A Message from FMCS Leadership 

Dear Reader,

In a proud occasion for the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service [FMCS], we celebrated our 70th anniversary in August 

2017. In the 70 years since the 1947 Taft-Hartley amendments to the National Labor Relations Act [NLRA] established FMCS, 

we have compiled a record of service and accomplishment in helping to resolve some of the country’s most intractable and 

economically threatening labor disputes. In recent years, FMCS mediators have joined labor negotiations for movie making, 

ship building, professional sports, manufacturing, education, and symphony orchestras to name but a few of the commercial 

areas in which the Agency has provided assistance. Experiencing specialized issues impacting numerous industries, working 

in a variety of settings, and managing a diverse range of personalities among individual disputants, we have identifi ed new 

ways and methods to assist labor and management. We have adapted with a changing economy, and we have modernized 

our Agency’s role. We all know that this is a very different world today than it was in 1947. However, as we have adapted we 

have also remained true to the expressed intent of our statutory responsibilities. 

The Agency’s decades of history and its record of accomplishment in U.S. 

labor relations testify to the skill and adaptability of FMCS mediators at U.S. 

bargaining tables and also as highly skilled and effective dispute resolution 

practitioners. Time and again, FMCS mediators have shown themselves to be 

creative innovators in diffi cult circumstances. We have compiled a highly effective repertoire of dispute resolution and training techniques, which have enabled labor and management to make workplaces more productive and more effi cient while 

minimizing disruptive workplace conflict. Over its decades of experience, FMCS has consistently applied new techniques and 

applications found in dispute resolution science and research. We have supplemented our core traditional negotiations and 

relationship development training programs with innovative technologies and cutting-edge conflict theory. 

While the Agency’s fi rst priority has always been to prevent or promptly resolve labor disputes that could have an adverse 

impact on the U.S. economy, FMCS experience has demonstrated the enormous value of training parties in the use of tools 

and techniques for collaboration and joint problem-solving long before these skills may be needed in a contract dispute. In 

the private, public, and Federal sectors, FMCS provides a wide range of programs designed to prevent workplace disputes and 

improve labor-management relationships. Refi ned over decades of hands-on dispute resolution experience, the FMCS labor 

relations model encourages an ongoing, joint problem-solving approach, characterized by open communications, respect, 

trust, and transparency.

In its long history, FMCS has also established a record of demonstrated success when Congress expanded our work beyond the original core mission. In 1996, Congress recognized the 

Agency’s conflict resolution expertise and expanded our role with passage of the Administrative Dispute Resolution (ADRA) and Negotiated Rulemaking Acts of that year. In doing so, 

Congress permitted the FMCS to provide dispute resolution assistance to other Federal agencies through a wide variety of 

professional services, such as mediating individual workplace disputes, designing and building capacity for effective conflict 

management systems, and developing tools for interagency and public-private cooperation and collaboration. FMCS has 

responded to this expanded responsibility with innovation and creativity—leveraging new computer and Internet-based technologies to expand the Agency’s reach, enhance content and deliver training and education to wider audiences.

Similarly, in the realm of collective bargaining, FMCS has developed innovative collaborative based bargaining models that 

leverage computer and Internet-based tools to enhance effective communications skills and enable more effective training. 

All of these new approaches to collective bargaining are focused on our responsibility to assist labor and management in the 

prevention of disruptive collective bargaining disputes.

Celebrating a Record of 

Accomplishments

Innovation and 

Change

2 FMCS FY 2017 ANNUAL REPORT
In the most recent decade, national headlines have recorded that FMCS mediators helped head off the threat 

of economically crippling work stoppages that could have closed down the nation’s Atlantic and Gulf coast 

ports during contract renewal negotiations in 2012. In 2014-15 FMCS efforts led to similar success with the 

nation’s West Coast ports. In the same period, FMCS mediators helped bring 45,000 Verizon Communications 

workers back to their jobs after a two-week strike and then helped the parties reach an agreement in 60 days of tough negotiation. Those efforts averted a second work stoppage that could have disrupted East Coast communications. 

With the beginning of 2013, FMCS mediators brought professional hockey back to the ice by assisting the National Hockey 

League and the Players Association in reaching a new labor contract, ending a lockout that caused the loss of half the NHL 

season and the signifi cant loss of both private and public resources resulting from the lockout. In 2015, a team of FMCS 

mediators assisted in the largest private-sector contract talks ever held in the United Stated, when health care provider Kaiser 

Permanente and the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions agreed on a contract covering 105,000 workers. In 2015, Verizon Communications and the Communications Workers of America and the IBEW experienced another major labor dispute. 

FMCS helped end a six-week strike by some 39,000 Verizon workers in the Northeast. The same year, FMCS played a key role 

in helping to resolve a month-long southern California supermarket negotiation affecting grocery operations from Los Angeles 

to the Mexican border and approximately 50,000 supermarket employees. 

Every year, FMCS mediators are called into more than 3,200 bargaining disputes at the joint request of unions and employers 

who are looking for ways to bridge their divergent interests. It is a testament to the skills, perseverance and creativity of FMCS 

mediators that in most such cases, FMCS mediators fi nd a way to bring the two sides together. The Agency’s settlement rate 

in collective bargaining disputes has hovered at about 80 percent, year after year. In accordance with the Agency’s mission, 

the high settlement rate stands as a consistent badge of pride for all employees at FMCS.

Again in 2017, FMCS saw that even the best labor-management relationships can be challenged when negotiation involves the kinds of multiple and complex issues currently facing most bargaining partners today. Unquestionably, the work 

of FMCS is as essential to the success of the U.S. economy today as it has ever been—perhaps even more so. During a 

challenging year, marked by several national labor-management disputes of signifi cant scope and economic impact, FMCS 

mediators stepped into key roles as peacemakers and as sources of expert knowledge for labor and management.

The following are brief summaries of FMCS work in major cases and activities during fi scal 2017:

Honeywell Aerospace and United Auto Workers Locals 9 and 1508 (South Bend, IN & Green Island, NY). Thanks to the 

long-term efforts of a team of FMCS mediators who played a vital role in negotiations, a revised contract offer from Honeywell Aerospace was approved by the membership of two UAW locals, ending a 10-month lockout and returning hundreds of 

workers to their jobs at plants in Indiana and New York, where Honeywell manufactures wheels and brakes for military and 

commercial aircraft.

Momentive Performance Materials and IUE-CWA Locals 81359 and 81380. Dedicated behind-the-scenes work by an FMCS 

mediator in more than a dozen meetings was the critical ingredient in a labor settlement that returned more than 700 striking 

workers to their jobs at an upstate New York chemical plant, near Albany, ending a disruptive 105-day strike at the facility.

Recent 

History

Effectively Managing the 

Challenging Negotiations of 2017

Every year, FMCS mediators are called into more than 3,200 

bargaining disputes at the joint request of unions and employers 

who are looking for ways to bridge their divergent interests. 

3 FMCS FY 2017 ANNUAL REPORT
Cleveland Public Schools and Cleveland Teachers Union (CTU). After 16 months of negotiation requiring all the skills of 

a dedicated FMCS mediator, school system negotiators and teachers’ representatives reached an agreement that was the 

culmination of a fi nal marathon 24-hour bargaining session, averting a possible strike that would have closed classrooms to 

tens of thousands of Cleveland school children.

AT&T and Communication Workers of America (CWA). After a recommended tentative agreement was twice turned down 

by the bargaining unit, an Oakland CA-based FMCS mediator was called in to work with the parties to help them negotiate 

another settlement. After three days, AT&T announced that Pacifi c Bell and Nevada Bell had reached a new tentative contract 

in West Region wireline contract talks. The new agreement covers more than 17,000 employees in California and Nevada.

International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) and the Pacifi c Maritime Association (PMA). The July 2017 announcement of a three-year contract extension between the ILWU and the PMA ensured stable labor relations at all 29 West 

Coast ports until July 2022. With more than 350 million tons of cargo flowing through the West Coast ports each year, the 

smooth flow of commerce through these ports is critical to the U.S. economy. This agreement was foundationally based 

upon the previously mediated settlement, and it highlights the importance of taking early and decisive action well ahead of 

scheduled contract deadlines.

Wyman-Gordon Forgings, Inc. and IAMAW Local 37. In the disastrous aftermath of Hurricane Harvey, a Houston-based 

FMCS mediator persevered through 90-degree temperatures and flood waters to assist IAMAW Local 37, representing some 

275 workers, reach agreement with Wyman-Gordon Forgings, Inc., a Houston manufacturer of aircraft engine components, 

ending a 20-day strike at the plant.

As these recent example cases show and as the long experience of FMCS teaches, well conducted collective bargaining 

with the assistance of requested FMCS mediation is unquestionably the best mechanism for resolving labor-management 

disputes and for providing the framework for working together to achieve productivity, innovation and competitiveness – the 

necessary ingredients for our continued success in the global economy.

As an Agency whose primary mission involves direct customer engagement, whether through mediation, joint training, or other dispute resolution 

activity, the ability to deliver effective and effi cient services with comprehensive, versatile, and reliable technology is an essential consideration for 

FMCS management. User-friendly and comprehensive technologies have been installed to allow mediators to offer adaptable 

meetings and training programs or to handle in-person and remote participants for the convenience of Agency customers.

After achieving its initial goals, FMCS has continued to focus efforts toward updating systems and directives to provide the 

highest levels of operational effi ciency and organizational integrity. In addition, by encouraging an organizational culture of 

continuous improvement, FMCS employees are motivated to explore innovative technologies and new strategies resulting in 

improved customer engagement and enhanced professional development opportunities. FMCS continues to seek ways to 

expand its capability to effi ciently serve, communicate with and promote collaboration between its geographically dispersed 

customers and workforce. 

Managing to Meet Present

and Future Challenges

FMCS experience has demonstrated the enormous value of 

training parties in the use of tools and techniques for 

collaboration and joint problem-solving long before these skills 

may be needed in a contract dispute.

4 FMCS FY 2017 ANNUAL REPORT
In its seventh decade, FMCS is reaching new customers by leveraging the talent and creativity of its 

work- force with the newest technologies. Agency employees are working harder and innovating more 

than ever while achieving mission focused results. Agency employees are proud of their central role 

in ensuring the smooth functioning of the U.S. economy. They are confi dent that they have the tools, knowledge, abilities, 

and resources necessary to help our nation’s labor and management community create more collaborative, competitive and 

productive workplaces. They know that because of their work, our country’s overall economic well-being is more secure.

As we head into an uncertain future for American workers and the companies that employ them, it is important for all to remember that mediation remains a proven mechanism with demonstrated benefi ts in resolving labor disputes and averting 

disruptions to our economy. Those disputes and disruptions are well known to negatively affect businesses, their workers, 

their families, and communities. America has always responded strongly to challenging times and stands today as the world’s 

leading economy. To achieve world leadership, we have always overcome adversity, and will continue to do so. FMCS is eager 

and prepared to play its part in aiding labor and management in creating and sustaining a resilient and prosperous economy 

that will continue to lead the world.

Sincerely,

John Pinto, Deputy Director, Field Operations Scot Beckenbaugh, Deputy Director

Conclusion 

5 FMCS FY 2017 ANNUAL REPORT
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. FMCS, headquartered in Washington, D.C., has mediators 

located in 66 fi eld offi ces and ten regional offi ces across the country, 

and is best known for its history of providing innovative services to labor-management relationships that promote joint problem-solving and 

for successfully resolving major collective bargaining disputes. 

In 1996, Congress recognized this long and successful record 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 its core activity remains the prevention or resolution of labor-management disputes, FMCS also provides its sister agencies with 

a wide variety of alternative dispute resolution services.

Collective Bargaining

Mediation 

Through collective bargaining mediation, FMCS helps avert 

or minimize the cost of work stoppages to the U.S. economy. FMCS’s core work is to mediate collective bargaining 

negotiations for initial contract negotiations—which take 

place between an employer and a newly certifi ed 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 2017, FMCS mediators were actively involved 

in more than 3,200 collective bargaining contract negotiations in every major industry throughout the United States.

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 becoming contentious issues in 

future contract negotiations. Lengthening contract terms 

increase the importance of resolving contentious issues 

arising during the term of a contract. In FY 2017, FMCS mediated 1,719 grievance mediation cases and helped the parties reach agreement in 1,224 of these cases (74 percent).

Relationship-Development and 

Training

Preventing conflict that may arise during the term of a 

collective bargaining agreement is another important 

goal of FMCS. The Agency’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.

In FY 2017, FMCS mediators conducted nearly 2,000 training programs with collective bargaining partners.

FY 2017 Agency Services

6 FMCS FY 2017 ANNUAL REPORT
Outside the collective bargaining arena, FMCS provides professional services to a wide range of 

Federal, state, and government agencies on a cost-reimbursable basis. ADRA authorizes FMCS 

to assist in resolving disputes, train persons in skills and procedures employed in alternative 

means of dispute resolution, design conflict management systems, build capacity for constructive conflict management, 

and strengthen inter-agency and public-private cooperation. Through this work, FMCS seeks to reduce litigation costs and to 

promote better government decision-making.

In this context, FMCS provided conflict management and ADR services more than 1,200 times in FY 2017.

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

collective bargaining and conflict resolution around the world. FMCS delivers its international training programs using cost-reimbursable funds, 

largely through inter-agency acquisition agreements with other government agencies, such as the Departments of State, Labor, and USAID.

The FMCS international work is a small, but integral, part of its services. 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. In FY 2017, FMCS completed training and 

consultation programs in Honduras, Thailand, and Burma (Myanmar). Additionally, FMCS conducted web-based training for 

ADR Services

International Training and 

Exchange

During a challenging year, marked by several national labor-management 

disputes of signifi cant scope and economic impact, FMCS mediators stepped 

into key roles as peacemakers and as sources of expert knowledge 

for labor and management.

7 FMCS FY 2017 ANNUAL REPORT
labor relations professionals in the ready-wear garment industry of Bangladesh and met with international delegations from 

the International Visitors Program sponsored by the U.S. Department of State at the FMCS headquarters in Washington, D.C. 

During all these programs, FMCS trainers/mediators provided instruction for government labor inspectors, labor representatives, employer representatives, government offi cials and other labor dispute stakeholders. They also provided consultative 

support for governments in these countries to assist in their efforts to develop effective dispute resolution systems and organizations.

In addition to programs delivered abroad, every year FMCS mediators host numerous foreign delegations visiting the United 

States and educate them in U.S. labor-management relations and conflict resolution practices.

National labor policy favors arbitration over litigation for settling contractual disputes. The FMCS Offi ce 

of Arbitration Services maintains a roster of approximately 1,000 independent arbitrators who are qualifi ed 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. FMCS administers its established policies and procedures on arbitration, 

which also incorporate the Code of Professional Responsibility for Arbitrators of Labor-Management Disputes, to which FMCS 

is a signatory.

During FY 2017, the Offi ce of Arbitration Services processed nearly 12,000 arbitration requests and oversaw the appointment 

of more than 5,200 arbitrators nationwide.

The FMCS Institute for Conflict Management (Institute) delivers accessible, innovative, and experience-based conflict resolution training for individuals and small 

groups of employees and managers. The training is specifi cally 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 constitute the Institute faculty. The Institute runs 

as a reimbursable program and is funded by fees received from training participants.

Arbitration 

Services 

FMCS Institute for 

Conflict Management

After achieving its initial goals, FMCS has continued to focus efforts 

toward updating systems and directives to provide the highest levels of 

operational effi ciency and organizational integrity. 

8 FMCS FY 2017 ANNUAL REPORT
Mediation Services 

Program Data

9 FMCS FY 2017 ANNUAL REPORT
Mediation Services 

Program Data

10 FMCS FY 2017 ANNUAL REPORT
Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service 

250 E Street SW

Washington, DC 20427

202-606-8100

www.fmcs.gov