Services for Conflict 

Prevention, Management 

& Resolution

FMCS International

Technical Assistance

Promoting the development of sound and stable

labor-management relations,

Preventing or minimizing work stoppages

by assisting labor and management in settling

their disputes through mediation,

Advocating collective bargaining, mediation

and voluntary arbitration as the preferred processes

for settling issues between employers

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.

Mission

International Affairs Division

250 E Street, SW Washington, DC 20427 

(202) 606-8104

www.fmcs.gov
Why FMCS?

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Table of Contents

FMCS Background. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

FMCS International Training Services . . . . . . . . . . . . 2

Education and Training . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Mediation and Facilitation Services . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Labor Relations and Conflict Resolution

Systems Design . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3

Examples of FMCS Training Programs . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Collective Bargaining/Negotiations. . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Mediation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Interest-Based Bargaining (IBB) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Interest-Based Problem Solving (IBPS). . . . . . . . . . 6

Labor-Management Committee (LMC) Training. . 7

Communications Skills Building . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

Examples of FMCS International Projects . . . . . . . . . 8

What Do these Services Cost? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Services for Conflict Prevention, 

Management & Resolution

FMCS International

Technical Assistance

The FMCS

T

he Federal Mediation and Conciliation 

Service (FMCS) is a unique U.S. 

government agency with 73 years of

experience resolving labor-management conflicts and 

promoting cooperative workplace relationships. 

Established in 1947 to mediate domestic labor 

disputes and provide arbitration services, the Agency 

now provides a wide range of conflict management 

programs in the U.S. and many other parts of the 

world. FMCS also has extensive experience in 

resolving workplace, public policy, regulatory, 

environmental, commercial and ethnic disputes.

In its international projects, FMCS strives to build 

local capacity for effective industrial relations systems, 

including collective bargaining, mediation and dispute 

resolution, labor courts, and labor administration and 

inspection. In its international technical assistance 

programs, FMCS always partners with local 

government institutions and representatives of labor 

and management. 

In a number of countries, FMCS has been asked to 

establish mediation agencies and centers in sectors 

beyond industrial relations, including briefing or 

training judges, mediators, and arbitrators on dispute 

resolution techniques to manage and resolve a variety 

of civil matters encompassing regulatory, 

environmental, and commercial law.

“With a history of more than 70 years of

providing mediation and facilitation services,

FMCS has more collective experience in dispute

resolution than any other agency of government.”
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FMCS International Technical

Assistance Services

F

MCS recognizes that, fundamentally, 

constructive labor-management relationships and 

collective bargaining provide workers

and companies with the most enduring tools

for achieving productivity, innovation, and 

competitiveness—the central ingredients of an 

equitable, stable, and growing economy. The pressures 

of the global economy, however, often present 

challenges for the creation of systems that effectively 

balance the needs and rights of workers and 

employers. Developing market economies may not 

have the legal frameworks or government institutions 

necessary to address these concerns. For this reason, 

FMCS services are often provided to trading partners 

who have committed to enact or enforce labor laws 

that address that critical need but who lack the 

experience, skills, or institutional capacity to do so.

Implementing effective industrial relations systems is 

essential to ensuring worker participation, business 

productivity, and economic stability. This is the special 

expertise that FMCS delivers through comprehensive 

and individually tailored programs designed to help 

foreign governments build their capacity to manage 

and resolve labor conflicts.

FMCS services fall into three general categories:

Education and Training

FMCS Commissioners impart skills and share best 

practices with labor, management, and government 

officials in industrial relations practices, negotiation 

skills, grievance handling, mediation techniques, and 

other conflict resolution processes, including 

traditional collective bargaining, interest-based 

problem solving, and the training of enterprise-level 

labor-management committees. FMCS also offers 

similar programs in other sectors as well, such as 

governance, environmental, judicial, etc.

Mediation and Facilitation Services

FMCS’s experienced conflict resolution professionals 

facilitate consensus building and other collaborative 

exercises that address the interests of all parties, 

including labor, management, and government, and, 

thereby, promote economic growth and legal or 

institutional reform.

Design of Systems to Prevent, Manage and 

Resolve Conflict

FMCS Commissioners help craft and implement legal 

or administrative systems and structures for effective 

conflict management and prevention. In an 

employment setting this can involve promoting 

worker participation, fair employment practices, and 

prompt, transparent conflict resolution, including 

consulting to build the capacity of governmental or 

tripartite institutions to provide labor administration 

and inspection services, taking into account their 

unique cultural and development needs. 

In the commercial environment, this can include 

building capacities within courts to create commercial 

mediation systems and programs, training and 

credentialing of mediators, assistance in creating 

mediations centers, advice in the drafting of laws and 

regulations, and in working with commercial 

enterprises to embrace the use of mediation, 

facilitation and other conflict management/

prevention processes. 

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FMCS’s international program development, project 

management, and service delivery are provided by 

professional staff with significant international 

experience. In addition, the Agency draws on the 

expertise of a field staff of approximately 150 full-time 

mediators to deliver the Agency’s international services. 

For more than 25 years, FMCS has delivered training 

services in more than 50 nations and addressed a wide 

variety of instructional and development needs.
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Examples of FMCS Training Programs

All FMCS international programs are specially tailored 

to meet the needs of the particular country or region, 

and they are developed in close coordination with 

appropriate United States Government (USG) officials 

(e.g. Department of State and/or Labor). FMCS typically conducts a comprehensive needs assessment, 

including meetings and consultations with 

government, labor/workers, management, and other 

stakeholders in order to identify a baseline of current 

labor relations, negotiations, and dispute resolution 

practices and to discuss goals and benchmarks for 

successful training.

FMCS also assesses pre-existing training capacities 

among key stakeholders, which informs the level and 

extent of “train-the-trainer” modules incorporated 

into training. A key goal of all FMCS training is to 

build local capacity for sustaining labor relations and 

conflict management systems and personnel.

FMCS training programs involve a variety of instructional methodologies, including short lectures, videos, 

role plays, and other activities. The following are 

exam-ples of FMCS training programs, any one of 

which can be adjusted and custom-designed to meet 

the needs of the particular situation.

Collective Bargaining/Negotiations

Collective bargaining (collective consultation) is the 

process by which labor and management negotiate 

the terms and conditions of employment for a 

company’s workers. In this training, participants gain a

• Fundamentals of negotiations

• Bargaining dynamics

• Negotiation steps, such as information

gathering, joint sessions, caucuses, and

drafting settlements

• Traditional negotiations (positional/

distributive) versus interest-based bargaining

(IBB/collaborative)

• Explanation and demonstration of IBB

tools, such as brainstorming, consensus,

active listening, and reframing issues

• Bargaining simulations and role plays using

both styles

• Making and maintaining workplace

relationships through communications,

listening skills, and trust

Mediation

Mediation is a process by which a neutral third party 

assists disputing parties in reaching an agreement. 

Mediation is used in both individual and collective 

labor and employment disputes, and it is an essential 

component of any industrial relations system. 

Among other things, participants will learn 

the following:

• Fundamentals of mediation

• Mediation arenas, such as labor relations,

ADR, community, and multi-party

• Mediation styles and methodologies

• Mediation as a problem solving process

• Mediation steps from planning to closing

• Interests, issues, and working styles

• Ethical considerations for mediators

foundation for understanding the separate interests 

and issues labor and management bring to the 

bargaining table and the techniques and processes 

necessary for reaching agree-ment. Among the 

subjects covered are:

Interest-Based Bargaining (IBB)

IBB is known by many names—win-win bargaining, 

mutual gains, principled or interest-based negotiation, 

interest-based problem solving, best practice or 

integra-tive bargaining—and practiced in many 

variations and settings. In the collective bargaining 

context, it is assumed that negotiation, like other 

aspects of the collective bargaining process, can 

enhance the labor-management relationship, and that 

decisions based on objective criteria obviate the need 

to rely only on power.
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IBB captures some of the highest principles 

originating, but not always practiced, in traditional 

distributive bargaining, and makes those principles 

consistent parts of the process. Participants will learn 

how to:

• Share relevant information critical for

finding effective solutions

• Focus on issues, not personalities

• Focus on the present and future, not the

past

• Focus on the respective interests of the

parties underlying the issues

• Focus on mutual interests to satisfy the

other party’s interests as well as your own

• Develop options to satisfy those interests

and evaluate those options using objective

criteria, rather than power or leverage

Interest-Based Problem Solving (IBPS)

Similar to Interest-Based Bargaining (IBB), this technique is often used in non-collective bargaining situations. It focuses on the interests that underlie issues 

and encourages the use of objective standards in 

evaluating possible solutions. Disputing parties 

become problem solvers, working together to develop 

options and solutions that satisfy the interests of all 

sides. Among the topics and goals of this course are:

• Basic elements of interest-based problem solving

• Techniques for successful problem solving

• Brainstorming

• Consensus decision-making

• Flip-charting and recording ideas

• Active listening techniques

• Selecting and focusing on issues

• Identifying interests and generating options

• Establishing objective criteria and evaluation

options

• Developing solutions

Labor-Management Committee (LMC)

Training

LMCs can help parties make significant improvements 

in their labor-management relationship. LMC training 

emphasizes a problem solving mentality, which in turn 

improves the morale of all workers. This course 

teaches labor and management the benefits of 

improved communications and having a forum for 

discussing business conditions, quality, customer 

service, efficiency of operations, planning, and 

scheduling-outside of contract negotiations or 

grievance processing. Training in this topic ranges 

from a basic introduction to the LMC and developing 

a mission, to skill-based training on effective group 

interaction techniques, such as problem solving and 

consensus. The LMC is not a substitute for the 

grievance procedure or contract negotiations in 

unionized workplaces, but it can contribute to making 

both more effective forums for constructive resolution 

of disputes.

Communications Skills Building

This course generally is offered as a key component of 

other FMCS training programs on negotiations, 

mediation, interest-based bargaining or problem 

solving, and labor management committees. 

Participants are taught the knowledge, skills, and 

attitudes needed to communicate effectively in labor 

relations and general workplace settings by engaging in 

role plays and simulations that provide opportunities 

to practice and develop these skills.
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Examples of FMCS International Projects

O

ver the years, FMCS has designed systems and 

delivered labor administration and conflict 

resolution training programs in many 

countries with different needs and at varying 

stages of political and economic development. 

The following are some brief examples of FMCS 

international projects. A more comprehensive 

listing of FMCS international training projects 

over the past 10 years is available on the Agency’s 

website (www.fmcs.gov). 

Africa

FMCS mediators trained arbitrators 

and mediators in Ghana and hosted 

a delegation from the country’s 

Labor Relations Commission in 

Washington, DC. The Agency has 

also trained Nigerian judges in alternative dispute 

resolution techniques, and provided outreach on 

collective bargaining and freedom of association in 

Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, 

and Swaziland. In Mozambique, FMCS trained and 

advised government, labor, and management 

officials in the process of labor mediation and the 

establishment of institutions for labor dispute 

resolution. Under the ILO’s “Strengthening Labour 

Relations in East Africa” program, FMCS worked 

with tripartite representatives from Uganda, Kenya 

and Tanzania to build the capacity of their 

respective Labor Ministries and stakeholders to 

resolve industrial relations disputes. 

Asia/Southeast Asia

Both bilaterally and under the auspices 

of APEC (Asia-Pacific Economic 

Cooperation), FMCS has delivered 

training throughout Asia, including in 

Australia, the Philippines, Vietnam

Cambodia, Thailand, Korea, Indonesia, and Taiwan. 

Agency mediators have delivered training and capacitybuilding programs in negotiations, conflict resolution, 

mediation, labor administration and inspection, and 

labor relations systems design. In Indonesia, FMCS 

worked under the auspices of the ILO’s “Promoting 

and Realizing Freedom of Association and Collective 

Bargaining” project to train senior Indonesian 

mediators and high-level labor relations professionals 

in mediation best practices and labor-management 

cooperation through the formation of work 

site committees.

The FMCS has engaged in cooperative 

training and technical assistance programs with the People’s Republic of 

China (PRC) for more than 20 years, 

including visits and ministry level

meetings of FMCS Directors and PRC officials, both in 

Beijing and in Washington, DC. FMCS mediators have 

trained labor-management committees at the enterprise 

level to resolve workplace issues, with specific 

emphasis on how to set up committees, schedule and 

conduct meetings, communicate effectively, engage in 

interest-based problem solving, present “grievances,” 

and resolve disputes. They also provided education and 

outreach about the U.S. labor relations system, 

including the benefits of collective bargaining and 

alternative dispute resolution (ADR) techniques, such as 

mediation and arbitration. Key audiences included 

Chinese government officials, business and labor 

organizations, corporate human resource directors, 

enterprise-level worker committees, arbitrators, 

academics, and lawyers. In 2014, The Agency entered 

into the third in a series of Letters of Understanding 

(LOUs) with successive Chinese labor ministries to 

facilitate these programs.

China
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Europe/Eastern Europe

In collaboration with the American 

Bar Association and various U.S. 

Government agencies, FMCS 

provided institutional design and 

training assistance to newly

established mediation agencies in Bulgaria, Hungary, 

and Poland. Agency mediators also assisted in the 

training of new mediators in Romania as part of a 

U.S. Department of State public diplomacy 

program, and trained labor, management, and 

government officials in collective bargaining 

techniques and dispute resolution in Serbia, 

Montenegro, and Croatia. In addition, FMCS 

mediators helped facilitate meetings involving the 

European Union and the countries joining the 

organization by discussing the different pathways to 

dispute resolution. In 2020, FMCS mediators

presented various models of mediation and 

integrative conflict management systems to the 

National Association of Mediators of Ukraine. In 

Western Europe, in Portugal, an FMCS 

Commissioner delivered a bilateral training program 

in Portuguese on innovative collective bargaining 

methods for mediators from the Labor Ministry. 

For many years, FMCS conducted a bilateral 

mediator exchange program with the mediation 

service of the Republic of Ireland.

Middle East/North Africa

Labor inspectors in Morocco are 

tasked with investigating and 

enforcing labor relations complaints 

as well as resolving individual and 

collective complaints. FMCS labor 

inspector training focused on helping inspectors with 

new communication and problem-solving techniques 

relevant to their investigatory and enforcement 

functions, as well as their dispute resolution duties. 

This three-module program consisted of foundational 

skills in the realm of communications and active 

The Americas

FMCS has delivered workplace 

conflict resolution, interest-based 

bargaining, communications skills, 

and mediation training in a number 

of countries, in the Western

listening, followed by interest-based problemsolving and mediation skills. Training videos and 

materials were translated into Arabic, and FMCS 

mediators trained more than 100 labor inspectors 

(about25 percent of the workforce) in multi-day 

programs in four cities. FMCS’s deeper 

involvement in Morocco followed its participation 

in the State Department’s Middle East Partnership 

Initiative (MEPI), which was a U.S. diplomatic 

initiative to strengthen cultural, political and 

economic ties with the countries of the Middle 

East following the September 11, 2001 attacks.

Hemisphere including Argentina,Colombia, El 

Salvador, Guatemala, Haiti, Honduras, Peru, 

Panama, Mexico, and Brazil. These projects 

strengthened the capacity of local government 

officials, workers, and employers to peacefully and 

expeditiously resolve workplace disputes. With 

funding from USAID, FMCS designed the 

Industrial Relation dispute resolution mechanism for 

the Panama Canal Authority. FMCS also delivered 

dispute resolution capacity building programs in 

Colombia under the ILO’s “Project for the 

Improvement of Labor Relations and the 

Promotion of Economic Equality for Women in 

Colombia” to increase tripartite leaders’ awareness 

of the economic and social value of labor dispute 

resolution and prevention
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What Do these Services Cost?

Since FMCS’s federal funding is limited to domestic 

services, the Agency delivers international education, 

training, and systems-design projects with funding 

provided by other USG agencies, international 

organizations, or other institutions. FMCS services 

are extremely reasonable and cost-effective since they 

are provided on a simple cost-reimbursable basis, 

limited to labor ($1040/day per mediator), travel, 

lodging, per diem at the appropriate USG rate, and 

other necessary expenses, such as translations 

and interpretation.

Conclusion

In sum, FMCS has extensive experience and a record 

of success in delivering labor-relations and conflictresolution training and capacity building around the 

world. During periods of economic instability and 

transitions from planned to market economies, FMCS 

professional mediators help workers, employers, and 

government officials learn how to engage in collective 

bargaining and interest-based problem solving, how 

to set up and run cooperative committees, and how 

to use mediation and arbitration to resolve conflict.

For additional information, please contact:

David Thaler

Director of International Programs

Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service 

Washington, DC 20427

(202) 606-8104

dthaler@fmcs.gov

Website: www.fmcs.gov