FEDERAL MEDIATION AND CONCILIATION SERVICE

FISCAL YEAR 2012

Congressional Budget Submission
FEDERAL MEDIATION AND CONCILIATION SERVICE

FISCAL YEAR 2012

Congressional Budget Submission

Table of Contents

I. Executive Summary................................................................................................ 1

A. Impacts, Achievements, and Challenges .......................................................... 4

B. Conclusion ........................................................................................................ 9

II. FMCS Organizational Chart ................................................................................. 11

III. Appropriation Language ....................................................................................... 12

IV. Statutory and Other Legal Authority .................................................................... 13

V. Budget Tables and Detailed Financial Requirements........................................... 17

VI. Mission and Program Structure ............................................................................ 26

A. Collective Bargaining Mediation.................................................................... 27

B. Grievance Mediation....................................................................................... 27

C. Relationship-Development and Training........................................................ 27

D. Arbitration Services........................................................................................ 28

E. Employment and Regulatory Mediation......................................................... 28

F. FMCS Institute................................................................................................ 29

G. Labor-Management Committee Grants .......................................................... 29

H. International Training and Exchange.............................................................. 29

VII. Workload Projections – FY 2011 and FY 2012.................................................... 31

VIII. Program Objectives – FY 2011 and FY 2012....................................................... 34
1

Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Estimates

I. Executive Summary

Congress established the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) in 

1947 through the Labor Management Relations Act (Taft-Hartley) amendments to the 

National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) as an independent agency whose mission is “to 

assist parties to labor disputes in industries affecting commerce to settle such disputes 

through conciliation and mediation.”1

Over the past 60 years, the FMCS has produced a record of success preventing or 

minimizing interruptions to the free flow of commerce through mediation and a variety of 

programs and services designed to improve labor-management relationships and 

organizational effectiveness. While the parties’ use of mediation continues, the 

additional services they require from the FMCS have evolved over time as their needs 

and the challenges confronting workplace relationships have changed. The issues and 

relationship challenges the parties confront today and tomorrow will, inevitably, have a 

direct impact on the FMCS.

 Subsequent acts of Congress and Presidential 

orders have expanded the FMCS’s role to include promoting labor-management 

relationships in the private and public sectors as well as providing employment-based 

mediation services to the private sector and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) 

programs to government agencies.

FMCS begins, as it must, by noting the continued presence of multiple factors 

associated with what has been described as the “Great Recession.” Among other factors 

likely to impact bargaining is that the unemployment rate remains about nine percent in 

general and is even higher in manufacturing and construction. The impact of this severe 

economic downturn will continue to dominate collective bargaining in FY 2011 and 

likely for years beyond. In many industries, the recession and its consequences have 

brought powerful employer demands for concessions and equally powerful union 

demands to resist them. If granted, there can be little doubt that employees will demand

restoration of losses and an increasing share of the growing economy when stability and 

growth return. One manifestation of the uncertain economic climate is that many 

 

1 29 USC § 173. By statute, FMCS’s jurisdiction excludes the rail and airline industries, which are covered 

by the National Mediation Board under the Railway Labor Act.
2

employers feel constrained to insist upon achieving flexibility in the size of its work force 

thereby triggering a major confrontation in negotiations as unions stress the need for job 

security through protection against layoffs.

In addition to the instability associated with the recession, the next single biggest 

contributor to labor relations conflicts and work stoppages in the past decade has been 

health care. No issue stands to engender future bargaining conflicts more than health 

care benefits, their distribution and their associated increased costs. Contractual and plan 

changes will be required of the parties as a direct result of the Patient Protection and 

Affordable Care Act of 2010 (Affordable Care Act). While the FMCS can help the 

parties manage the conflict inherent with competing views, there can be no doubt that 

labor and management will continue to have strongly held competing views with regard 

to the appropriate distribution of the cost burden.

The subject of pension benefits and retirement security adds yet another 

dimension to the spectrum of contentious fringe benefit issues likely to be highly visible 

in the next several rounds of bargaining. FMCS anticipates that during FY 2011 and into 

the foreseeable future, management and labor will continue to battle over the merits and 

wisdom of defined benefit versus defined contribution pension plans.

The FMCS also recognizes that the need for job creation and sustainable energy 

initiatives will generate an increased emphasis and, indeed, urgency to the creation of 

“green jobs.” This will add yet another potential source of tension to many collective 

bargaining relationships as employers seek to terminate old product lines, introduce new 

technology, and demand different skill sets of workers.

Finally, factors beyond the control of the parties, such as natural disasters 

(Hurricane Katrina), terrorist attacks (9/11) and other catastrophic events (the British 

Petroleum Gulf oil disaster), have a devastating impact, not only on human lives and 

community well-being, but their economic consequences can have significant regional 

and national impact on collective bargaining.

Any one of these potential sources of conflict can pose a serious threat to the 

stability of the collective bargaining process. When taken together, they present 

monumental challenges as extreme and complex as anything experienced by the FMCS in 

recent years. In the face of such challenges, the question for the FMCS is how to best 

serve the interests of the parties and the public.

First and foremost, consistent with its core mission, the FMCS will continue to 

place its major emphasis on assisting the parties in the bargaining process itself. The 

foregoing description of the array of potential sources of conflict awaiting the parties 

highlights the importance of the FMCS’s role in providing guidance to the parties in 

addressing economic and workplace issues—some generic and others industry or 

workplace specific.

Furthermore, the lesson FMCS has learned from extensive “hands-on” experience 

is that what the parties need most during difficult times is a strong labor-management 

relationship in which issues can be discussed and joint solutions reached. In addition to 

mediation, the FMCS helps parties achieve this essential relationship through carefully 

honed outreach and relationship development programs. Every day, FMCS mediators, in 
3

a variety of ways, offer parties broad-based assistance, with a view toward encouraging 

relationship improvement far in advance of the trauma of contract expiration.

To illustrate, the FMCS’s experience has shown that negotiations over health care 

related issues generate not only volatile economic disputes but also a host of highly 

technical and nuanced issues surrounding health care plan design and utilization. 

Increasingly, parties are attempting to achieve cost containment through wellness, 

targeted preventative care, and strict quality targets.

What this necessarily means is that waiting until 30-60 days before contract 

expiration to attempt to address these multi-faceted subjects is a recipe for disruptive 

economic conflict. Instead, as a number of parties have already recognized, there is a 

more constructive model—a model whereby the parties create joint labor-management 

health care cooperative committees far in advance of contract expiration. This joint 

problem-solving approach is modeled after longstanding FMCS joint programs designed 

to encourage cooperation on issues of mutual interest.

In support of this joint approach, the FMCS sponsored a series of three one-day 

seminars in Chicago, San Francisco and New York City. The seminars were designed to 

spread the word throughout the labor-management communities that a number of their 

counterparts already had engaged in these “best practices” with noteworthy success and 

that FMCS stood ready to assist them in their efforts.

The FMCS provides this same early stage assistance model to the parties to 

improve their labor-management relationships generally. To the extent FMCS can help 

them substitute cooperation for confrontation; the likelihood of costly strikes or lockouts 

is reduced. Congress recognized this precise point years ago when it passed the Labor 

Management Cooperation Act of 1978. It authorizes and directs the FMCS 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." Congress funds this initiative in the FMCS’s annual appropriations, and grants 

are distributed to encourage labor-management committees to develop innovative joint 

approaches to workplace problems.

In FY 2010, the FMCS awarded 10 new competitive grants at a cost of $750,000. 

These grants are supporting labor-management committees tackling a wide variety of 

important issues related to health care, job safety, work-life balance, and the flexibility 

needed to pursue new business opportunities, such as green jobs.

In addition to providing training programs and grants for the parties, FMCS 

mediators and managers regularly participate in many joint labor-management 

conferences and seminars sponsored by universities, bar associations, and professional 

groups—all with the goal of advising the parties of the wide variety of constructive 

services the FMCS can provide in advance of the commencement of formal negotiations.

The statutory focus to this point has been on the private sector. However, the 

FMCS’s energy can also impact labor-management relations in the public sector. The 

states and their public sector unions often request FMCS assistance in their collective 
4

bargaining relationships. During this time of severe state budget deficits, bargaining 

between states and their teachers, police, and firefighters, just to name a few, can be 

expected to be especially difficult.

The need for a highly-skilled, well-educated, globally competitive workforce has 

been a consistent theme from both unions and employers. Our K-12 education system 

has been struggling to meet this national need. Recently, a number of school districts, 

together with the labor organizations who represent their teachers and organizations 

representing school administrators and school boards, have volunteered to participate in 

an innovative program launched by the Secretary of Education. The stated goal of the 

program is to advance student achievement through labor-management collaboration. 

The FMCS at the request of the parties has agreed to partner with the Department of 

Education along with the American Federation of Teachers, the National Education 

Association, the Council of the Great City Schools, the National School Boards 

Association and the American Association of School Administrators. In states where 

FMCS has traditionally provided mediation services in the public sector, FMCS 

facilitation services will be offered for parties seeking to engage in reform oriented 

discussions.

The FMCS is also responsible for helping to ensure stable labor-management 

relations in the Federal government. In December 2009, the President issued Executive 

Order 13522. The stated purpose of this Executive Order is to “promote satisfactory 

labor relations and improve the productivity and effectiveness of the Federal 

Government.” To that end, all federal agencies are required to establish and to 

implement “labor-management forums [that] allow managers and employees to 

collaborate in continuing to deliver the highest quality services to the American people.”

FMCS mediators are deeply involved in the all-important task of training the 

parties to federal agency forums on how to establish and implement them. In FY 2010, 

and within months of the issuance of the Executive Order, the FMCS, together with its 

sister agency, the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA), responded to more than 

100 requests for assistance. Together, the FMCS and FLRA created and delivered a twoday intensive course to federal agency labor-managements pairs throughout the country. 

These courses covered both statutory rights and responsibilities and the best tools and 

cooperative techniques for creating and implementing productive labor-management 

forums.

In sum, the FMCS recognizes, as did Congress more than 60 years ago, that 

constructive labor-management relationships and collective bargaining provide the 

parties with the most effective tools for achieving productivity, innovation and 

competitiveness—the central ingredients for a growing economy.

A. Impacts, Achievements, and Challenges

With its history of more than 60 years of providing mediation, training, and 

facilitation services, the FMCS has more aggregate experience in alternative dispute 

resolution than any other government agency. The FMCS is successful, as is the U.S. 

economy and taxpayer, when work stoppages are minimized in duration or do not occur 
5

and when collective bargaining relationships do not lead to unmanaged conflict in the 

workplace.

Many different external factors influence the magnitude of FMCS’s workload, the 

types of dispute resolution services that are required, and the FMCS’s ability to perform 

its work successfully. For the upcoming year and beyond, the FMCS will monitor 

emerging trends in mission-critical areas and will continue to routinely upgrade mediator 

skills with the most up-to-date information and training techniques.

The Demonstrated Positive Economic Impact of FMCS Services

The FMCS recognizes that the positive impact of work stoppages that do not 

occur is difficult to quantify. For this reason, the FMCS measures its positive impact 

through a specially created economic model and evaluates its organizational effectiveness 

using a number of other tools.

The FMCS uses an independently developed modeling system for estimating the 

impact of its services on the U.S. economy.2

Research also has shown that early FMCS involvement is critical when 

considering the duration of work stoppages. Over the past 12 years, FMCS direct 

involvement in the bargaining process at any time prior to contract expiration is 

associated with a 48 percent reduction in the duration of any subsequent work stoppage. 

Since 1999, early intervention has reduced the duration of work stoppages that do occur 

by an average of 26 days.

 Using conservative modeling techniques, 

the FMCS estimates that its work in FY 2009 and FY 2010 saved the economy 

$5.1 billion in wages and profits that otherwise would have been lost to work stoppages. 

By contrast, but in support of the contention that work stoppages can still have a 

significant damaging impact upon the U.S. economy, work stoppages that did occur 

during this period resulted in the loss of an estimated $873 million in wages and profits to 

employees and businesses. Disruption to ancillary businesses is estimated to have cost an 

additional $975 million during this period.

While work stoppage data help demonstrate the direct economic benefits of 

mediation, such data dramatically understate the real value of FMCS services to the U.S. 

economy. This is because the aggregate value of these services is hard to measure in 

precise economic terms due to the difficulty in modeling the negative effects of the work 

stoppages that did not occur because of FMCS mediation services.

The Challenges of Economic Recession and Recovery

Just as the “Great Recession” impacted collective bargaining in FY 2009 and 

2010, it is anticipated that labor strife will continue once the economy starts to improve. 

In the 1990 and 2001 recessions, for example, the FMCS observed a reduction in the 

 

2 In FY 2005, the FMCS entered into an agreement with the Employment Policy Foundation (EPF), a 

nonprofit, nonpartisan public policy research foundation with expertise on workplace trends, to develop a 

model that was capable of estimating the impact of the FMCS’s services.
6

duration of labor contracts negotiated during those periods. Evidence of an even more 

dramatic drop is emerging in the current recession—from an average contract duration of 

36.6 months in 2008 to 33 months in 2009 and 2010.

Effect of Business Cycle

Sources: FMCS; Department of Commerce; National Bureau of Economic Research

Contract Durations and GDP Growth, FY 1985 - FY 2010

0

1

2

3

4

5

24

27

30

33

36

39

1985 1989 1993 1997 2001 2005 2009

Average Contract Duration

GDP Growth

Months

% GDP Growth ($2005)

Recessions

This sharp decline in contract durations has two implications for labormanagement relations that concern the FMCS. The first is that shorter duration contracts 

mean negotiations will occur with greater frequency, increasing the number of notices 

that the FMCS must process each year, as well as mediator workloads. The second is that 

the FMCS anticipates that workers may seek to recoup the wage and benefit concessions 

many of them made during the recession. This may well lead to more contentious labormanagement negotiations and thus increase the likelihood of work stoppages and FMCS 

workload in FY 2011 and beyond.

The Benefits of Building Positive Relationships

FMCS experience has shown that perhaps the best means for avoiding disruptions 

to commerce is preventive mediation, also referred to as relationship development. The 

FMCS’s relationship building programs are designed to improve labor-management 

relationships by helping labor and management develop collaborative, problem-solving 

approaches and, thus, manage their inherent conflict. Effective use of these programs 

better enables the parties to respond rapidly and jointly to changing business and 

economic conditions. Adoption of these processes helps ensure successful and highly 

productive workplaces and, therefore, the FMCS will continue this important work in 

FY 2011 and FY 2012.

For example, and in order to help parties address the challenges of health care 

costs and delivery, the FMCS offers parties a full range of relationship development and 

training (RDT) services. In the first quarter of FY 2011, the FMCS organized three 

regional health care bargaining “best practices” seminars titled “Working Together: 

Labor-Management Solutions to the Health Care Challenge.” A total of 540 attendees 

heard from preeminent speakers from labor, management, and the health care industry.

Through these seminars and other anticipated services in both FY 2011 and 

FY 2012, FMCS will demonstrate the value of structured, joint problem solving 

approaches to manage and frame solutions to highly complex health care issues well in 
7

advance of contract expiration. These joint training programs will provide a foundation 

for the parties to jointly developed solutions, to implement the changes necessary, and to 

minimize the potential for conflict and work stoppages the FMCS has experienced all too 

often over the last decade.

Another ongoing area of FMCS involvement in FY 2011, and beyond, is FMCS 

support of efforts to “improve the productivity and effectiveness of the federal 

government” through the implementation of Executive Order 13522. FMCS mediators 

are deeply involved, in many cases together with the FLRA, in the all-important task of 

training the parties to federal agency forums on how to establish and implement them. 

Joint requests for FMCS services are already on the increase at the time of this 

submission. The FMCS anticipates a continuation of this trend in FY 2012 as the initial 

stages of forum establishment are completed and the parties seek facilitation of issues 

identified for forum resolution.

The FMCS also helps build positive relationships through its labor-management 

grants program authorized in the Labor-Management Cooperation Act of 1978. The 

broad objectives of these grants are to: 1) improve communications and working 

relationships between labor and management; 2) provide employers and employees with 

training to achieve organizational effectiveness through innovative joint approaches; 3) 

assist employees and employers in solving problems of mutual concern; 4) explore ways 

to eliminate potential problems affecting economic development in the area; and 5) 

enhance employees’ involvement in the decision-making process.

In FY 2009, the Congress provided the FMCS with the resources to fund this 

program and, despite a shortened time period for completion of submissions, the FMCS 

received a near-record 51 grant proposals and was able to disburse $650,000 in awards. 

In FY 2010, the FMCS awarded 10 new competitive grants at a cost of $750,000. These 

grants are supporting labor-management committees tackling a wide variety of important 

issues related to health care, job safety, work-life balance, and the flexibility needed to 

pursue new business opportunities, such as green jobs.

For FY 2012 the FMCS is requesting the same funding commitment for grants as 

FY 2011, since multiple factors associated with the recession will require increased 

emphasis in this and other relationship development program areas. Funding joint 

initiatives to help manage these elements will continue to be important to labormanagement relations in FY 2012 as the economy recovers.

Another strategy for preventing workplace conflict is FMCS outreach. On a 

regular basis, but especially during difficult economic periods, FMCS mediators and 

managers participate in outreach activities designed to improve relationships and raise 

awareness of collective bargaining issues and mediation techniques by lecturing at 

universities, seminars and conferences, and meeting with local leaders in the collective 

bargaining community. Outreach activities will provide an additional valuable service to 

the collective bargaining community as all parties begin to address the changes required 

by the passage of the Affordable Care Act, “green jobs” initiatives, and the complex 

challenges of retirement security. The FMCS anticipates a heightened level of outreach 

will continue through FY 2012.
8

Finally, domestically and internationally, FMCS builds positive relationships 

through a number of reimbursable funded programs. For example, FMCS provides 

employment dispute resolution services to a significant number of federal government 

agencies. FMCS also promotes collective bargaining and conflict resolution in 

developing countries, emerging free market economies, and to free trade agreement 

partners. By strengthening rule of law initiatives and helping to create and implement 

effective labor relations systems, FMCS international efforts also help to level the 

economic playing field for U.S. companies and workers.

Monitoring Expiring Contracts

The importance of the FMCS’s relationship development work is perhaps best 

illustrated by the sheer numbers of expiring collective bargaining agreements that the 

FMCS tracks each year. For FY 2011, for example, the FMCS will monitor more than 

21,000 collective bargaining agreements, many of which are in key private sector 

industries, particularly the telecommunications, entertainment, aerospace, and 

construction industries. These and other expiring contracts account for at least 28 percent 

of the private sector unionized workforce, or 2.3 million workers. Looking ahead to 

FY 2012, based upon internal data, the FMCS is aware of over 10,000 expiring contracts 

that cover another 28 percent of the private sector unionized workforce, or 2.3 million 

workers. Historically, the number of actual notices received in a fiscal year exceeds the 

known number of expiring contracts by 50 percent. In each of these fiscal years, FMCS 

can anticipate receiving approximately 20,000 required notices of contract expiration. 

The FMCS estimates that direct wage losses alone from a single day of work stoppage in 

any one of the largest of these expiring contracts would easily exceed FMCS’s entire 

annual budget and cause avoidable disruptions to the national economy.

Pursuing Organizational Efficiency

The FMCS is committed to using allocated resources efficiently. In FY 2010, for 

the sixth consecutive year, the FMCS used a performance matrix to measure the caseload 

performance of its field offices. This performance matrix compares each of its field 

stations against the FMCS’s national caseload averages. Performance is evaluated over a 

rolling period of four fiscal years to determine collective bargaining trends in specific 

field stations. The results help ensure that decisions to fill vacant mediator and support 

staff positions reflect the current and potential demand for the FMCS’s services. In fact, 

the majority of the FMCS’s employees are involved in direct program delivery, with 181

employees (77 percent of its workforce) distributed across 68 field stations.

In 2010 the FMCS implemented a number of initiatives to improve both its 

internal efficiency and increase public access to and use of electronic documents. 

Internally, the 2010 launch of an internal report and report scheduling system has saved 

more than 25 hours of staff time each month in preparing reports and has also allowed 

reports to be delivered within hours of the end of each reporting period.

In 2011, the FMCS will continue to expand upon the capabilities of its internal 

reporting system by making most reports available online and on an ad-hoc basis. This 

will further reduce staff workloads by allowing immediate access to reports and will also 

eliminate delays in receiving time-sensitive reports.
9

Also in 2010, the human resources department completed a project to convert its 

records to electronic format. Even though it does not operate a data center, the FMCS 

reviewed its computer operations in accordance with the Federal Data Center 

Consolidation Initiative and determined that it can reduce energy consumption and 

hardware purchases by increasing its use of virtual server technology for development, 

testing, and disaster recovery operations.

On the public side of its operations, the FMCS continued its efforts to increase 

use of its online bargaining notice (F-7 notice) system. In 2010, approximately 

30 percent of F-7 notices were given electronically to the FMCS. This system was 

expanded during 2010 to allow for electronic referrals for mediation by federal agencies.

The FMCS will implement a program for validating postal addresses and 

removing duplicate address records from its databases in 2011. This effort is expected to 

reduce mailing costs and improve the accuracy of mailings and will position the FMCS to 

use geographic information systems (GIS) for budgeting and analysis purposes in future 

years.

Increasing Employee Satisfaction and Wellness

In 2010, the FMCS was again rated as one of the top places to work in the U.S. 

government, ranking 4th among small agencies. While this excellent result builds upon 

prior years’ rankings, there are areas in which improvement is needed to maintain the 

FMCS’s high employee satisfaction scores. For 2011, these areas are in employee 

recruitment, communications, and executive leadership.

One way in which FMCS will continue to address employee satisfaction and 

performance is through an employee wellness program. It must be noted, however, that 

over 77 percent of the FMCS’s workforce is dispersed among 68 field stations across the 

United States, with the majority of these field offices staffed by one to three people. This 

structure challenges the ability of the FMCS to develop and implement a single program 

that will accommodate the interests of centralized office staff and small field stations. In 

order to implement a program that is practical, cost-effective, and most likely to be 

successful, the FMCS will survey the interests of its workforce in FY 2011 and look to 

best practices in designing a wellness program for the whole agency. The FMCS will 

track and report its activities and progress in this initiative using OPM’s online 

WellCheck program.

B. Conclusion

The FMCS mission statement reflects the statutory foundation of the agency: “to 

promote the development of sound and stable labor-management relationships and to 

prevent or minimize work stoppages by assisting labor and management in settling their 

disputes through mediation.”

As the scope and complexity of collective bargaining issues facing labor and 

management grow, the FMCS will continue to play a critical role in averting labor strife 

that can damage the competitiveness and productivity of U.S. companies, the welfare of 

their employees, and our nation's economic well being. Given the anticipated size and 
10

number of collective bargaining mediations in FY 2012, the complexity of the issues the 

parties face, and the increased demand and expectations of the labor-management 

community for FMCS services that make collective bargaining more effective, we urge 

you to favorably consider this respectful request for $48,025,000.
11

II. FMCS Organizational Chart

Director

(PAS)

Deputy Director for

Field Programs

(SES)

ADR/ International/

FMCS Institute

General Public Affairs

Counsel

EEO

Director of 

Field Operations

(SES)

Chief Financial Officer

(SES)

Budget & Finance 

Directors of Mediation Services

District 1 (Woodbridge, NJ)

District 2 (Philadelphia, PA)

District 3 (Pittsburgh, PA)

District 4 (Cleveland, OH)

District 5 (Orlando, FL)

District 6 (Kansas City, MO)

District 7 (Seattle, WA)

District 8 (Los Angeles, CA)

District 9 (Chicago, IL)

District 10 (Minneapolis, MN)

Human

Resources 

Administrative

Services

Education & Training

Arbitration & Notice

Processing Services

Deputy Director for

National & International 

Programs

Information

Services

As of Feb. 14, 2011
12

III. Appropriation Language

FEDERAL MEDIATION AND CONCILIATION SERVICE

SALARIES AND EXPENSES

For expenses necessary for the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service

("Service'') to carry out the functions vested in it by the Labor Management Relations 

Act, 1947, including hire of passenger motor vehicles; for expenses necessary for the 

Labor-Management Cooperation Act of 1978; and for expenses necessary for the Service 

to carry out the functions vested in it by the Civil Service Reform Act, $48,025,000, 

including $750,000 to remain available through September 30, 2013, for activities 

authorized by the Labor-Management Cooperation Act of 1978: Provided, That 

notwithstanding 31 U.S.C. 3302, fees charged, up to full cost recovery, for special 

training activities and other conflict resolution services and technical assistance, 

including those provided to foreign governments and international organizations, and for 

arbitration services shall be credited to and merged with this account, and shall remain 

available until expended: Provided further, That fees for arbitration services shall be 

available only for education, training, and professional development of the agency 

workforce: Provided further, That the Director of the Service is authorized to accept and 

use on behalf of the United States gifts of services and real, personal, or other property in 

the aid of any projects or functions within the Director's jurisdiction. Note: A full-year 

2011 appropriation for this account was not enacted at the time the budget was prepared; 

therefore, this account is operating under a continuing resolution (P.L. 111–242, as 

amended). The amounts included for 2011 reflect the annualized level provided by the 

continuing resolution.
13

IV. Statutory and Other Legal Authority

FEDERAL MEDIATION AND CONCILIATION SERVICE

The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service was established by Title II of the 

Labor-Management Relations Act (Taft-Hartley) in 1947 as an independent agency of the 

Federal Government whose primary mission is to prevent and minimize labormanagement disputes affecting interstate commerce by providing mediation, conciliation, 

and voluntary arbitration services. All mediation and conciliation functions of the 

Secretary of Labor and the United States Conciliation Service were transferred to FMCS 

at that time. This mission includes both the private and public sectors, except for the 

railroad and airline industries, which are covered by the Railway Labor Act administered 

by the National Mediation Board.

The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 authorized FMCS to assist with dispute 

resolution in federal sector labor disputes. The Labor-Management Cooperation Act 

amended the Taft-Hartley Act in 1978 and directed FMCS to encourage labormanagement cooperative activities. It also authorized the issuance of grants to support 

joint labor-management activities conducted by plant, area, public sector and industrywide committees.

In 1990, the FMCS was authorized by the Administrative Dispute Resolution Act 

and the Negotiated Rulemaking Act to assist other federal agencies in resolving disputes 

arising out of grants, contracts, licenses, or other agency administrative actions, and to 

assist in the process of negotiated rulemaking. The Administrative Dispute Resolution 

Act of 1996 amended and permanently reenacted these 1990 Acts.

In addition to specifically mandated services, FMCS has offered traditional 

mediation services (applied to both collective bargaining and employment disputes), 

facilitation and training functions (applied particularly to the merging of different agency 

cultures), convening of disparate agency and private groups, and conflict systems design 

assistance and training for organizational/workplace disputes as well as for handling 

external complaints.

Over the years, Congress and the Executive Branch have authorized FMCS to 

perform a variety of dispute resolution functions as well as to assist in the improvement 

of labor-management relationships. Specific statutory and other authorizations of FMCS 

programs are described below.
14

I. The Labor-Management Relations Act of 1947 (Public Law 80-101, as 

amended, 29 U.S.C. 158(d), 173 et seq.)

The Act establishes a special procedure for threatened or actual strikes which, 

in the opinion of the President, imperil the national health or safety. In such 

situations, the President may appoint a board of inquiry to ascertain the facts 

with respect to the dispute. After receipt of a report, the President may seek to 

enjoin the strike, and a court may do so if it finds that the threatened or actual 

strike or lockout affects a substantial part or all of an industry and would 

imperil the national health or safety. 29 U.S.C. 176-178.

directs the FMCS to prevent or 

minimize interruptions to the free flow of commerce growing out of labor 

disputes by helping the parties settle such disputes through mediation. Parties 

are required to notify the FMCS 30 days prior to a contract termination or 

modification date so that mediation services may be proffered.

II. The Health Care Amendments of 1974 (Public Law 93-360, 29 U.S.C. 158(d)

(4), (4)(A), (4)(B))

III.

(amending the National Labor Relations Act) include 

special provisions intended to prevent or minimize work stoppages in the 

health care industry. In the case of this industry, FMCS must be notified 60 

days before the contract termination date. A 30-day notice is required in initial 

bargaining situations. If, in the opinion of the Director, a strike is threatened 

which would interrupt the delivery of health care in a locality, the Director 

may appoint a board of inquiry. 29 U.S.C. 183. The board has 15 days within 

which to investigate and file its report and recommendations; parties must 

maintain the status quo for 15 days thereafter while further negotiations and 

mediation take place. The parties are required to cooperate in any mediation 

efforts by FMCS.

The Civil Service Reform Act of 1978 (Public Law 95-454, 5 U.S.C. 7119(a))

IV.

directs the FMCS to provide mediation assistance in disputes arising from 

negotiations between federal agencies and the representatives of their 

employees.

The Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act of 2006 (Public Law 109-

435, as amended, 39 U.S.C. 1207)

V.

requires the FMCS to provide mediation 

services and assist in establishing arbitration boards in collective bargaining 

disputes between the Postal Service and the exclusive representatives of its 

employees.

Presidential Statement, March 24, 1953. The Atomic Energy LaborManagement Relations Panel was established within the FMCS in March 

1953, by President Eisenhower, in order to ensure the uninterrupted 

functioning of the atomic energy program without strikes or lockouts due to 

labor-management disputes. This Panel was moved to the Atomic Energy 

Commission in March 1956 but was returned to the FMCS under an inter-
15

agency agreement with the Department of Energy in April 1980 and renamed 

the Energy Labor Management Relations Panel (ELMRP).

VI. Executive Order 11374, October 11, 1967

VII.

, transferred the responsibilities of 

the Missile Sites Labor Commission (created by Executive Order 10946) to 

provide priority resolution of labor disputes at missile sites to the FMCS.

The Federal Insecticide, Fungicide and Rodenticide Act of 1978, (Public Law 

95-396, as amended, 7 U.S.C. 136a(c)(l)(F)(iii))

VIII.

requires the FMCS to provide 

for the appointment of arbitrators to decide disputes concerning compensation 

for the use or development of pesticide registration data.

The Labor Management Cooperation Act of 1978 (Public Law 101-552, as 

amended by Public Law 95-524, 29 U.S.C. 175a, 186(c)(9))

IX.

added Sections

205A and 302(c)(9) to the Labor-Management Relations Act and authorizes 

and directs the FMCS to encourage and support joint labor-management 

activities conducted by plant, area, and industry-wide committees designed to 

improve labor-management relationships, employment security and 

organizational effectiveness. The Act authorizes the Service to provide grant 

funds to assist in the establishment and operation of these labor-management 

committees.

The Administrative Dispute Resolution Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-320, 5 

U.S.C., 571, et seq., 29 U.S.C.173(f))

Under the 1996 Act, coverage has been expanded to include additional dispute 

resolution techniques, such as “ombudsmen,” and the use of ADR in some 

workplace conflicts, including Hatch Act violations, retirement, insurance, 

certain suspensions, removals, examinations, and appointments. The 1996 Act 

encourages the development of guidelines to expedite the selection of neutrals 

and to facilitate the use of alternative dispute resolution in the Federal 

Government.

authorizes and encourages agencies to 

use various alternative means of dispute resolution in the federal 

administrative process in order to avoid the time and expense of litigation. 

The 1996 Act amended and permanently reenacted the Administrative Dispute 

Resolution Act of 1990 as well as the Negotiated Rulemaking Act of 1990. 

The repeal of the sunset dates and the reporting requirements of the Acts 

suggest that the ADR and regulatory-negotiation “experiments” have become 

well-accepted processes of federal agencies.

Lastly, this legislation amends the Labor-Management Relations Act of 1947 

(Taft-Hartley) by permanently adding Section 173(f) of Title 29 of the United 

States Code so that the FMCS may provide all forms of ADR assistance to 

federal agencies. Under this legislation, the FMCS continues to assist agencies 

in negotiated rulemaking processes as well as other ADR procedures by 

providing training, facilitation, mediation, and other neutral skills.
16

X. The U.S. Code of Federal Regulations at 45 CFR 90.43(c)(3)

XI.

, issued by the 

Department of Health and Human Services, implementing its authority under 

the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, 42 U.S.C. 6101 et seq., authorizes the 

FMCS to provide mediation assistance for the resolution of age-discrimination 

charges.

The Federal Aviation Reauthorization Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-264, as 

amended, by Public Law 106-181, 49 U.S.C. 40122(a))

XII.

directs the FMCS to 

mediate disputes between the Administrator of the Federal Aviation 

Administration and its employee representatives concerning changes to the 

FAA’s personnel management system.

The Veterans Health Care Capital Asset and Business Improvement Act of 

2003 (Public Law 108-170, 38 U.S.C. 7403 (h)(4)(C))

XIII.

gives the Secretary of 

Veterans Affairs or the exclusive representative of the affected employees the 

option of using the services of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service 

to assist the parties in reaching an agreement regarding disputes with respect 

to any system of promotion and advancement proposed by the Secretary.

Executive Order 13522 (Creating Labor-Management Forums To Improve 

Delivery of Government Services), December 9, 2009, provides for the FMCS 

to furnish assistance to the National Council on Federal Labor-Management 

Relations, including training for executive departments and agencies in 

establishing labor-management forums and pilot projects to identify problems 

and negotiate solutions without regard to whether the matters are subject to 

bargaining (permissive subjects) under the Federal Service Labor-Relations 

Statute.
17

V. Budget Tables and Detailed Financial Requirements

FEDERAL MEDIATION AND CONCILIATION SERVICE

BUDGET AND STAFFING BY ACTIVITY

(in thousands of dollars)

FY 2010 FY 2011* FY 2012

Total Program

Increase or (Decrease)

Actual Estimated Request 2011 to 2012

Full-Time 

Equivalent 

Employment

Budget

Authority

Full-Time 

Equivalent 

Employment

Budget 

Authority

Full-Time 

Equivalent 

Employment

Budget 

Authority

Full-Time 

Equivalent 

Employment

Budget 

Authority

1. Collective Bargaining and 

Grievance Mediations 

(Dispute), Relationship 

Development Training 

(Preventive), and Outreach 

(Public Information) Workloads 181 $36,164 195 $36,327 195 $37,560 0 $1,233

2. Arbitration Services ................... 8 696 8 700 8 720 0 20

3. National Office Support and 

Administrative Services............. 47 9,042 49 8,875 49 8,995 0 120

4. Labor-Management Grants ........ 0 750 0 750 0 750 0 0

Sub-Total Appropriated 236 $46,652 252 $46,652 252 $48,025 0 $1,373
18

BUDGET AND STAFFING BY ACTIVITY

(in thousands of dollars)

FY 2010 FY 2011* FY 2012

Total Program

Increase or (Decrease)

Actual Estimated Request 2011 to 2012

Full-Time 

Equivalent 

Employment

Budget

Authority

Full-Time 

Equivalent 

Employment

Budget 

Authority

Full-Time 

Equivalent 

Employment

Budget 

Authority

Full-Time 

Equivalent 

Employment

Budget 

Authority

5. Reimbursable programs: 

Employment Mediation, 

International Training and 

Institute Courses....................... 8 $1,464 8 $1,678 8 $1,715 0 $37

6. FMCS Internal Training and 

Education.................................. 0 497 0 750 0 750 0 0

Sub-Total Reimbursable 8 $1,961 8 $2,428 8 $2,465 0 $37

TOTAL RESOURCES 244 $48,613 260 $49,080 260 $50,490 0 $1,410

* N.B. The FY 2011 estimate is the annualized continuing resolution level.
19

FEDERAL MEDIATION AND CONCILIATION SERVICE

BUDGET ESTIMATES FISCAL YEAR 2012

FINANCIAL REQUIREMENTS

(in thousands of dollars)

FY 2009 FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012

Actual Actual Estimated Request

Personnel Compensation $25,935 $27,396 $27,528

Full-time permanent

$28,297

25,537 26,910 27,101 27,868

- Full-time permanent positions 25,537 26,910 27,101 27,868

Other than full-time permanent 70 71 101 101

- Other than full-time permanent positions 70 71 101 101

Other Personnel Compensation 328 415 326 328

- Overtime & holiday pay 28 16 26 28

- Cash incentive awards 300 399 300 300

Personnel Benefits $7,287 $7,548 $7,876

Civilian Personnel Benefits

$8,018

7,287 7,548 7,876 8,018

- CSRS Retirement Contribution 326 281 281 275

- FERS Retirement Contribution 2,337 2,372 2,400 2,476

- Federal Retirement Thrift Savings Plan Contribution 1,000 1,043 1,143 1,183

- Group life insurance 48 48 48 48

- Health Insurance Contribution 1,490 1,524 1,600 1,712

- OASDI – FERS 1,181 1,351 1,400 1,419

- Employee compensation 449 424 399 401

- Relocation expenses (PCS) 0 34 134 0
20

BUDGET ESTIMATES FISCAL YEAR 2012

FINANCIAL REQUIREMENTS

(in thousands of dollars)

FY 2009 FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012

Actual Actual Estimated Request

Personnel Benefits (continued)

Civilian Personnel Benefits (continued)

- Cost-of-living allowance 48 46 46 50

- Subsidy for commuting costs 40 52 52 52

- Medicare contribution 368 373 373 402

Benefits of Former Personnel $2 $0 $3

- Unemployment compensation

$0

2 0 3 0

- Voluntary separation incentive 0 0 0 0

Travel and Transportation of Persons $1,740 $1,706 $1,779

- National office travel

$1,845

130 99 120 130

- Official car 15 9 9 15

- Field office travel 1,595 1,598 1,650 1,700

Transportation of Things $0 $4 $4

- Transportation of household goods (PCS)

$0

0 4 4 0

Rents, Communications, and Utilities 6,592 6,103 6,403

Rental Payments to GSA

6,824

5,641 5,182 5,482 5,900

- Rental payments to GSA 5,641 5,182 5,482 5,900
21

BUDGET ESTIMATES FISCAL YEAR 2012

FINANCIAL REQUIREMENTS

(in thousands of dollars)

FY 2009 FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012

Actual Actual Estimated Request

Rents, Communications, and Utilities (continued)

Rental Payments to Others 5 4 4 7

- Conference room rental 5 4 4 7

Communications, Utilities and Miscellaneous Charges 946 917 917 917

- Reproduction equipment rental 25 0 0 0

- Miscellaneous charges 10 5 5 5

- Audio-visual equipment rental 2 3 3 3

- GSA Phones 250 216 216 216

- FTS Phones 20 16 16 16

- Commercial Phones 280 280 280 280

- Data communication services 220 285 285 285

- Postal services and rentals 139 112 112 112

Printing and Reproduction $60 $20 $20

- FMCS forms and other printing

$20

60 20 20 20

Other Contractual Services $1,838 $1,895 $1,334

Advisory and Assistance Service

$1,384

21 16 16 21

- Computer assisted legal research 5 0 0 5

- OPM background investigations 6 6 6 6

- Office equipment and machinery relocation 10 10 10 10
22

BUDGET ESTIMATES FISCAL YEAR 2012

FINANCIAL REQUIREMENTS

(in thousands of dollars)

FY 2009 FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012

Actual Actual Estimated Request

Other Contractual Services (continued)

Other Services 245 232 245 245

- Management and professional services 240 227 240 240

- Official representation fund 5 5 5 5

Other purchases of goods and services

from Government Accounts 161 159 185 185

- Guard security services 161 159 185 185

Operation and Maintenance of Facilities 50 26 26 50

- Office repairs and alterations 50 26 26 50

Medical Care 33 21 21 21

- Medical care 33 21 21 21

Operation and Maintenance of Equipment 1,328 1,441 841 862

- Maintenance of office equipment 128 111 111 128

- Maintenance of information technology equipment 300 157 257 260

- Information Technology Support Services 865 1,139 439 439

- Support of payroll/personnel operations 35 34 34 35

- Household goods storage (PCS) 0 0 0 0
23

BUDGET ESTIMATES FISCAL YEAR 2012

FINANCIAL REQUIREMENTS

(in thousands of dollars)

FY 2009 FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012

Actual Actual Estimated Request

Supplies and Materials $460 $312 $342

- Office supplies and materials

$340

200 193 203 200

- Information technology supplies and materials 260 119 139 140

Equipment $912 $918 $613

- Furniture and fixtures

$547

100 75 150 82

- Information technology Hardware/Software 680 825 425 425

- Audio-visual equipment 132 18 38 40

Grants, Subsidies and Contributions $650 $750 $750 $750

Sub-total appropriated $45,476 $46,652 $46,652 $48,025
24

BUDGET ESTIMATES FISCAL YEAR 2012

FINANCIAL REQUIREMENTS

(in thousands of dollars)

FY 2009 FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012

Actual Actual Estimated Request

Reimbursable Programs (non-appropriated) $1,240 $1,464 $1,678

- Compensation

$1,715

765 834 886 910

- Benefits 200 223 229 242

- Travel 212 225 200 200

- Communications 3 4 3 3

- Other contractual services 50 156 350 350

- Supplies and materials 10 22 10 10

Sub-total of Reimbursable Programs $1,240 $1,464 $1,678 $1,715

FMCS Internal Training and Education (nonappropriated) $562 $497 $750

- Seminars, Workshops, Conferences and Training

$750

250 214 325 325

- New mediator costs 60 88 80 80

- Tuition 92 77 92 92

- Other contractual services 80 22 173 173

- Supplies & materials 20 15 20 20

- Subscriptions & training materials 60 81 60 60

Sub-total of FMCS Training and Education $562 $497 $750 $750

Sub-total of non-appropriated (reimbursable obligations) $1,802 $1,961 $2,428 $2,465

TOTAL RESOURCES $47,278 $48,613 $49,080 $50,490
25

FEDERAL MEDIATION AND CONCILIATION SERVICE

Detail of Total Employment – End of Year

2010 2011 2012

Actual Estimated Requested

Executive Level III.......................................... 1 1 1

ES.................................................................... 3 4 4

Subtotal............................................ 4 5 5

GS-15 .............................................................. 22 22 22

GS-14 .............................................................. 153 156 159

GS-13 .............................................................. 23 27 24

GS-12 .............................................................. 5 9 9

GS-11 .............................................................. 1 4 4

GS-10 .............................................................. 2 2 2

GS-9 ................................................................ 4 4 4

GS-8 ................................................................ 16 17 17

GS-7 ................................................................ 7 8 8

GS-6 ................................................................ 7 7 7

GS-5 ................................................................ 0 0 0

GS-4 ................................................................ 0 0 0

GS-3 ................................................................ 0 0 0

GS-2 ................................................................ 0 0 0

Subtotal ............................................ 240 256 256

Total employment, end of year..................... 244 * 261 * 261 *

Full-time equivalent (FTE) usage................. 244 * 260 * 260 *

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Average ES Salary .......................................... $160,600 $163,000 $163,000

Average GS Level ........................................... 12.99 12.96 12.97

Average GS Salary .......................................... $110,614 $108,960 $109,140

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

* 8 FTE funded by reimbursable revenue.
26

VI. Mission and Program Structure

Congress established the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) in 

1947 through the Labor Management Relations Act (Taft-Hartley) amendments to the 

National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) as an independent agency whose mission is “to 

assist parties to labor disputes in industries affecting commerce to settle such disputes 

through conciliation and mediation.”i

The FMCS commits to:

 Subsequent acts of Congress and presidential

orders have expanded the FMCS role to provide mediation services to the federal sector 

and alternative dispute resolution (ADR) programs to Federal Government agencies, as 

well as promote and establish labor-management partnerships.

• 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 disputes between employer and representatives of 

employees;

• Developing the art, science and practice of conflict resolution; and,

• Fostering the establishment and maintenance of constructive joint processes to 

improve labor-management relationships, employment security and 

organizational effectiveness.

For more than 60 years, the FMCS has provided services that embrace this 

mission and demonstrate its commitment to preventing or minimizing interruptions of the 

free flow of commerce growing out of labor disputes. As labor-management 

relationships have evolved over time, so, too, has the nature of the FMCS work within 

collective bargaining relationships. The FMCS today provides a range of services to 

labor and management, such as relationship-development training and training in interestbased bargaining, to help the parties deal effectively with disputes that may arise between 

them without resorting to work stoppages. The following section describes the FMCS

comprehensive package of core programs and services.
27

A. Collective Bargaining Mediation

Through collective bargaining mediation, the FMCS helps avert or minimize the 

cost of work stoppages to the U.S. economy. The FMCS’s core work is to mediate

collective bargaining negotiations for initial contracts—which take place between an 

employer and a newly certified or recognized union representing its employees—and for 

negotiations for successor collective bargaining agreements. The FMCS provides 

mediation services to the private sector and also to the public sector, including federal 

agencies and state and local governments.

In FY 2010, FMCS mediators actively monitored over 14,000 collective 

bargaining negotiations and were directly involved “at the table” in more than 4,900. The 

negotiations in which FMCS mediators were directly involved impacted every major 

industry throughout the United States.

B. Grievance Mediation

Grievance mediation involves the use of a neutral party to mediate disputes that 

may arise over the terms and conditions of a collective bargaining agreement. FMCS 

mediators provide this service to the private and public sectors with the salutary goal of 

preventing unresolved contract interpretation issues from spilling over and bogging down 

future contract negotiations. The volatile economic climate, highly competitive business 

environment, and the rapidity with which employers and unions must respond to 

changing conditions all increase the importance of resolving contentious issues arising 

mid-contract. Additionally these unresolved matters, if left to fester, invariably create a 

climate of conflict in the collective bargaining relationship and increase the potential for 

work stoppages during bargaining over contract renewal.

In FY 2010, the FMCS mediated 2,084 grievance mediation cases and helped the 

parties reach agreement in more than 1,500 of these (74 percent). Apart from that direct 

benefit to the parties, experience has shown that once parties utilize this type of 

mediation assistance, they are more likely to call upon FMCS mediation services during 

their negotiations at contract renewal time.

C. Relationship-Development and Training

Preventing conflict that may arise during the term of a collective bargaining 

agreement is another important goal of the FMCS. The FMCS’s relationship-building 

training programs are designed to serve a preventive purpose and to improve labormanagement relationships by helping labor and management develop collaborative, 

problem-solving approaches. Effective use of these programs better enables the parties to 

jointly respond to rapidly changing business and economic conditions. These training 

programs not only improve the quality of the parties’ relationships, but are designed to 

provide processes and structures conducive to joint discussion and resolution of issues.

Adoption of these processes helps ensure successful and highly productive workplaces. 

In FY 2010, FMCS mediators conducted 2,200 training programs to the parties of 

collective bargaining.
28

FMCS relationship-development and training programs include:

• Alternative Bargaining Training: Teaches the benefits and techniques of a 

non-adversary, joint problem-solving approach to negotiation.

• Relationship by Objective: Improves the parties’ relationship with one 

another, particularly where the relationship has worsened after a contentious 

representation election, initial contract negotiation, or strike.

• Committee Effectiveness Training: Assists the parties in developing joint 

labor-management committees designed to bring the parties into regular 

communication.

• Partners in Change: Explores the organization’s current culture, identifies 

perceptions within the organization, creates a vision for the future, and designs 

systems that effectuate change.

• Labor-Management Work-Site Committee Training: Helps labormanagement committees extend to the work-site level, forming work-site 

committees, group interactions, and learning techniques to manage change.

• Contract Administration/Steward-Supervisor Training: Trains front-line 

supervisors and shop stewards on their roles and responsibilities in contract 

administration, grievance processing, the arbitration procedure, and 

interpersonal communications for building cooperative relationships.

• Cultural Awareness Skills for Labor and Management: Trains the parties to 

function in a multicultural work setting including the resolution of cross-cultural 

conflicts in a workplace.

• Collective Bargaining and Mediation Training: Trains the parties on 

effective negotiation and communication skills.

D. Arbitration Services

National labor policy favors arbitration for settling contractual disputes. FMCS’s

Office of Arbitration Services maintains a roster of approximately 1,400 independent

arbitrators who are qualified to hear and decide disputes over the interpretation or 

application of collective bargaining agreements. Upon request from the parties, the 

FMCS furnishes a list of names from which they may choose an arbitrator to hear their 

case and render a decision.

During FY 2010, the Office of Arbitration Services processed nearly

16,500 requests for arbitration panels nationwide. Arbitrators on the FMCS roster heard 

and decided more than 2,100 labor arbitration cases.

E. Employment and Regulatory Mediation

Outside the collective bargaining arena, the FMCS provides employment 

mediation services to the federal sector and to state and local governments on a costreimbursable basis. The Administrative Dispute Resolution Act of 1990, the Negotiated 

Rulemaking Act of 1990, and the Administrative Dispute Resolution Act of 1996 

expanded FMCS’s role as a provider of these services. The legislative intent behind 
29

these acts was to expand the use of alternative dispute resolution throughout the Federal 

Government, reduce litigation costs, and promote better government decision-making. A 

recent development has been the increased emphasis on the utilization of regulatory 

negotiations to enhance the effectiveness and efficiency of promulgating new agency 

rules. This requires experienced mediators and facilitators, who are specially trained and

skilled at managing complex multi-party negotiations involving multiple stakeholders. 

The FMCS’s workforce is uniquely positioned to meet the specific demands of the 

regulatory negotiations environment, and indeed, requests for such services have 

increased.

The FMCS also provides employment mediation to the private sector to resolve 

workplace disputes falling outside of the traditional collective bargaining context, i.e., 

equal employment opportunity disputes. In FY 2010, FMCS mediated 1,392

employment cases.

F. FMCS Institute

The FMCS Institute for Conflict Management provides training and education to 

labor and management practitioners from multiple organizations in an off-site classroom 

format. The Institute offers training in practical conflict resolution skills, collective 

bargaining, arbitrator and arbitration skills-building, facilitation process skills, multiparty facilitation, cultural diversity, and equal employment opportunity mediation skills. 

The Institute runs as a reimbursable program and is funded by fees received from training 

participants.

G. Labor-Management Committee Grants

The 1978 Labor-Management Cooperation Act authorizes and directs the FMCS 

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." Congress funds this initiative in the FMCS’s annual 

appropriations, and grants are distributed to encourage labor-management committees to 

develop innovative joint approaches to workplace problems.

In FY 2010, the FMCS awarded 10 new competitive grants at a cost of $750,000. 

These grants supported labor-management committees tackling a wide variety of 

important issues related to health care, job safety, work-life balance, and the flexibility 

needed to pursue new business opportunities, such as green jobs.

H. International Training and Exchange

Beyond the nation’s borders, the FMCS plays an important role in promoting 

collective bargaining and conflict resolution around the world. FMCS’s international 

work is a small, but integral, part of its services. Emerging market economies often 

struggle to compete effectively in a globally integrated marketplace. Part of their 

struggle includes the implementation of effective labor relations systems. Other nations 
30

and foreign organizations have sought assistance in designing systems that resolve and 

prevent industrial conflict where a formal system has not been developed to manage it. 

International training programs are also a knowledge-sharing experience; FMCS 

mediators gain familiarity with complex issues affecting the global economy and, as a 

result, are more effective in resolving labor-management disputes with international 

implications.

FMCS’s international efforts also help to level the economic playing field for U.S. 

companies and workers by strengthening the rule of law and workers' rights in

developing countries. The program helps create the stable and productive work forces 

that are needed to attract foreign investment and improve living conditions as well as

supporting U.S. companies and workers in the global market by advocating core labor 

standards for all nations. Equally important, the FMCS helps establish the labor relations 

institutions that are essential to the smooth functioning of free market economies. In 

addition to industrial relations, FMCS mediators assist with rule of law initiatives, 

thereby helping to foster economic growth and investment. These initiatives include 

mediation training and working with NGOs and other civil society organizations to 

develop mediation and other FMCS ADR programs. FMCS’s International Program 

operations are reimbursed and are funded in part by a number of foreign and U.S. 

agencies, including the U.S. Department of Labor, the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. 

Agency for International Development, and the International Labor Organization.
31

VII. Workload Projections – FY 2011 and FY 2012

The FMCS’s workload over prior fiscal years, caseload estimates, 

accomplishments for FY 2010, and estimated workload in FY 2011 and 2012 are 

included in the following pages. These estimates should be read in conjunction with the 

FMCS’s strategic program objectives detailed in Section VIII.
32

WORKLOAD OUTPUTS AND PROJECTIONS

FISCAL YEARS 2007 - 2012

PROGRAM SERVICES

FY 2007

Actual

FY 2008

Actual

FY 2009

Actual

FY 2010

Estimated

FY 2010

Actual

FY 2011

Estimated

FY 2012

Estimated

1. COLLECTIVE BARGAINING 

MEDIATION .............................................

Assigned Casesii 14,663 14,308 13,887 14,000 14,127 14,000 14,000

-Private Sector 13,245 12,914 12,425 12,656 12,888 12,630 12,630

-Public Sector (state and municipal) 1,107 1,083 1,138 1,050 906 1,041 1,041

-Federal Sector 311 311 324 294 333 329 329

Mediated Casesiii 5,329 4,836 4,767 4,971 4,919 4,798 4,798

-Private Sector 3,907 3,437 3,320 3,595 3,632 3,444 3,444

-Public Sector (state and municipal) 1,145 1,145 1,155 1,119 991 1,096 1,096

-Federal Sector 277 254 292 257 296 257 257

Closed Cases 14,478 13,480 13,308 13,241 12,992 13,276 13,276

Closed Mediated Cases 4,426 3,914 3,958 4,028 4,005 3,982 3,982

Activity Rateiv 31% 29% 30% 30% 31% 30% 30%

Settled and Closed Mediated Cases 3,818 3,396 3,395 3,487 3,428 3,375 3,375

Percentage of mediated cases settled w/FMCSv 86% 87% 86% 87% 86% 85% 85%

Activity rate in significant casesvi 51% 38% 37% 43% 46% 43% 43%

2. GRIEVANCE MEDIATION..........................

Assigned Cases 1,768 1,749 2,027 1,980 2,124 2,300 2,300

Mediated Cases 1,753 1,728 2,004 1,943 2,084 2,261 2,261

-Private Sector 1,282 1,296 1,570 1,481 1,708 1,736 1,736

-Public Sector (state and municipal) 316 314 313 342 239 389 389

-Federal Sector 155 118 121 157 137 174 174

Settled GM Cases 1,254 1,299 1,479 1,468 1,532 1,703 1,703

Percentage of cases settled through FMCSvii 74% 75% 74% 76% 74% 75% 75%
33

PROGRAM SERVICES

FY 2007

Actual

FY 2008

Actual

FY 2009

Actual

FY 2010

Estimated

FY 2010

Actual

FY 2011

Estimated

FY 2012

Estimated

3. RELATIONSHIP-DEVELOPMENT AND 

TRAINING.................................................

Number of training programs provided 2,548 2,356 2,327 2,400 2,200 2,300 2,300

-Private Sector 1,591 1,390 1,400 1,406 1,471 1,377 1,377

-Public Sector (state and municipal) 730 712 682 706 433 654 654

-Federal Sector 227 254 245 288 296 269 269

4. EMPLOYMENT MEDIATION.....................

Mediated Cases 1,060 1,220 1,362 1,350 1,392 1,350 1,350

-Federal Sector 1,038 1,205 1,336 1,322 1,387 1,304 1,304

-Public Sector (state and municipal) 5 11 9 12 2 17 17

-Private 17 4 17 16 3 29 29

Settled EM Cases 532 576 638 663 675 657 657

Percent of EM cases settled through FMCSviii 50% 47% 47% 49% 48% 49% 49%

5. OUTREACH....................................................

Outreach casesix 3,847 3,347 3,622 3,550 3,240 3,400 3,400

6. ARBITRATION SERVICES .........................

Number of panels issued 16,264 15,717 16,692 16,000 16,486 16,000 16,000

Number of arbitrators appointed 6,485 6,568 6,496 6,500 6,870 6,505 6,505

Average number of days for arbitrator 

appointment 3.2 3.24 2.72 2 2 2 2

7. INSTITUTE.....................................................

Number of courses provided 9 5 7 11 12 11 11

Number of participants 219 150 187 240 207 290 290
34

VIII. Program Objectives – FY 2011 and FY 2012

Program objectives for each service area are guided by the FMCS’s five-year 

strategic plan. This plan was updated for this budget submission. For each strategic goal, 

the FMCS has identified a number of objectives, key implementation strategies and 

actions, and measures for tracking its performance toward achieving each goal. The 

following section details each goal and presents a matrix identifying the programs 

impacted by them, performance objectives and accomplishments for FY 2010, and 

performance goals for FY 2011 and FY 2012.

In FY 2009, the FMCS initiated a new project to measure its impact in building 

problem-solving relationships. Data for this project are currently being collected and 

prepared for analysis, with initial results anticipated in the FY 2013 budget request.
35

Strategic Goal #1: Mediation

Minimize the number and duration of work stoppages that may occur during collective 

bargaining negotiations.

Objective:

• Use of FMCS collective bargaining mediation by labor and management leaders.

Action:

• Early intervention activities, particularly in initial contracts, in negotiations where 

health care is identified as a significant issue, the health care industry, and large 

and high-impact bargaining units.

Strategies:

• Encourage labor and management leaders to employ mediation in their contract 

negotiations.

• Pursue FMCS joint problem solving initiatives during the term of the agreement.

Expected Outputs:

• Increased mediator case activity rates.

• Increased proportion of cases with meetings held prior to contract expiration date.

Discussion:

Collective bargaining mediation represents the core of the FMCS’s mission and 

its most publicly visible work. In 2005, an independent study conducted for the FMCS 

found that mediation prior to a contract’s expiration date significantly reduces the 

duration of any work stoppage that occurs. Previously, three separate studies of matched 

bargaining pairs found that FMCS mediation was also an important factor in preventing 

work stoppages from occurring in the first place.

As a result of these studies, the FMCS believes that early and ongoing contact 

with the parties to a labor contract negotiation is imperative in reducing the number and 

duration of work stoppages. This is particularly true in collective bargaining cases that 

involve: an initial contract; national security; the health care industry; large bargaining 

units; or those cases that have the potential for permanent shutdowns or disruptions to the 

community, work force, or interstate commerce.

The FMCS evaluates its success in these areas by looking at how many 

negotiations use mediation services, whether or not a work stoppage occurred, the 

duration of any stoppage, and the timing of mediators’ involvement. On an aggregate 

basis the FMCS also estimates the financial cost of work stoppages that actually occur 

and the value of work stoppages that its mediators are able to prevent or shorten.
36

Mediation Outputs and Performance Measures

Minimize the number and duration of work stoppages that may occur during 

collective bargaining negotiations.

Rates of mediator case activity

Assigned Cases Closed in FY with meetings / Assigned Cases Closed in FY

20

25

30

35

40

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011* 2012*

Actual Performance

Linear Trend

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011* 2012*

Actual .......... 30.6 29.1 29.7 30.8 30.0 30.0

Target .......... 30.0 30.0 30.0 30.0 30.0 30.0

* Estimated

Proportion of mediation cases with meetings held prior to contract expiration date

Cases Closed in FY with Meeting Held Prior to Contract Expiration / Cases Closed in FY with Meeting

40

42

44

46

48

50

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011* 2012*

Actual Performance

Linear Trend

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011* 2012*

Actual .......... 43.7 44.7 46.9 44.5 45.0 45.0

Target .......... 50.0 50.0 50.0 50.0 50.0 50.0

* Estimated
37

Strategic Goal #2: Building Problem-Solving Relationships

Improve labor-management relationships.

Objective:

• Use collaborative dispute resolution processes to manage workplace conflict.

Actions:

• Provide techniques and information that help parties improve their collective 

bargaining relationship with particular emphasis on implementation of the 

Affordable Care Act.

• Deliver internally sustainable dispute resolution systems.

• Educate labor and management leaders in the art of building and maintaining 

labor-management partnerships.

Strategy:

• Promote the use of FMCS programs and outreach emphasizing joint initiatives on 

significant issues likely to impact collective bargaining.

Expected Output:

• Increased customer satisfaction with FMCS educational products and services.

Discussion:

Relationship development and training, grants, and a number of related activities 

are designed to help the parties to a collective bargaining agreement better understand the 

issues and external forces affecting their collective bargaining relationship and to develop 

internal task forces or groups to help them improve their relationship. In an increasingly 

global economy, outreach to sister agencies in other countries is a small, but important 

aspect of the FMCS’s work in this area.

American employer and employee continued success in a globally competitive 

arena requires a degree of cooperation between labor and management that traditional 

confrontational bargaining relationships cannot easily accommodate. This is particularly 

true with respect to new circumstances confronting both parties in the collective 

bargaining relationship, such as the challenges associated with the implementation of the 

Affordable Care Act. These competitive issues can be both complex and subtle and 

require creative solutions that address unique challenges.

The FMCS is committed to delivering to its customers the best possible 

information, analysis, practices, and solutions. Through its program evaluations, the 

FMCS is constantly seeking to improve its core curriculum.
38

Strategic Goal #3: Resolving Mid-Term Disputes

Resolve contract-based disputes (grievances) that arise during the term of collective 

bargaining agreements.

Objectives:

• Assist parties to voluntarily resolve contract-based disputes.

• Provide high-value arbitrator referral service for situations when parties cannot 

voluntarily resolve a contract-based dispute.

Actions:

• Increased utilization of FMCS services to resolve contract-based disputes.

• Maintain roster of experienced arbitrators.

• Improve all aspects of the arbitration referral service.

Strategies:

• Advocate mediation and arbitration as the preferred methods for settling disputes 

between parties in a collective bargaining relationship.

• Facilitate joint, collaborative problem solving events on an ongoing basis.

Expected Outputs:

• Increase the proportion of settled grievance mediation cases.

• Increase customer satisfaction with quality of arbitration service.

Discussion:

Grievance mediation, joint problem-solving facilitation, and arbitration are three 

approaches for resolving disputes that may arise from differing interpretations of a labor 

contract’s terms and conditions. Grievance mediation and joint problem solving 

facilitation are voluntary processes that rely upon consensus building. Arbitration is a 

structured process that provides a final and binding determination. All three approaches 

are designed to reduce the need for expensive and time-consuming court litigation, and 

resolve disputes before they negatively affect the collective bargaining relationship.

Increasing the FMCS’s presence among groups that have not traditionally used its 

services is one way to build healthier collective bargaining relationships. FMCS’s 

involvement in these interventions encourages the parties to engage in other collective 

bargaining activities with less disruption and animosity.

Improved settlement rates in contract-based disputes and joint problem-solving 

cases provide a good indication of how well FMCS mediators are able to facilitate 

agreements. Likewise, favorable customer evaluations of the arbitrator referral service 

help the FMCS improve the quality of the service.
39

Resolving Mid-Term Disputes Outputs and Performance Measures

Resolve contract-based disputes (grievances) that arise during the term of 

collective bargaining agreements.

Proportion of active grievance mediation cases with settlement reached

Agreement Reached in FY / Cases Closed in FY

65

70

75

80

85

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011* 2012*

Actual Performance

Linear Trend

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011* 2012*

Actual .......... 71.5 75.2 73.8 75.5 75.0 75.0

Target .......... 75.0 75.0 75.0 75.0 75.0 75.0

* Estimated
40

Strategic Goal #4: Promoting ADR

Resolve regulatory / enforcement policy disputes and statute- based workplace disputes.

Objectives:

• Use employment mediation as an alternative to litigation.

• Use problem-solving processes to resolve regulatory/ policy based disputes.

Action:

• Increase number of employment mediations conducted and reimbursable 

agreements signed.

• Increase the number of facilitated Regulatory Negotiations and Public Policy 

disputes conducted

Strategy:

• Advocate alternative dispute resolution (ADR) as the preferred method for 

settling non-collective bargaining disputes.

Expected Output:

• Increase the number of mediated settlements in employment mediation cases.

• Increase the number of Regulatory/Policy disputes resolved through facilitated 

processes.

Discussion:

The FMCS’s alternative dispute resolution (ADR) work is defined by the 

Administrative Dispute Resolution Act of 1996 and is designed to help resolve disputes 

that do not result from a collective bargaining relationship. Under the Act, the FMCS is 

generally limited to work in the federal sector, but may include state or local entities if 

the dispute is related to a federal rule or regulation.

Using traditional dispute resolution vehicles, such as the courts or other statutory 

processes, may take several years and cost hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees 

court costs, and require significant resource expenditures from the affected parties. In 

addition, imposed outcomes from utilization of these processes are unpredictable and the 

conditions present when the dispute arose may have changed dramatically. In regulatory 

matters, voluntary resolution of a single issue by multiple parties through a facilitated 

consensus based process will normally offset any costs incurred. Broader resolution of

more issues increases the benefits on an exponential basis.

By increasing the number of individual employment cases and 

regulatory/enforcement case that the FMCS takes and achieving an increased number of 

resolved cases, FMCS seeks to provide a cost-effective alternative to litigation and 

promote better government decision-making.
41

Promoting ADR Outputs and Performance Measures

Resolve statute- or regulation-based workplace disputes.

Proportion of active employment mediation cases with settlement reached

Agreement Reached in FY / Cases Closed in FY

40

45

50

55

60

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011* 2012*

Actual Performance

Linear Trend

2007 2008 2009 2010 2011* 2012*

Actual .......... 50.2 47.2 46.8 48.5 50.0 50.0

Target .......... 50.0 50.0 50.0 50.0 50.0 50.0

* Estimated
42

Endnotes

 

i

29 USC § 173. By statute, FMCS’s jurisdiction excludes the rail and airline industries, which are covered 

by the National Mediation Board under the Railway Labor Act. ii Section 8(d) of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, 29 U.S.C. §158(d) requires that any 

employer or labor organization provide notice to the FMCS 30 days prior to contract expiration. Not 

all cases providing notices are assigned. Actual FY 2010 FMCS case intake exceeded 22,000. iii Mediated cases (formerly called “active” cases) represent the number of cases in the FY where mediators 

have become active in the negotiations.

iv Defined as the number of closed cases where there was at least one meeting divided by the number of 

total closed assignments. v

 Defined as the number of mediated cases settled divided by the total number of active cases.

vi Significant cases are generally defined as situations where the bargaining unit exceeds 1,000.

vii Defined as the number of grievance mediation cases settled and closed within the fiscal year divided by 

the number of closed GM assignments.

viii Defined as the number of mediated employment cases settled divided by the number of mediated cases 

closed ix FMCS requires all mediators to engage in outreach efforts. These kinds of activities include nonbargaining meetings with labor and management representatives, attendance at conferences, meetings 

with local and state officials to offer FMCS services, and presentations designed to increase public 

knowledge.