# Presentation: 252918

## The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service

-  Commissioner Rich Giacolone

## The Role of FMCS

- Statutorily created by Taft-Hartley Act in 1947 (DOL Commissioners 1913)
- Prevent/minimize interruption of interstate commerce resulting from labor disputes through mediation
- Provide Alternative Dispute Resolution Services

## FMCS Mission

- Advocating collective bargaining, mediation and voluntary arbitration as the preferred process for settling issues between employers and representatives of employees,
- Developing the art, science and practice of conflict resolution,

## FMCS Mission

- Promoting the development of sound and stable labor-management relations,
- Preventing or minimizing work stoppages by assisting labor and management in settling their disputes through mediation,

## FMCS Mission

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

## Organizational Structure

- Federal Agency
- Director appointed by the President
- Five Regions; 70+ Field Stations; 200  Federal Commissioners of Mediation
- Regional Director & 2 Directors of Mediation Services
- National Office in Washington,DC

## FMCS Services

- Dispute Mediation
- Preventive Mediation
- Labor-Management Grants
- Alternative Dispute Resolution
- International Programs
- Arbitration Services
- FMCS Institute for Conflict Resolution
- TAGS (Technology Assisted Group Solutions)

## FMCS Dispute Resolution

- Mediating disputes in contract negotiations between employers and unions representing employees.
- Mediating disputes in grievances between employers and unions representing employees.

## FMCS Dispute Resolution

- Voluntary
- Collective Bargaining
- Private Sector
- Federal Sector
- Public Sector
- State
- County
- Municipality
- Grievance Disputes
- Alternative resolution through mediation prior to arbitration.

## FMCS Preventive Mediation

- Training labor and management in cooperative processes
- Help labor and management break down traditional barriers
- Helping labor and management build better working relationships
- Strategies to prevent work stoppages

## FMCS Labor-Management Grants

- Funding New Approaches to Labor Management Cooperation
- Expanding Labor-Management Committees
- Educational development
- Advancing Cooperative Skills

## FMCS Alternative Dispute Resolution

- Training and system design in dispute resolution.
- Providing dispute resolution assistance without:
- Courtroom litigation (ADR Act 1990, reestablished in 1996)
- Agency adjudication
- Regulatory Negotiations / Public Policy Issues
- Bureau of Indian Affairs
- Department of Transportation
- Boundary Waters
- Access Board
- HUD Hope VI

## International Programs

- Technical assistance in conflict resolution
- Training and System design programs
- Showcasing experiences

## FMCS International

- Sharing the U.S. mediation experience and Learning from other Nations
- Teaching new methodologies of collective bargaining (IBN)
- Opening the door to international labor management cooperation
- Exchange Programs (Republic of Ireland)

## FMCS International

- Mexico
- Indonesia
- Korea
- Brazil
- Argentina
- Chile
- Uruguay
- Panama
- Bulgaria
- Taiwan
- Germany
- Spain
- South Africa
- Bosnia

## FMCS Arbitration Services

- Final step in resolution processes
- Collective Bargaining
- Qualified Arbitrators
- Computerized roster by:
- Geographic location
- Professional affiliation
- Occupation
- Industry experience

## FMCS Institute for Conflict Management

- Courses open to the public
- Offering a different training environment
- Training with practitioners
- Arbitration Offerings
- Negotiations Skills Training
- Mediation and Facilitation Skills Training
- Facilitation Using TAGS

## “Group Problem Solving & Decision Making Tools”

**“****Group Problem Solving & Decision Making Tools”**

**Notes:**
how TAGS can be used to obtain better solutions in public sector work, regulatory negotiations, youth violence prevention, international work, and of course, labor and employment matters.

## Different-Different

**Different-Different**

**Same-Different**

**Different-Same**

**Same-Same**

- Time and Place

## Slide 20

## Sample Cases

- _Labor Disputes_
- Iron Mountain Records & IBT
- NLRB & NLRBPA
- Rhode Island Board of Education & AFT
- Levy Food & HERE
- Garrettville ISD & OEA
- Navy & Firefighters
- _Improve Relationships_
- Westvaco & GCU
- CSU and CSEA LMC
- _ADR Work_
- Laborers Tri-Fund Needs Assessment
- IRRA Nat’l Conferences
- SPIDR UPL Issue
- City of Palm Beach

- NACA and Building Trades
- AFSCME Council Election
- Fort Lauderdale Northeast High School violence survey
- Teach students and faculty
- Cornell ILR Extension
- Harvard Kennedy School
- University of Texas - Austin
- 4th Circuit Court of Appeals EEO case
- _Internal_
- Mediator Credentialing
- 2000 Strategic Plan
- Internal Partnership
- Core Competency Inventory

**Notes:**
how TAGS can be used to obtain better solutions in public sector work, regulatory negotiations, youth violence prevention, international work, and of course, labor and employment matters.

**Supplement, *****not***** eliminate conversation, discussion, humor**
**Use 30-50% of meeting**
**4 or 104 participants (face-to-face, remote)**
**Participant training *****not *****required**

## For more information contact FMCS at www.fmcs.gov