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Labor-Management Relations For the 21st Century
Since its creation by Congress as an independent agency of the United States Government in 1947, the primary responsibility of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service has been to "promote sound and stable labor-management relations," and to "minimize the effect of strikes and lockouts on the free flow of commerce" by providing mediation assistance in contract negotiation disputes between employers and their unionized employees. In today's highly-competitive global economy, workplace relations are changing. An important aspect of this is the changing labor-management relationships within those workplaces. There is a growing need for more cooperative, less antagonistic relations between management and workers, so that U.S. companies and their employees can better succeed and prosper. Since 1947, FMCS services have continued to expand by statute and practice. Increasingly, management and labor have sought assistance from FMCS in developing more collaborative, less adversarial relations, designed to achieve mutual benefit. The Labor-Management Cooperation Act of 1978 authorized and directed FMCS to offer services to improve economic development, job security and organizational effectiveness. A variety of education and training processes and services are available to help employees and employers break down many of the barriers that traditionally have separated them, and build better working relationships. Additionally, the Administrative Dispute Resolution Act and the Negotiated Rulemaking Act, both enacted in 1990, authorize FMCS to provide alternative dispute resolution services to government agencies in an effort to improve operations and reduce the expense and time spent in litigation. WHAT IS MEDIATION ? Mediation is intervention by a neutral third party in a dispute or negotiation with the purpose of assisting the parties to the dispute in voluntarily reaching their own settlement of the issues. A mediator may make suggestions, and even procedural or substantive recommendations. Mediation, as practiced in collective bargaining, may also include other roles which have become necessary as the labor-management environment has evolved. In the mediation of collective bargaining contract negotiations, or Dispute Mediation, the mediator is usually in touch with both parties even before negotiations actually begin. Active mediation is a voluntary process and only occurs with the consent of both parties. An effective mediator uses knowledge of the parties and the issues "on the table" to guide negotiators through potential deadlocks to a settlement with which both sides can live. Significantly, mediators have no authority to impose settlements. Their only tool is the power of persuasion. Their effectiveness derives from their acceptability to both parties, their broad knowledge of the process of collective bargaining, and their status as federal mediators. In Preventive Mediation, the mediator also becomes an educator, trainer, consultant and advisor by providing assistance to labor and management, usually between contract negotiating periods, in building a more collaborative, long-term relationship. DISPUTE MEDIATION Dispute mediation occurs when a mediator intervenes to help the two sides reach agreement in the negotiation of a collective bargaining contract. Federal mediators provide these services in the private, public and federal sectors. These mediation services have been the "bread and butter" for FMCS for nearly fifty years. In the early 1990s, approximately 60-70,000 contract negotiations have occurred every year. In about 10 percent of these cases, or 6,000 per year, FMCS provides active mediation to help the two sides reach agreement on a contract. This includes first contract negotiations, which take place between a company and a newly-certified union representing its employees, usually following an election in which the employees have voted for a particular union to represent them. Over the last five years, federal mediators have been highly successful. Eighty-five percent of the mediated contract disputes have ended with agreements. PREVENTIVE MEDIATION As U.S. companies deal with such forces as deregulation, rapidly-changing technologies, a more diverse workforce and heightened national and international competitive pressures, more employers are realizing that a partnership with their employees can be an important asset in organizational effectiveness, economic performance and their ability to compete in the marketplace. In such a relationship, both management and union acknowledge that they share a mutual interest: the success of the business. And in such a relationship, our mediators can help union and management in focusing on common ground to achieve win-win outcomes, such as profits and jobs. FMCS preventive mediation activities include training in a wide variety of specific organizational change processes, individual and group problem-solving and decision-making skills. FMCS mediators can assess the management-union relationship, and then recommend the most effective processes to best meet the customer's needs. FMCS offers formal training programs geared to frequently-occurring needs and problems at different stages of the labor-management relationship. Among these are training in Foreman/Steward Leadership, Negotiations and Contract Administration, Grievance Handling, Interest-Based (Win-Win) Bargaining, Partners-In-Change, Relationship by Objectives and Labor-Management Committee Effectiveness Training. ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION The term Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) is used to describe a variety of joint problem-solving approaches which can be used in lieu of more formal and often expensive courtroom litigation, or as an alternative to agency adjudication and traditional rulemaking. These processes usually involve the use of a neutral third party to help disputants find mutually-acceptable solutions. FMCS shares its expertise in all aspects of mediation, facilitation and conflict resolution with federal, state and local governmental bodies and agencies. These services, offered under authority of the Administrative Dispute Resolution Act of 1990, are based on the specific needs of the parties, and can include dispute resolution assistance, systems design and training for agency personnel. In a time of growing concern about the fiscal impact of federal rules and regulations on businesses, workers and the public, the Negotiated Rulemaking Act of 1990 authorizes the agency to use its mediation services to improve government operations. FMCS gives America's citizens a voice in the regulatory process by bringing together the regulators and those who will be affected by regulations to formulate proposed rules through negotiation. As a neutral third-party, FMCS convenes and facilitates complex, multi-party rulemaking procedures to help produce draft rules by consensus. The results have been extremely positive. By formulating rules in a public negotiating process, potential or actual antagonists can be motivated to participate, and become partners in helping the agency solve a regulatory problem. Thus, the likelihood of subsequent challenges to a new regulation is greatly reduced. Agencies using ADR in the federal sector report significant cost savings and benefits. ARBITRATION SERVICES The Taft-Hartley Act mandated FMCS to provide Arbitration Services for the labor-management community. Arbitration is a process in which disputes arising under an agreement, over the application or interpretation of provisions in a collective bargaining contract, or over the terms of a new agreement, can be resolved by a neutral, third-party arbitrator or panel of arbitrators. The names and qualifications of more than 1,700 private arbitrators are kept in FMCS's computerized arbitration roster, allowing them to be retrieved by geographic location, professional affiliation, occupation, experience in particular industries or other specified criteria. Unlike federal mediators, arbitrators are not employed by FMCS. When a dispute over specific parts of a contract occurs, or when the parties have provided for interest arbitration to resolve disputes over a new agreement, the two sides can request a panel of potential arbitrators from the FMCS roster from which they can select. An Arbitrator acts in a quasi-judicial role, listening to arguments, weighing evidence and rendering a binding decision. LABOR-MANAGEMENT GRANTS PROGRAM The Labor-Management Cooperation Act of 1978 established the FMCS Grants Program, through which funding and technical assistance are provided to encourage innovative approaches to collaborative management-labor relations and problem-solving. Funds are granted for the creation or the continuation of labor-management committees. These joint organizations bring representatives of employers and employees into regular communication over subjects of mutual interest. Eligible applicants for FMCS grants include labor-management committees, private companies and labor organizations applying jointly, state and local units of government and certain private, non-profit corporations. The grants may be used to support committees at the plant level, on an area or industry-wide basis, or in the public sector. INTERNATIONAL PROGRAM While the primary mission of FMCS is to promote improved labor-management relations throughout the United States, the agency is also an international exporter of conflict resolution, providing technical assistance to many other nations, often through agreements with the U.S. Department of State and the Agency for International Development. Traveling abroad or at FMCS Headquarters in Washington, D.C., federal mediators have trained business, labor and government delegations from such countries as Russia, the Philippines, Poland, Ireland, the European Union, Taiwan, Korea, South Africa, Panama, Mexico, El Salvador and Ecuador in mediation and cooperative labor-management relations. The demand for FMCS International services has grown in recent years with the profound geopolitical changes taking place, particularly in Central and Eastern Europe. Many more countries have emerging or rapidly-evolving economic systems, and turn to FMCS for insight, understanding and models of mature labor-management relationship systems and structures. FMCS, itself, has been the pattern for a number of newly established mediation agencies in the world. FMCS ORGANIZATION FMCS mediators work out of more than 75 field offices around the United States, administered through five geographic regions. For more information, contact the FMCS Office nearest you. National Office:Federal
Mediation and Conciliation Service Northeastern RegionOne Newark
Center, 16th Floor William J.
Green Federal Building Southern Region401 West
Peachtree Street, NW, Suite 472 3452 Lake
Lynda Drive, Suite 122 12140
Woodcrest Executive Drive, Suite 215 Midwestern Region6161 Oak
Tree Boulevard, Suite 120 Upper Midwestern RegionBroadway
Place West Elm Plaza,
Suite 203 Western Region1100 Town
and Country Rd, Suite 410 Westin
Building, Suite 310 Federal Mediation and Conciliation ServiceMission
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