In this photo, FMCS mediator Gil Seldon is caucusing with the union negotiating committee in the men’s room. Notice the urinals on the right. This caucus may have been arranged earlier or it might simply be opportunistic on the mediator’s part.

In the photo, the mediator is wearing a white shirt and tie. The men’s hats suggest this caucus occurred in the 1950s, and meeting in men’s room implies that there there no women on the union committee. For some viewers, the window dividers might suggest they are meeting in a church. The caucus occurred in fact in the main Federal Building in Cleveland, Ohio.

1. Three men standing.

The man in the center is the famous Jimmy Hoffa, the leader of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT). The other two are FMCS mediators. On the left, is Walter Maggiolo, Director of Office of Mediation. The other is C.K. Call, the Regional Director of FMCS in Chicago. Jimmy Hoffa’s son now heads the IBT.

2. Three men walking toward the camera.

These three top FMCS mediators are smiling for a good reason. They have just existed a conference room where they achieve a settlement of a labor-management dispute. They are from left to right: Gil Seldon, Assistance Director the Office of Mediation, Walter Maggiolo, Director Office of Mediation, and Bill Simkin.  FMCS Director Bill Simkin was appointed FMCS Director by President John Kennedy in 1961. He served until 1969, making him the longest serving FMCS Director before or since.

Director Simkin hired me in April 1964, and Regional Director C.K. Call was my boss during the four years I mediated in Milwaukee (1965 to 1969). In 1985, I helped Walter Maggiolo write the second edition of his book Techniques of Mediation in Labor Disputes (1985). Bill Simkin wrote Mediation and the Dynamics of Collective Bargaining (1971).