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 of industrial peace may require it to be done …”

Therefore, from the beginning of the United States Conciliation Service (USCS) in the Department of Labor, staff members assigned to assist labor and management in resolving their collective bargaining disputes were called Commissioners of Conciliation.

In 1947 when FMCS replaced the USCS, the first Director of FMCS, Cyrus Ching, considered changing that title because he thought the title Commissioner would be off-putting for labor and management representatives, and therefore unhelpful in resolving labor management disputes.

When informed of the historic basis of the title, Ching did not attempt to make that change. However, he did change the title from conciliator to mediator since the latter had gained popular usage by 1947.

Director Ching presenting the 1951 version of the FMCS credential to Commissioner # 277 Bill Rose who was assigned to the Tampa, FL, Field Office.

While performing mediation, FMCS mediators will occasionally be addressed by the parties as Commissioner. But more often, they will be addressed simply as mediator.

Jim Elmore, a newly hired mediator in 1964, told fellow new mediator class members, including me, that when he proudly told his Irish father his new job title, his father responded: “That sounds like you’re the guy who runs the city water and sewer department.”

The photo above shows a wallet that mediators use for their official credentials. These badges were first issued in the year 2000 by Director Barnes and designed by Special Assistant Giacolone.  All active mediators at that time were issued this credential.  The response to the badge was mixed at that time but has become a tradition that is much treasured by Commissioners. Many retired mediators requested and were issued a badge with their number at cost.   In 2017 a decision by the place holder leaders of the Agency required all retiring mediators to return the badge.  That decision was not well received and eventually overturned under Director Giacolone’s tenure. Upon retirement all mediators receive a framed certificate of retirement which includes their Commissioner Badge.

Commissioner Barry Brown # 936 receives his retirement certificate with the incorporated badge.

Note the word Commissioner and the number in the center. Each mediator from the beginning was assigned a number in sequence. When Jerry Barrett was hired in 1965, he was assigned the number 489. The number 723 was hired in 1970s and was issued to Eileen Hoffman.  Currently the badges are in the 1200’s.

Initially, FMCS was located in the old Department of Labor Building at 14th and Constitution Ave NW, on the northeast corner of that intersection, very near the Washington Monument and a few blocks from the White House.

This building is part of the Historic Federal Triangle, constructed during the 1930s. See the map containing 12 buildings, including a few newer ones. The Triangle was created by the four streets surrounding it: E Street NW, Pennsylvania Ave. NW, 15th Street NW, and Constitutional Ave. NW.

In 1947, FMCS replaced the United States Conciliation Service (USCS) and took over the USCS office space, including the entire first floor, the Director’s office on the third floor (next to the Secretary of Labor’s Office), and space on the sixth floor for handling mail, copying, and storage. FMCS remained in the building for 29 years (1947 to 1976). At that time, the Labor Department (DoL) moved to a new, larger building near the Capitol. To emphasize the independence of FMCS from DoL, Director Bill Usery refused to move with DoL. Ironically, when the move to a new location occurred, Usery became Secretary of Labor.

In 1976, FMCS moved to a privately owned building at 21st and K Street NW. on the southwest corner of that intersection, a block from Pennsylvania Ave and a block from Washington Circle. The nine-story building included many windows, mesmerizing views, an attractive neighborhood, good AC, and underground parking. Initially, FMCS occupied all nine floors. However, over the years, as the agency’s size diminished, one floor at a time, it was given to another agency. By the fall of 2016, when FMCS moved out, FMCS occupied only 2/3s of the building. This location had the most prolonged occupancy for FMCS for forty years (1976 to 2016). During those years, thirteen individuals occupied the Director’s office on the ninth floor.

The building was demolished in March 2017, making way for a taller modern building. See the photo of a few bricks Jerry Barrett rescued from the demolition.

In late 2016, FMCS moved to its new location at 250 E St. SW, Independence Square, much closer to the Capitol. In January 2017, FMCS held several days of open house to showcase the new modern 21st-century office design, technology, and digital features that allow high-tech training, facilitation, and mediation. Nothing there resembles anything at the two previous locations. It is worth a visit.

FMCS occupies the seventh floor of 250 E Street.  The 2016 lease included the entire 7th floor, but due to the COVID pandemic and expanded telework, the Agency released a large percentage of the former leased space.  The building is connected to NASA Headquarters at Two Independence Square via a covered walkway.

Reception area for the Directors Office 250 E Street SW Washington DC

Directors Desk with a view of the U.S. Capital Building

Kenneth Moffett

The first involved Kenneth Moffett, who had been a staff representative with District 50, UMWA, beginning in April 1958 before joining FMCS as a mediator intern in June 1961. Seven months later, he was transferred to Cleveland as a mediator—In 1967, he was appointed to the National Headquarters as a National Representative.

When Wayne Horvitz became Director in May 1977, he appointed Moffett as Deputy Director. Moffett remained Deputy Director until January 1, 1981, when Horvitz resigned to allow the new Reagan Administration to appoint a new Director. Moffett then became the FMCS Acting Director for the next twelve months. During that year, budget cuts caused a significant staff reduction. A suit initiated by several SES employees facing a RIF caused the Justice Department to determine that Moffett, as Acting Director, did not have RIF authority. In January 1982, the White House gave Moffett a recess appointment (which doesn’t require Senate confirmation) as Director so he could implement the RIF. Moffett’s tenure was dominated by a budget crisis requiring reorganization, eliminating 75 employees, and a shift to computerization. His tenure ended in July 1982, when President Reagan appointed Kay McMurray Director. Moffett had a distinguished career but was never confirmed by the Senate.  Director Moffett passed away in November of 2021.

Charles Richard Barnes

The second involves Charles Richard Barnes, who joined FMCS in 1987 following seventeen years as a representative for the Laborers International Union. He served as a mediator, District Director (1994) and Regional Director (1995) in Atlanta. Director John Wells appointed Barnes Deputy Director in 1996.  In 1999, he was appointed by Director Wells as Acting Director.  Then, President Clinton eventually nominated Barnes for the director position, and he was subsequently confirmed by the Senate and sworn in in  January 2020. He served briefly after the 2000 contested election until President Bush appointed Peter Hurtgen as his Director.

Richard Giacolone

The third was Richard Giacolone, who joined FMCS as a Commissioner in 1995 following 15 years as a management advocate. He was quickly promoted to Special Assistant to the Director (1998) and then Director of International and ADR Services (2000).  In 2004, he requested to return to the field as a Commissioner. He served the Mid-Atlantic region as a Senior Mediator until he was appointed by the President as Acting Director in 2018, then nominated and confirmed as the 19th Director by the U.S. Senate.  He mediated and resolved numerous major labor disputes, including the 2020 Bath Ironworks/IAM&AW strike. He is the second former mediator to be confirmed by the Senate.  He is the only FMCS Director appointed directly from a field Commissioner position by the President.

Another more informal and less used practice existed in which less experienced individuals were hired who were viewed as having the potential to develop into a good mediator after an intern period of growth.

The following individuals were hired as interns or hired below the usual entry grade of GS12. They each would have their own unique hiring and training experience.

No further information was available from FMCS.

My intern experience in the National Office in 1964 was so unplanned and left to my own imitative that I was able to spend hours in Old Department of Labor Library[1] where I learned about the USCS and the early history of FMCS. When I was transferred to Milwaukee, I carried a box of history material that I had copied in the DOL Library. That boxful became the beginning of my collection now at George Washington University covering 136 shelve feet.

After five years in Milwaukee, I left FMCS to head an office in DOL for three years where my boss reported to Bill Usery. I did several things that got Bill’s attention, which I wrote about elsewhere. When Bill was appointed FMCS Director, he asked me to return to FMCS to head a new office of Technical Services. After he described the functions of the new office, he asked me if I had one thing I would like to accomplish at FMCS. I told Bill I would like to develop an intern program that would recruit, hire and train younger, minorities and female mediators.

Usery, always fond of new ideas, agreed. The result of that agreement was:

Two mediator intern classes in 1975.

First Class: January 1975[2]

1st Row: George Buckingham (Became National Deputy Director), Bonnie Castrey (Left to became an arbitrator),

Ernie Bremer (not in photo)

2nd Row: Jim Schepker (Became a Manager in Chicago RO), Julie Greer (started mediation program for school kids),

John Knight (Served in numerous field offices), John Healy (Died young)

Second Class: July 1975[3]

1st Row: Eileen Hoffman (Became General Counsel and other N.O positions),  Bob Stiener (Served in several field and NO positions)

2nd Row: Jerry McKay (Left to become an arbitrator), John Steppe (Became Deputy Assistant Secretary in DOL),

 Chris Merchant (Wrote a book, became a professor)

3rd Row: Lois Vanderwaerdt (resigned), Mike Nowakowski (Long service in Detroit), Ron Sweet (Served in Milwaukee),

Doug Hammond (Manager in Seattle RO)

The case can be made that hiring five women mediator interns in 1975 opened the door for more women to join FMCS. Here is what happened:

Twenty-one years after its creation in 1947, FMCS hired the first women mediator in 1968. Ten women mediators were hired at normal entry level between 1975 and 1977. In the 1980s, twelve more women were hired, and in the 1990s, twenty-one more were hired.

By 2016, four of the ten FMCS Regional Offices were headed by a woman, the General Counsel and the Director were both women. In that year, twenty-eight percent of the 165 FMCS mediator staff were women.

In 2022 both Regional Directors (Beth Schindler and Carolyn Brommer), and three of the eight District Directors Linda Gonzalez, Jennifer Disotell, and Barbara Rumph) are female.

[1] At the time, the FMCS National Office was in the old DOL at 14^th and Constitution NW.

[2] Oral history interviews recorded of George Buckingham, Bonnie Castrey, and John Knight by Jerry Barrett.

[3] Oral history interviews recorded of Eileen Hoffman, Chris Merchant, Bob Stiencer and John Stepp by Jerry Barrett.

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 hired. Luckily, she was stationed in Chicago, and she retired two years after Fibish’s hiring. That was likely helpful for Fibish to have a woman mentor with a very similar personality.

Born April 24, 1934, Nancy Fibish earned a Bachelors degree in 1957, became a Fulbright Exchange student in France, and developed a strong French fluency. She worked as a social worker for several years, before spending three years (1960-1963) at University of Chicago working on a Masters Degree in Sociology and as a research assistant. In 1963, she worked again as a social worker until 1967

In April 1967, she was hired as an Intern by  the National Labor Relations Board in Chicago. She subsequently became a Field Examiner before leaving in November 1968 to join FMCS as a GS-12 mediator in Chicago. In 1970, she was transferred to the FMCS Field Office in Washington D.C.

In 1974, she was selected for a nine month Fellowship Program on Congressional Operations for Executives, sponsored by the Civil Service Commission and the American Political Science Association.

At the end of her fellowship in 1975, Nancy returned to FMCS and was assigned to the Mediation Office at FMCS Headquarters, where she assumed responsibility for administering the 1974 amendment to National Labor-Relations Act. That amendment added additional responsibility to FMCS for dealing with labor relations in the non profit health care industry.

In April 1980, she was detailed to the Office of Personnel Management. She returned to FMCS to accept an appointment as District Director for Cleveland in 1982.

In February 1983, she was separated by FMCS and transferred to the State Department’s Foreign Service. Her subsequent appointment as a Foreign Service Officer was confirmed by the Senate on May 1983. As a Foreign Service Officer, she served in Washington D.C., London and Belgrade, Serbia.

Following five years with the State Department, she became Executive Director of the Maine Public Employee Relations Board from October 3, 1988 to December 28, 1990.

In 2017, Marc P. Ayotte, the current Executive Director of the Maine Public Employee Relations Board, remembered Nancy as “an able administrator, focusing particularly on the agency’s mediation service.”

Nancy C. Fibish died in January 2002 at age 68.

Since statutory law lacks the detail necessary to provide for reasonable application and enforcement, government agencies charged with enforcing the law issued regulations or rules to fill in the gap. To make their rules, agencies invited public comment, and heard testimony in formal hearings. These proceedings tended to be very adversarial as each interest group attempted to secure a regulation most favorable to them. Following the written comments and testimony, the agency drafted regulations giving appropriate weight to the information offered by interest groups.

Nicholas Fidandis

In 1982, the Federal Aviation Administration was the first Federal government regulator to attempt to use RegNeg to establish a new rule. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) mediator Nicholas Fidandis was asked to lead the rulemaking meetings. The issue involved a safety rule on maximum hours for pilots to remain on flight duty. The rule had not been changed in 30 years although equipment and practices had change significantly. Prior discussions and litigation had been unsuccessful in resolving the issue.

Seventeen groups were involved in meetings extending from fall 1982 to fall 1983. During the course of the meetings, several expectations had to be changed. The initial meetings were open to the public and media with a public transcript created of each meeting. When that proved unworkable because it prevented flexibility and candor, executive sessions were used, limited to the seventeen groups. Also the FAA Administrator expected that the meetings would produce recommendations, which he could use at his discretion in creating the new rule. When it became clear that the participants wanted assurance of more direct input, the Administrator was persuaded to accept the meeting outcome as the new rule. At the outset of the meeting, it was assumed that a consensus would be achieved among the participants. That proved unworkable because several groups could not publicly agree to a new rule for political and internal reasons.

Mediator Fidandis was aided by the participants’ recognition that a less acceptable rule would be imposed if they didn’t work together to fashion a new rule. With input from the parties, the mediator wrote a rule that the majority of the participants endorsed. The FAA Administrator issued that rule in the spring of 1984.

The process developed by this initial and successful RegNeg became the model for subsequent rulemaking efforts. Since 1984, FMCS mediators have participated in dozens of RegNeg cases at the Federal and State level.

Based on several years of RegNeg practice, the American Bar Association and others recommended that Congress enact the Negotiated Rule Making Act in 1990. The Act’s purpose was “to encourage agencies to use negotiated rulemaking when it enhances the informal rulemaking process.” FMCS is identified in the Act as a provider of RegNeg assistance.

The Act was reauthorized in 1996 and is now incorporated into the Administrative Procedure Act. A number of States have implemented processes similar to the Federal arrangement. Many government regulatory agencies have used the RegNeg process to their satisfaction and that of interested parties.

(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. During its first 30 years, FMCS hired 338 mediators in small groups as needed. Of those, 6.80% were African-Americans.[2]

Name	Hire Date	Duty Station	Education	Notes
George H. Fowler	Mar-51	NYC	LLB	Resigned 12-31-58
George V. Byrnes	May-59	NYC	BA.	NLRB – 11 years
Bill H. Lattimore	Oct-61	Detroit
Dick D. Williams	Oct-63	Chicago	BS.	RD & Dept Nat. Dir.
Bill Abner	Jul-64	D.C.	LLB	Sp. Asst to Nat. Dir.
Frank Allen	Oct-66	San Fran	LR Courses
Clarence Washington	Oct-66	San Fran	LR Courses
Hal Davis, intern	Feb-68	Philadelphia/DC	BA.	2 years law school
Charlie Riley	Jun-68	St.Louis/DC	BA, MA.	Tech coordinator
Jim Williams	Nov-70	Baltimore	LR Courses
Larry Berry	May-71	Atlanta/Detroit	LR Courses
Hez Brown	Oct-72	NYC		Com. College
Leo Gant	Aug-73	Chicago/Baltimore
Cleveland Fisher	Oct-73	LA	LR Courses
Tom Washington	Jun-74	Philadelphia	LR Courses
Julie Greer, intern*	Jan-75	Detroit	LR Courses
Bufford Thompson	Oct-75	Kansas City
James Authur	Nov-76	Boston	Trade School
Wesley Jennings	Jan-77	Baltimore/Chicago	BA
Hubert Robinson	Sep-77	NYC	BS, MA Candidate
Jerry Allen	Sep-77	San Fran	AA IR.	Son of Frank Allen
Fran Dunham*	Sep-77	Philadelphia/NJ	BA
Cliff Suggs	Oct-77	Buffalo	2 years in college – no degree

* woman

In the early 1980s, FMCS ended the practice of maintaining bio books on all mediators.[3] The Friends of FMCS History collection contains all existing bio books,[4] which were used in this paper.

FMCS may not have been a leader in offering African-Americans equal employment opportunity, but to be effective FMCS believed it needed to provide mediators who would be acceptable to labor and management. FMCS believed that mediators who lacked acceptability could not be effective and supportive of the FMCS mission. So the FMCS hiring decisions were strongly influenced by the racial attitudes of labor and management.[5]

A note: Bill Abner, as Special Assistant to the Director, was able to recruit four African-Americans mediators: Allen, Washington, Davis and Riley.

See my post on Abner in which he explains his experience with mediating during the 1960s in the south.[6]

[1] This paper relied on oral histories I’ve conducted, my acquaintances with all of these mediators except George Fowler, bio books reference in footnote 3, and Friends of FMCS History collection.

[2] Based on records in the Friends collection.

[3] In the early 1980s, the unofficial practice of maintaining bio books on all mediators with hire dates, bio info, work station, and photos was ended, based on a determination that they were inappropriate personnel record.

[4] In the years after 1977, only FMCS has hiring data on mediators. Unfortunately, FMCS did not provide any for this paper, which likely would have shown a more inclusive hiring practice.

[5] Certainly, the same rational has been used by employers whose employees deal directly with the public.

[6] See mediationhistory.org – post on Blog, titled: Willoughby (Bill) Abner.

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 14^th 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 establishing the Cyrus Ching conference room.

In his dedication remarks, Usery noted how appropriate the naming of the conference room was since Ching had been the first FMCS Director. Usery also said he hoped that wherever the FMCS National Office might move in the future, there would always be a conference room dedicated to Mr. Ching.

At the first location after leaving the old Department of Labor building, FMCS Director James Scearse responded to Usery’s hope by designating the main conference room as the Cy Ching conference room. At that location at 21^st and K NW. the FMCS National Office remained from 1976 to late 2016.

Since late 2016, the FMCS national office has been at 250 E St SW, Independence Square, and Director Allison Beck followed the practice by designating the main conference room as the Cyrus Ching conference room.

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 with the word: “Settlemints”.  Mediators use the word “Settlement” to identify the goal of mediation.

A Lolly Pop with FMCS written on the stick.

The items listed below are no longer available:

Small wine bottles with one of the following it:

“For strike settlement purposes only”
“For ratification purposes only”
“FMCS Private Stock”
“For negotiations purposes only”

Tabasco sauce bottle labeled: “Call FMCS before things get too hot.”

Public Information Director Norm Walker (1970s) developed the Match Book idea.

All others were designed and purchased by Mediator Ron Collotta of Phoenix, with help from fellow mediators Pete Cinquemani and Dennis Teel.

During WWII, he performed dispute settlement work for the National War Labor Board. Following the war, he resumed his arbitration practice.

Bill Simkin was sworn-in as the fifth FMCS Director on March 31,1961 by President John Kennedy in a White House ceremony. President Lyndon Johnson reappointed Simkin extending his service to 1969.

At his White House swearing in, Labor Secretary Arthur Goldberg remarked that Simkin was the first Quaker to be appointed FMCS Director. A life long Quaker, Simkin brought a peaceful, calm presence to all his conflict resolution work, and to the administration of FMCS. At the time of his appointment, the New York Times described Simkin as “one of the best known arbitrators of labor-management problems in the country.”

I had the good fortune to see Simkin during my National Office mediator internship in 1964. I saw Simkin at daily dispute case briefings where he interacted with staff. As a result, I have a strong and positive impression of him.

After leaving FMCS, Simkin joined the faculty of the Business School at Harvard (1969 to 1973), and he wrote a book in 1971 titled Mediation and the Dynamics of Collective Bargaining. In 1973, he resumed his arbitration practice, and later served a term as President of the National Academy of Arbitrators.

The Navajo-Hopi Land Settlement Act of 1974 directed FMCS to mediate this century-old dispute in Arizona. Bill Simkin, then living in Arizona, accepted Director Bill Usery’s request to mediate the case. After months, if not years, of mediating this complex case, Simkin wrote an extensive report with recommendations, as required by the law, for a Federal District Court. Ultimately, the Court’s decision supported Simkin’s report and recommendations.

Bill Simkin died at age 85 in 1992.