Most FMCS Directors have been individuals appointed by the President from outside of government with experience in labor/management relations as an advocate or as a neutral. However, there were three Directors who came from within FMCS and not directly from advocacy positions. These three individuals began their FMCS career as a mediator, but then rose […]
FMCS Director J. Curtis Counts (1969-1973) During college Curt Counts met and began dating the college roommate of Patricia Ryan, the future wife of Richard Nixon. During and after college and law school, the two couples frequently double dated, and kept in touch over the years. During college at UCLA, Curt was known as a […]
Before his term as FMCS Director ended, Cyus Ching and John Steelman, Assistant to the President, urged President Truman to appoint David Cole FMCS Director. Truman did appoint him on 10-1-52. Cole was not confirmed by the Senate, and left the Directorship after six months because incoming President Eisenhower appointed Whitney McCoy, who is discussed […]
President Eisenhower’s Secretary of Labor James Mitchell (1953–1961) had extensive experience in collective bargaining and labor relations. Early in WW II, Mitchell headed the labor relations division of the Army Construction Program, later he served as director of industrial personnel for the War Department, in charge of one million men. After World War II, he returned to the […]
Jim Scearce was a company labor relations representative at Cape Kennedy when he met Bill Usery, a union representative for the IAM. Based on their cordial relationship, Usery asked Scearce to accompany him to Washington D.C. to become his Special Assistant when Usery was appointed Assistant Secretary of Labor in the Nixon Administration in March […]
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 […]
Seven former FMCS Directors 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 disputes between labor […]