1

2013 
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Message from the Director 

Despite the many challenges of the past year, and through individual leadership, vision and 

dedication among field mediators and support staff, the FMCS fulfilled its core mission to 

assist labor and management in collective bargaining disputes and distinguished itself as a 

high-performing federal agency in the delivery of training, relationship-building and 

alternative dispute resolution programs. Amid considerable budget uncertainty, the FMCS—

through the effective management of its resources—conducted 2,027 relationshipdevelopment and training programs. Field mediators actively monitored nearly 13,000 cases 

and provided mediation services in more than 4,100 collective bargaining disputes. In total, 

the Agency provided an estimated $1.5 billion in benefits to the U.S. economy through the 

mitigation and avoidance of disruptive work stoppages. 

The FMCS maintained a high level of responsiveness to the needs of its customers, raised 

awareness about its services within the labor-management community, and provided an 

unprecedented number of practitioners with education and training resources and tools for 

success. In addition, the FMCS continued to answer the challenge presented by Executive 

Order 13522, vigorously reaching out to federal agencies and helping them to establish 

cooperative labor-management forums and increased collaboration. These outstanding 

mission outcomes were complemented by the Agency’s success in engaging and empowering 

its employees, with the result that FMCS rated third among small agencies in the Best Places 

to Work in the Federal Government rankings for the third consecutive year. Significantly, the 

index scores for FMCS also placed the Agency third among all federal agencies, regardless of 

size, in 2013. 

In FY 2013, at a time when the dynamic at the negotiating table remained extremely difficult, 

it was encouraging to note a developing trend in labor-management cooperation in collective 

bargaining relationships across the country. Once unthinkable, increasing numbers of labor 

unions and employers have begun working more cooperatively to reach agreements, reduce 

hostility and diminish the adversarial relations that often hinder successful bargaining. The 

FMCS played an integral role in the propagation of this trend, by offering ongoing assistance 

to management and unions in reaching labor agreements and expanding awareness of 

specialized facilitation and training opportunities that, when utilized, have helped to 

significantly transform inefficient labor relations models. 

More than ever, the work of this agency was critically important in preventing or mitigating 

economically disruptive labor disputes and workplace conflicts. Collective bargaining in FY 

Report for 

Fiscal Year 2013 
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2013 was plagued by a sluggish economy and rising health care costs as well as the aggressive 

demands of both unions and employers during bargaining as all parties sought to regain ground 

lost in the great recession. In many noteworthy cases, these pressures on the parties reinforced 

for them the value of building labor-management relationships as a foundation for success for 

both sides at the bargaining table. That fact was powerfully demonstrated throughout the fiscal 

year in a number of high-profile contract negotiations in which FMCS mediation services played 

a critical role in achieving collective bargaining agreements. 

• International Longshoremen’s Association (ILA) and the United States Maritime 

Alliance (USMX) – In late August 2012, the ILA and USMX (a multi-employer 

organization representing numerous large shipping companies whose diverse ownership 

included corporations in the United States, Canada, Europe, and Asia) jointly requested 

FMCS assistance in their ongoing negotiation dispute. The dispute involved thousands of 

longshoremen throughout all the major Atlantic and Gulf Coast ports. A realistic strike 

threat existed with a September 30 deadline that would have inevitably crippled the 

nation’s economy at a critical point when it had just begun to show signs of recovery 

from the Great Recession. With the assistance of a top-level FMCS team, the parties 

initially agreed to extend the contract expiration date until 2013 to avoid serious damage 

to the entire retail industry’s holiday season along with its impact on the consumer 

public. Thereafter, the parties continued to negotiate—again with hands-on assistance 

from the FMCS—and succeeded in achieving a master agreement that provides for six 

years of stable labor-management relations. After rank-and-file workers and 

management ratified the master agreement, both parties praised the FMCS efforts, thus 

marking one of the FMCS’s most monumental accomplishments in many years. 

• Verizon and Communication Workers of America / International Brotherhood of 

Electrical Workers – Verizon and its two unions, representing approximately 45,000 

employees working in the mid-Atlantic and northeastern United States, had been engaged 

in direct negotiations for more than one year without any success. A two-week strike by 

the unions did not serve to bring the parties any closer together on a multitude of 

contentious economic (most especially those dealing with health care) and working 

conditions issues. At that juncture, the parties jointly requested assistance from the 

FMCS. What ensued was 60 days of marathon negotiations under the auspices of a toplevel team of FMCS mediators, which ultimately produced tentative agreements covering 

the entire work force. Successful ratification of those agreements ended the threat of a 

further strike or lockout and, again, provided the basis for an extensive period of stable 

labor-management relations. 

• National Hockey League (NHL) and the National Hockey League Players 

Association (NHLPA) – The National Hockey League and the National Hockey League 

Players Association became the third professional sports league in as many years to 

experience a major labor dispute. As the National Football League and the National 
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Football League Referees Association were resolving a much publicized two-and-a-halfmonth lockout with FMCS assistance in September, the NHL instituted a lockout of the 

players in mid-September when they were unable to reach agreement with the NHLPA 

on the terms of a new agreement. The parties met jointly with FMCS mediators in late 

November, but after two days of extensive discussions, the mediators ended the session, 

citing the extensive differences between the parties and the inability to find meaningful 

points of compromise between their well-established positions. 

FMCS remained in contact with the principal spokespersons in the ensuing weeks, 

concerned about the aggregate economic impact on industries dependent upon NHL 

games in the 22 U.S. (New York City has two teams) and seven Canadian communities 

and the loss of their economic contributions to the impacted communities. As the lockout 

continued, restaurants, related entertainment businesses, hotels, and the arenas which 

hosted games continued to suffer the economic consequences. At the end of December, 

faced with the potential loss of the entire season and little progress meeting without 

FMCS assistance, the parties agreed to make a final attempt to negotiate a new agreement 

and salvage a partial season. In marathon mediation sessions, which began on New 

Year’s Eve, the parties were able to bridge their significant differences. Announcing the 

framework of a new agreement at a joint press conference conducted at 6 a.m. Sunday, 

January 6th, following an 18-hour final session, both the NHL and the NHLPA cited the 

assistance of FMCS mediation as critical to their ability to reach agreement. By the end 

of January, arenas, restaurants, concessionaires, and hotels in the affected communities 

were once again at full employment. Overcoming fears of fan alienation and 

abandonment after the third lockout in league history, the shortened season was played 

before record crowds and heightened media ratings. 

Based on FY 2013 data, the FMCS estimated that its involvement in a dispute reduced the 

duration of a work stoppage by an average of 33 percent. In 84 percent of cases involving FMCS 

mediators, labor and management were able to reach a collective bargaining agreement—a 

measure of the value of FMCS assistance. 

With the end of the fiscal year, the FMCS planned to again sponsor a special labor-management 

summit conference, celebrating the successes of labor-management partnerships across the 

nation. For a second consecutive year, FMCS was to assemble a national audience of laborrelations practitioners and leaders to demonstrate the transformative effect of joint problem 

solving and cooperation in union-employer negotiations. The 2013 event was to take place at the 

White House and feature Secretary of Labor Thomas E. Perez and Secretary of Commerce Penny 

S. Pritzker in highlighting the importance of labor-management cooperation to the nation’s 

workforce development and to the national economy. 

In addition, the FMCS planned a first-of-its-kind training event for the Agency, titled "Conflict 

Resolution Week," to offer in-person and online training seminars, showcasing FMCS training 

programs and services. The series will provide more than 30 free, web-based, educational 

sessions including presentations by well-known experts in the field of conflict, covering topics 
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from the traditional basics to the cutting edge in conflict resolution. The event is expected to 

attract hundreds of attendees to the live sessions scheduled for FMCS headquarters in 

Washington, D.C., while thousands more are expected to participate in the training to be offered 

online. (At the time the data were compiled for this report, registrations for this event had 

reached capacity and had exceeded expectations after being re-scheduled to January, 2014 

because of the federal government shutdown in October, 2013.) 

The Conflict Resolution Week event was planned to follow up on the highly successful FMCS 

“Open House,” hosted by the Agency in November, 2013. The Open House was held to 

familiarize potential users of FMCS Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) programs with the 

value and benefits of services provided to federal government agencies. The Open House 

attracted scores of representatives from the federal sector to panel discussions and presentations 

describing available FMCS federal sector services, such as employment mediation, training, 

systems design, interagency cooperation, and facilitation of negotiated rulemaking and public 

policy dialogues. 

 

Such documented results as those mentioned above underscore the vital work of the FMCS in 

providing the training and the inspiration that form the foundations of labor-management 

partnerships and effective conflict resolution. Our work shows the power of pro-active 

collaboration, and it is our hope that a new, more innovative era in labor-management relations 

may be emerging–one in which unions and employers together find ways to utilize new 

technologies, tools and processes to improve workforce training and productivity and to address 

quality issues. 

Despite the challenges described above, FY 2013 was a year of proud accomplishments for the 

FMCS. Staying focused on our values and mission throughout the year, FMCS worked to 

advance labor-management collaboration, build significant partnerships in key industry sectors 

and enable government agencies and federally-funded programs to reduce or eliminate litigation 

costs through effective dispute resolution services. With the start of a new fiscal year, the FMCS 

is well prepared to undertake new challenges ahead.

 

Sincerely, 

Scot L. Beckenbaugh 

Acting Director 

Allison Beck 

Deputy Director 
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FY 2013 Agency Services 

Agency Mission 

The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) is an independent agency of the federal 

government established by Congress in 1947 to help employers and unions avoid costly work 

stoppages and minimize their potentially devastating effects on regional or national commerce. 

The FMCS, headquartered in Washington, D.C., has mediators located in over 60 field offices 

and ten regional offices across the country and is best known for its history of successful and 

innovative advances in labor-management collaboration, joint problem-solving and the 

resolution of major collective bargaining disputes. In 1996, Congress recognized this record for 

pioneering dispute resolution techniques and highly skilled professional mediators and called 

upon the FMCS to help other federal, state and local agencies minimize costly litigation by 

resolving disputes arising under their jurisdictions. Thus, while our core activity remains the 

prevention or resolution of labor-management disputes, FMCS also provides sister agencies with 

a wide variety of alternative dispute resolution services. 

A. Collective Bargaining Mediation 

Through collective bargaining mediation, 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 contract negotiations—which take place between an employer and a 

newly certified or recognized union representing its employees—and for negotiations for 

successor collective bargaining agreements. FMCS provides mediation services to the private 

sector, and also to the public sector, including federal agencies, and state and local governments. 

During mediation, the mediator’s task is to identify alternative solutions and compromises, 

encourage settlement where appropriate, control the critical timing of offers, and persuade the 

parties to honestly discuss their differences. In FY 2013, FMCS mediators were actively 

involved in more than 4,100 collective bargaining contract negotiations in 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 goal of preventing unresolved contract 

interpretation issues from spilling over into future contract negotiations. Lengthening contract 

terms increase the importance of resolving contentious issues arising during the term of a 

contract. In FY 2013, FMCS mediated more than 1,800 grievance mediation cases and helped 

the parties reach agreement in 1,383 of these (76 percent). 
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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 improve labor-management relationships by helping labor and management to develop 

collaborative problem-solving approaches. Use of these programs better enables the parties to 

jointly respond to rapidly changing business and economic conditions during the term of the 

contract and also make future mediation efforts more effective. 

D. ADR Services 

Outside the collective bargaining arena, FMCS provides dispute resolution services to other 

federal, state, and local government agencies on a cost-reimbursable basis. The Administrative 

Dispute Resolution and Negotiated Rulemaking Acts recognized FMCS’s conflict resolution 

expertise and called on FMCS to help expand the use of alternative dispute resolution throughout 

government to reduce litigation costs and to promote better government decision-making. To 

this end, FMCS provides sister agencies with a wide variety of professional services such as 

mediating employment disputes, designing and building capacity for effective conflict 

management systems, and developing tools for interagency and public-private cooperation and 

collaboration. In FY 2013, FMCS provided ADR services in more than 1,100 cases. 

E. International Training and Exchange 

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

and conflict resolution around the world. FMCS’ international work is a small, but integral, part 

of its services. Emerging market economies often struggle to compete effectively in a globally 

integrated marketplace. FMCS helps establish the labor relations institutions that are essential to 

the smooth functioning of free market economies. These 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 domestic labor-management disputes with 

international implications. 

FMCS’ international training programs are delivered largely on a cost-reimbursable basis 

through interagency acquisition agreements with other government agencies, such as the 

Departments of State and Labor and U.S. AID. In FY 2013, FMCS mediators designed and/or 

delivered mediation training programs in China, Vietnam and Burma. Better industrial relations 

practices were developed through joint labor-management training programs in transitioning 

democracies, such as Morocco, Bangladesh, and Lesotho. In addition to programs delivered 

abroad, every year, FMCS mediators host numerous foreign delegations visiting the U.S. and 

interested in U.S. labor-management relations and conflict resolution practices. 
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F. Arbitration Services 

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

Arbitration Services maintains a roster of approximately 1,200 independent arbitrators who are 

qualified to hear and decide disputes over the interpretation or application of collective 

bargaining agreements. Upon request from the parties, FMCS furnishes a list of names from 

which they may choose an arbitrator to hear their case and render a decision. During FY 2013, 

the Office of Arbitration Services processed nearly 13,400 requests for arbitration panels 

nationwide. Arbitrators on the FMCS roster heard and decided more than 2,100 labor arbitration 

cases. 

G. FMCS Institute for Conflict Management 

The FMCS Institute for Conflict Management delivers accessible, practical, and experiencebased conflict resolution training for individuals and small groups of employees and managers. 

The training is specifically designed to meet the challenges of labor-management relations and 

organizational change. The Institute’s training programs provide participants the opportunity to 

interact with and learn from experienced practitioners who use these skills every day. Federal 

mediators and private-sector arbitrators comprise the Institute faculty. FY 2013 courses included 

Mediation Skills for the Workplace, Labor-Management Negotiation Skills, Evidence and 

Witness Examination in Arbitration, Arbitration for Federal Advocates, and The Art and Science 

of Inquiry (part of our Essential Neutral Skills Series) and Becoming a Labor Arbitrator. The 

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

participants. 
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Mediation Services Program Data

PROGRAM SERVICES FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012 FY 2013

1. COLLECTIVE BARGAINING MEDIATION.................... 

 Assigned Cases114,127 13,712 13,114 12,938 

 -Private Sector 12,888 12,460 11,814 11,802 

 -Public Sector (state and municipal) 906 943 943 843 

 -Federal Sector 333 309 357 293 

 Mediated Cases2

4,919 4,665 4,528 4,122 

 -Private Sector 3,632 3,271 3,079 2,826 

 -Public Sector (state and municipal) 991 1,091 1,111 981 

 -Federal Sector 296 303 338 315 

 Closed Cases 12,992 13,776 13,652 12,651 

 Closed Mediated Cases 4,005 3,815 3,764 3,339 

 Activity Rate3

31% 28% 28% 26% 

 Settled and Closed Mediated Cases 3,428 3,234 3,159 2,807 

 Percentage of mediated cases settled through FMCS4 86% 85% 84% 84% 

 Activity rate in significant cases5 45% 33% 46% 47% 

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

 Assigned Cases 2,124 1,968 1,837 1,872 

 Mediated Cases 2,084 1,905 1,784 1,809 

 -Private Sector 1,708 1,513 1,372 1,398 

 -Public Sector (state and municipal) 239 261 264 267 

 -Federal Sector 137 131 148 144 

 Settled GM Cases 1,532 1,428 1,367 1,383 

 Percentage of cases settled through FMCS6 74% 75% 77% 76% 

3. RELATIONSHIP-DEVELOPMENT AND 

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

 

 Number of training programs provided 2,200 2,301 2,128 2,027 

 -Private Sector 1,471 1,267 1,262 1,174 

 -Public Sector (state and municipal) 433 493 463 533 

 -Federal Sector 296 541 403 320 

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

 Mediated Cases 1,392 1,330 1,110 1,118 

 -Federal Sector 1,387 1,297 1,090 1,089 

 -Public Sector (state and municipal) 2 5 5 1 

 -Private 3 28 15 28 

 Settled EM Cases 675 641 537 488 

 Percent of EM cases settled through FMCS7 48% 48% 48% 44% 

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

 Outreach cases83,240 3,190 3,019 2,911 

 

1

 Section 8(d) of the NLRA, as amended, 29 U.S.C. §158(d) requires that any employer or labor organization provide notice to FMCS 30 days prior to 

contract expiration. Not all cases providing notices are assigned. Actual FY 2013 FMCS case intake exceeded 22,700.

2

 Mediated cases (formerly called “active” cases) represent the number of cases in the FY where mediators have become active in the negotiations.

3

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

4

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

5

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

6

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

7

 Defined as the number of mediated employment cases settled divided by the number of mediated cases closed
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Work Stoppage Information 

2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

Work stoppages carried from preceding FY 19 29 13 18 24 21 

Work stoppages beginning within FY 193 103 159 155 161 154 

Work stoppages closed within FY 183 119 154 149 164 159 

Work stoppages open at end of FY 29 13 18 24 21 16 

Average duration of work stoppages in closed cases 

(number of days) 51.8 104.2 44.9 45.3 49.0 44.3 

Estimated number of worker-hours lost due to work 

stoppages (1,000s) 20,147 19,609 8,877 11,222 11,038 15,317 

Work Stoppage Cost Information 

Direct 

Costs 

Indirect 

Costs 

Total 

Costs 

Year ($1,000s) ($1,000s) ($1,000s) 

2001 495,484 476,000 971,484 

2002 363,522 461,289 824,811 

2003 372,678 329,595 702,273 

2004 1,102,475 267,260 1,369,735 

2005 488,075 450,737 938,812 

2006 725,180 686,468 1,411,648 

2007 801,314 931,108 1,732,422 

2008 533,971 567,397 1,101,368 

2009 623,264 736,032 1,359,296 

2010 250,162 238,538 488,700 

2011 389,041 314,144 703,185 

2012 380,080 343,279 723,359 

2013 564,716 391,938 956,654 

 

Savings to Parties Attributable to Mediation

Reduced 

Incidence

Reduced 

Duration

Total 

Savings

Year ($1,000s) ($1,000s) ($1,000s)

2001 667,206 60,372 727,578 

2002 840,936 272,595 1,113,531 

2003 717,239 224,287 941,525 

2004 2,259,575 173,177 2,432,752 

2005 1,269,679 798,666 2,068,345 

2006 1,320,946 374,872 1,695,818 

2007 888,376 383,386 1,271,762 

2008 1,155,903 (501,807) 654,096 

2009 2,613,336 1,142,193 3,755,529 

2010 1,389,809 (39,122) 1,350,687 

2011 301,044 763,335 1,064,379 

2012 283,421 601,157 884,578 

2013 378,358 (298,717) 79,641 

 

8

 FMCS requires all mediators to engage in outreach efforts. These kinds of activities include non-bargaining 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.
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Arbitration Services Program Data

Activity 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 

 

Panels Issued9 15,717 16,692 16,486 14,367 13,538 13,361 

Arbitrators Appointed 6,568 6,496 6,870 6,608 6,129 6,020 

 

Activity Charged For 

Travel Days .45 .57 .48 .44 .92 .63 

Hearing Days 1.07 1.10 1.14 1.10 1.13 1.05 

Study Days 2.43 2.40 2.37 2.37 2.37 2.39 

Total 3.95 4.07 3.99 3.91 4.42 4.07 

 

Average Charges 

Per Diem Rate $913 $962 $981 $984 $1,006 $1,024 

Amount of Fee $3,780 $4,049 $4,039 $4,045 $4,576 $4,517 

Amount of Expenses $391 $421 $380 $384 $389 $395 

Total Charged $4,171 $4,470 $4,419 $4,429 $4,965 $4,912 

 

9 Frequently, the labor-management parties request more than one panel for arbitration cases, resulting in an increase in the number of panels issued over the number of requests 

received.