page_title: Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (United States)
section_title: Role under the Taft–Hartley Act
hierarchical_section_title: Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (United States) / Role under the Taft–Hartley Act
caption_attribution_description: English: Building close to George Washington University, DC
context_page_description: The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, founded in 1947 is an independent agency of the United States government, and the nation’s largest public agency for dispute resolution and conflict management, providing mediation services and related conflict prevention and resolution services in the private, public, and federal sectors. FMCS is tasked with mediating labor disputes around the country; it provides training and relationship development programs for management and unions as part of its role in promoting labor-management peace and cooperation. The Agency also provides mediation, conflict prevention, and conflict management services outside the labor context for federal agencies and the programs they operate. The FMCS headquarters is located in Washington, D.C. with other offices across the country.
context_section_description: The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service was created as an independent agency of the federal government under the terms of the Labor Management Relations Act of 1947 (better known as the Taft–Hartley Act) to replace the United States Conciliation Service that previously operated within the Department of Labor. Under Taft-Hartley, FMCS may offer its services "in any labor dispute in any industry affecting commerce, either upon its own motion or upon the request of one or more of the parties to the dispute, whenever in its judgment such dispute threatens to cause a substantial interruption of commerce." By statute, FMCS receives advance notification any time a party to a collective bargaining agreement intends to terminate or modify the contract upon expiration. No modification or termination of a collective bargaining agreement is permitted unless the party wishing to modify or terminate notifies the other party at least 60 days prior to expiration and, within 30 days after notice to the other party, notifies FMCS and applicable state mediation agencies. For healthcare institutions, the notice times are extended to 90 and 60 days respectively.
  FMCS also has a large labor arbitration program. The Agency maintains a roster of approximately 1,000 private arbitrators who are vetted based on their background, experience, and training in issues arising under collective bargaining agreements. Typically, more than 10,000 requests for arbitrator panels are received by FMCS each year from parties to labor-management grievance disputes. Panels are randomly drawn from the FMCS Roster based on specified parameters, and the parties select an arbitrator who is then officially appointed by FMCS. Arbitrators must abide by the Code of Professional Responsibility for Arbitrators of Labor-Management Disputes, to which FMCS is a signatory; the Code is incorporated by reference in the Agency’s federal regulations.   
caption: Former Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service headquarters in Washington, D.C. (now demolished)
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