The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service

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The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service

• Commissioner Rich Giacolone

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The Role of FMCS

• Statutorily created by Taft-Hartley Act in 1947
  (DOL Commissioners 1913)
• Prevent/minimize interruption of interstate
  commerce resulting from labor disputes through
  mediation
• Provide Alternative Dispute Resolution Services

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FMCS Mission

• Advocating collective bargaining, mediation and
  voluntary arbitration as the preferred process
  for settling issues between employers and
  representatives of employees,
• Developing the art, science and practice of
  conflict resolution,

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FMCS Mission

• 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,

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FMCS Mission

• And fostering the establishment and maintenance
  of constructive joint processes to improve
  labor-management relationships, employment
  security and organizational effectiveness.

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Organizational Structure

• Federal Agency
• Director appointed by the President
• Five Regions 70 Field Stations 200 Federal
  Commissioners of Mediation
• Regional Director 2 Directors of Mediation
  Services
• National Office in Washington,DC

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FMCS Services

• Dispute Mediation
• Preventive Mediation
• Labor-Management Grants
• Alternative Dispute Resolution
• International Programs
• Arbitration Services
• FMCS Institute for Conflict Resolution
• TAGS (Technology Assisted Group Solutions)

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FMCS Dispute Resolution

• Mediating disputes in contract negotiations
  between employers and unions representing
  employees.
• Mediating disputes in grievances between
  employers and unions representing employees.

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FMCS Dispute Resolution

• Voluntary
• Collective Bargaining
• Private Sector
• Federal Sector
• Public Sector
• State
• County
• Municipality
• Grievance Disputes
• Alternative resolution through mediation prior to
  arbitration.

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FMCS Preventive Mediation

• Training labor and management in cooperative
  processes
• Help labor and management break down traditional
  barriers
• Helping labor and management build better working
  relationships
• Strategies to prevent work stoppages

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FMCS Labor-Management Grants

• Funding New Approaches to Labor Management
  Cooperation
• Expanding Labor-Management Committees
• Educational development
• Advancing Cooperative Skills

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FMCS Alternative Dispute Resolution

• Training and system design in dispute resolution.
• Providing dispute resolution assistance without
• Courtroom litigation (ADR Act 1990, reestablished
  in 1996)
• Agency adjudication
• Regulatory Negotiations / Public Policy Issues
• Bureau of Indian Affairs
• Department of Transportation
• Boundary Waters
• Access Board
• HUD Hope VI

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International Programs

• Technical assistance in conflict resolution
• Training and System design programs
• Showcasing experiences

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FMCS International

• Sharing the U.S. mediation experience and
  Learning from other Nations
• Teaching new methodologies of collective
  bargaining (IBN)
• Opening the door to international labor
  management cooperation
• Exchange Programs (Republic of Ireland)

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FMCS International

• Mexico
• Indonesia
• Korea
• Brazil
• Argentina
• Chile
• Uruguay
• Panama
• Bulgaria
• Taiwan
• Germany
• Spain
• South Africa
• Bosnia

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FMCS Arbitration Services

• Final step in resolution processes
• Collective Bargaining
• Qualified Arbitrators
• Computerized roster by
• Geographic location
• Professional affiliation
• Occupation
• Industry experience

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FMCS Institute for Conflict Management

• Courses open to the public
• Offering a different training environment
• Training with practitioners
• Arbitration Offerings
• Negotiations Skills Training
• Mediation and Facilitation Skills Training
• Facilitation Using TAGS

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Group Problem Solving Decision Making Tools
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Different-Same
Same-Same
Time and Place
Same-Different
Different-Different
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Sample Cases

• Labor Disputes   
• Iron Mountain Records IBT
• NLRB NLRBPA
• Rhode Island Board of Education AFT
• Levy Food HERE
• Garrettville ISD OEA
• Navy Firefighters
• Improve Relationships
• Westvaco GCU
• CSU and CSEA LMC
• ADR Work
• Laborers Tri-Fund Needs Assessment
• IRRA Natl Conferences
• SPIDR UPL Issue
• City of Palm Beach

• NACA and Building Trades
• AFSCME Council Election
• Fort Lauderdale Northeast High School violence
  survey
• Teach students and faculty
• Cornell ILR Extension
• Harvard Kennedy School
• University of Texas - Austin
• 4th Circuit Court of Appeals EEO case
• Internal
• Mediator Credentialing
• 2000 Strategic Plan
• Internal Partnership
• Core Competency Inventory

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• Supplement, not eliminate conversation,
  discussion, humor
• Use 30-50 of meeting
• 4 or 104 participants (face-to-face, remote)
• Participant training not required

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For more information contact FMCS at www.fmcs.gov