The photos above are the pamphlet cover and table of contents of: The Foreman’s Guide to Labor Relations. Developed in 1944 by the U.S. Department of Labor for the use of United States Conciliation Service (USCS) staff Conciliators (mediators). Below find selected pages from that 30 page pamphlet for Conciliators to use in Labor-Management training […]
During its seventy years of existence, the FMCS National Office has been at three locations in Washington D.C. Initially, FMCS was located in the old Department of Labor Building at 14th and Constitution Ave NW, on the North-East Corner of that intersection, very near the Washington Monument, and a few blocks from the White House. […]
FMCS mediators are called Commissioner because of the language in the Act that created the U.S Department of Labor in 1913. That Act states in part: “…. (T)he Secretary of Labor shall have the power to act as a mediator and to appoint commissioners of conciliation in labor disputes whenever in his judgement the interests […]
The FMCS has mediators work throughout the U.S. A number of States have their own mediation agencies that provide mediation within that state. For years, these state mediation agencies and FMCS have worked cooperatively as members of the Association of Labor Mediation Agencies (ALMA). Canadian National and Provincial mediation agencies are also ALMA members. ALMA […]
The items pictured here were used to promote mediation and FMCS. They are: A Match Book with these words: “Call FMCS Before Striking”. A Ball point pen with a flash light with these words: “FMCS: Lighting the Way.” A Badge with these words and image: “I (heart) Mediation” An individual Mint in a white package […]
Bill Simkin majored in economics while attending the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School in 1937. He would later report having the good fortune of developed a relationship with Professor George W. Taylor, a famous labor-management arbitrator and in the view of scholars “the father of grievance arbitration.” Simkin became Taylor’s assistant in his mediation and […]
Prior to joining FMCS, Bill Abner’s work as a union official in Chicago prepared him well for his role as Special Assistant to the FMCS Director. A book on former UAW president Walter Reuther made this reference to Abner: “He was perhaps the union equivalent of a Rhodes scholar. Bill Abner, thirty-nine years old in […]
The Taft-Hartley Act of 1947 removed labor-management mediation from the Department of Labor (DoL) and placed it in the newly created Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS). Not everyone favored the new arrangement. Labor Secretary Lewis Schwellerbach urged Congress to return the mediation function to DoL. In Congressional testimony, the first FMCS Director Cyrus Ching […]
While working as a Flight Attendant for Continental Airlines, Maggie Jacobsen became active in the Flight Attendants Union, and eventually she won an election to become the union’s Secretary Treasurer. In that position, she helped the FAU separate from the Airline Pilots Union to improve their representation in grievances and collective bargaining. Subsequently, she accepted […]
Six former FMCS Directors plus the Current Director pictured during the 50th Anniversary of FMCS 1997. Their combined tenure covers 25 years, or half the life of FMCS in 1998.* FMCS Directors are nominated by the President and confirmed by the Senate for four-year terms. They can be reappointed. FMCS is responsible for mediating […]