The time I spend with each party has nothing to do with anything other than the number of questions I might have and is often influenced by special needs, such as directions to smoking areas, that have nothing to do with the dispute. During the caucuses you will have an opportunity, if you wish, to disclose things to me that you want me to know, but that you do not necessarily wish for me to disclose to the other side. I want to assure you that what you tell me remains confidential. I also want to remind you that if you want something disclosed you will need to give me permission to disclose it. I need your commitment on the issues of time and of authority.
Mediation is a process and it takes time to develop.
While I will not keep you here against your will, I would like your commitment to stay and work on resolving the dispute as long as I see progress being made. The reason I ask this commitment is that I am the only person who will have an overall picture of the progress of this dispute. Each of you will only have a partial picture. The next commitment I ask is that of authority. By authority I mean the ability to establish or change a position during the course of these negotiations, up to the amount of the last demand.