    industries, regions and networks;

-   Provides continuing education for labor, management, FMCS mediators,
    other neutrals, managers and any interested parties;

-   Raises awareness of government's ability to add value to
    labor-management cooperative efforts and enhances the image of FMCS'
    capacity for service provision and intervention capabilities;

-   Enhances the efficacy of organizations through training programs
    created by vibrant partnerships between FMCS, labor-management
    clients, advocate practitioners, academics, and other neutrals;

-   Provides a learning environment to educate parties about new,
    relevant legislation at local, state and federal levels;

-   Reinforces conference participants' relationships with local FMCS
    mediators;

-   Educates labor unions about the need for successful business
    practices and the realities of the global economy;

-   Provides joint education to improve problem-solving techniques for
    both management and labor;

-   Helps parties found stronger relationships to ease labor-management
    relations at the work site, avoid strikes and lockouts, and smooth
    contract renewal negotiations.

\* \* \* \*

# Customer Satisfaction Monitoring System {#customer-satisfaction-monitoring-system .heading-box}

FMCS has in place several ongoing processes that allow the agency to
listen to its customer base to determine: how much customers know about
the agency's range of services, how customers rate FMCS regarding the
delivery of those services, and what FMCS could do to better meet their
needs in collective bargaining interventions and labor-management
relations. Additional avenues for eliciting and capturing customer
awareness and opinions were implemented during FY 2001.

Customer feedback systems currently in use include: National Customer
Surveys that solicit (via telephone interviews) answers and opinions
from representative samples of approximately 1,800 (1500-Private Sector,
300-Public Sector) employer and union leaders who have used FMCS
services. For the surveys, FMCS contracts with the Survey Research
Center at the University of Massachusetts to ensure neutrality,
credibility and respondent confidentiality.

**Customer survey history.** Baseline, follow-up and targeted surveys
have been conducted frequently since 1996:

-   Baseline FMCS customer survey, 1996;

-   Baseline survey data distributed to agency and customers in 1997 &
    1998;

-   In 1998, FMCS conducted customer focus groups in each of the
    agency's five regions to discuss results of baseline survey and
    receive input to guide improvement efforts;

-   In 1999, FMCS conducted a general follow-up survey of its customers;

-   Also in 1999, FMCS surveyed its grant recipients in a "Grant
    Customers Survey;"

-   In 2001, the agency developed and implemented a process to collect
    and analyze feedback from customers of Preventive Mediation,
    Arbitration and International/ADR Services customers.

FMCS' process to include customer feedback and survey data into agency
program and resource planning is incorporated in our annual performance
planning with our mediators. In addition, the agency's Regional
Directors and the FMCS Mediator Partnership Council meet quarterly and
serve as the Director's Policy Advisory Group.

# Performance Goals FY 2003 & 2004: Customer Satisfaction Monitoring System {#performance-goals-fy-2003-2004-customer-satisfaction-monitoring-system .heading-box}

-   Conduct 3rd National Customer Survey in FY 2003;

-   Conduct a regional focus group in each region in FY 2004;

-   Continue Arbitration Evaluation Process;

-   Begin International/ADR Evaluation Process in FY 2003;

-   Begin Preventive Mediation Evaluation process in FY 2003;

-   Continue Arbitration Customer Council;

-   Evaluate follow-up Grant Customer Survey in FY 2003.

\* \* \* \*

FMCS Overall Impact Goal

Our mission is to provide third-party neutral assistance to
organizations to help settle collective bargaining disputes and resolve
conflict in order to reduce the effect of, or alleviate entirely,
damaging work stoppages, litigation, violence, and other similarly
destructive forces. FMCS works to achieve this primary goal through
dispute mediation, preventive mediation, education, advocacy and
outreach, arbitration, alternative dispute resolution and
labor-management grants. However, we recognize that the results we
achieve through service delivery lead to broader improvements in the
area of conflict management, even helping instill in many of our client
organizations a newfound, more peaceful dispute resolution ethos.
Further, it is an intended result of our services that the agency's
conflict resolution work influences organizations that we do not service
directly. This positive externality is a direct expression of our larger
impact goal: the intent to diffuse, and teach, a desire for better
systems for conflict resolution and conflict management into society at
large.

# 

# Performance Goals FY 2004: Disseminate Conflict Resolution Best Practices {#performance-goals-fy-2004-disseminate-conflict-resolution-best-practices .heading-box}

FMCS looks to achieve this larger impact goal by collecting and
disseminating "best practices" and creative ideas about collective
bargaining, labor-management relations, and conflict resolution in
general. In FY 1999, FMCS created a Best Practice Clearinghouse. The
goal of this project was to capture data and trends about innovation and
experience in mediation, conflict resolution and labor-management
relations from academic institutions, public agencies and private
organizations. In FY 2000, seven case studies were completed that
captured a cross-section of these types of innovations. In FY 2001 and
2002, the project was expanded across FMCS to assemble internal best
practices and third-party neutral tools. Fiscal year ending 2002, a new
electronic, interactive Mediator Resource Center was developed for FMCS
to assemble and catalog these innovations, and an advance copy of the
tool was distributed to all mediators on CD-ROM. In fiscal years 2003,
2004 and beyond, FMCS will use this new tool to systematize the
collection of innovative approaches to all types of conflict resolution,
catalog the results, and increase the distribution of these best
practices to mediators and their customers.