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 […]
During its seventy five 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 […]
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 […]
Traditional FMCS used its own hiring process separate from the Civil Service process that other Federal Agencies used, thus allowing FMCS to manage mediator hiring so as to fit the unique skill set required. For many years, new mediators were hired in groups based on minimum of seven years of labor-management experience at the GS-12 […]
In December 1968, Nancy C. Fibish was the first woman hired by FMCS since its creation in 1947. Her hiring ended a 21 year FMCS practice of hiring only men. The United States Conciliation Service (USCS), which FMCS replaced in 1947, had several women mediators who transferred to FMCS. Only one remained when Fibish was […]
Today, Regulatory Negotiations (RegNeg) are in common use at the State and Federal level helping agencies apply laws they are charged with enforcing. This was not the case forty years ago, before ADR use expanded into new dispute arenas. Since statutory law lacks the detail necessary to provide for reasonable application and enforcement, government agencies […]
(March 1951 to October 1977) The story of African-American mediators employed by FMCS[1] covers the 30-year period between 1947 and 1977. Below are names, hiring dates, photos and bios of 23 African-Americans hired by FMCS between 1947 and 1977. 1950 was the first class of new mediators hired since the creation of FMCS in 1947. […]
Ching Room 250 E Street SW Washington DC In 1973, FMCS Director Bill Usery dedicated the main FMCS conference room, in the old Department of Labor building at Constitution and 14th Street NW, to Cyrus Ching. The photo above shows Usery with Ching’s widow looking at the painting of Cyrus Ching during a dedication ceremony […]
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 […]