International Programs & ADR Services Abroad at FMCS

The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service is an independent federal agency, established in 1947 to assist in the resolution of labor disputes and to provide technical assistance to the parties as well as arbitration and mediation of labor disputes in interstate commerce.  Increasingly, the agency has been asked by Congress to provide its expertise in the mediation of federal labor disputes, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) services to other federal agencies, to establish labor-management committees, to provide a program dealing with youth violence, and to assist state and local governments.  Accordingly, international activities at FMCS have also grown, which include requests for briefings to foreign labor-management officials, and international study delegations to the US.  Such requests educate and inform participants of the mediation and dispute resolution services in the US and serve as models for development.  This has allowed opportunities for FMCS to provide more formal and direct assistance to foreign entities through training in dispute resolution techniques, interest-based problem-solving, mediation and arbitration.

The Ease of Working with FMCS

Why use FMCS Services?

Overview of International Programs & Services

Programs & Services offered by FMCS:

• Collective Bargaining & Industrial Labor Relations in US
• Conflict Management System Design, Assessment, & Consultation Services
• Overview of ADR and Mediation Models for Workplace Disputes
• Mediation Training Programs for Development of Conflict Resolution Program
• Mediation Exchange Program and Study Tours for Bilateral Education and Information Exchange
• Multi-party Process Training, including Convening, Facilitating, & Multi-party Negotiation Skills
• Conflict Management Training & Intervention Programs
• Technological Advances in Negotiations and Mediation Processes

• International Delegation & Visitor ProgramsMediation Training & Conflict Resolution Services for Institutional Development of Alternative Dispute Resolution by request from external government ministry, non profit organization, or internal US government request from Dept of State, Dept of Labor or US AID
• Mediator Exchange Programs

Cambodia:In August 2004, FMCS delivered a training program to arbitrators on the recently created Cambodian Labor Arbitration Council.   Following a brief presentation on FMCS, the arbitrators split into small groups and identified the most common problems that they face in their work with employers and unions. The FMCS instructor then worked with the arbitrators to apply techniques of Interest Based Negotiations to resolve their problems.  Additional activities between FMCS and the Community Legal Education Centre of Cambodia are being considered for 2005.

Chile:In December 2004 FMCS Chief of Staff Jack Toner traveled to Santiago de Chile with the U.S. Delegation to the first meeting of the U.S.-Chile Labor Affairs Council. The Labor Affairs Council is a bilateral entity established pursuant to the U.S.-Chile Free Trade Agreement to oversee implementation and review progress under the Labor Chapter of the Free Trade Agreement. Following the meeting of the Council, Mr. Toner made a presentation on alternative methods for resolving labor conflict at a tripartite event designed to compare and contrast the respective Industrial Relations Systems of the United States and Chile.

China:From May-July 2004, an FMCS Commissioner taught a course in “Negotiations From an International Perspective” at Sun Yat Sen University in Zhuhai, China in conjunction with Whittier Law School in Long Beach, California. The course was directed to both Chinese and law students and featured modules taught by Chinese faculty.

China:  In November 2004, former FMCS Director Peter J. Hurtgen traveled to Beijing, China for a speaking tour with labor relations professionals, governmental officials and academics to spread the message that Collective Bargaining and Freedom of Association are not only important humanitarian considerations, but are also critical for the economic and social stability that are prerequisites to economic growth for developing countries. Specifically, the Director discussed how FMCS supports Collective Bargaining and Freedom of Association at home and abroad.  Following his visit to Beijing, the Director traveled to Shanghai to meet with a variety of officials from labor, management and government. As a result of that visit, FMCS and the Chinese MOLSS have negotiated a Letter of Understanding to undertake technical cooperation in the future. That Letter is expected to be signed when Chinese Vice-Minister of Labor and Social Security pays an official visit to the U.S. in late July 2005.

Colombia:This project, under the auspices of the ILO’s Project For The Improvement Of Labor Relations And The Promotion Of Economic Equality For Women In Colombia has the goal of increasing tripartite leaders’ awareness of the economic and social value of processes for labor dispute resolution and prevention - e.g., inter alia, mediation, interest based problem solving, and labor-management workplace committees. FMCS mediators completed their first training program in September 2003. In addition to the topics mentioned above, the program included presentations from companies and unions that had vastly improved their relationships and met the challenges of globalization through the implementation of the techniques similar to the ones highlighted in the program. A similar program took place in the cities of Cali and Medellín in February 2004. In May 2004, FMCS returned to Bogotá to provide a training program for officials from the National Ministry of Labor to build its capacity to provide services and formulate policy in the area of labor relations. In June 2004, in Washington DC FMCS provided a training for high-level tripartite leaders, who are now supporting the diffusion of the project’s teaching throughout the Colombian labor relations community. Finally, in June 2005 FMCS will go to Cartagena to train the project’s cadre of trainers in pedagogical techniques, and also provide consulting to the ILO project to sustain and diffuse the learnings from the project.

European Union: In January 2004, the FMCS Director and a Commissioner attended Workshop on Social Dialogue and Conflict Resolution Mechanisms for five EU accession states -- Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Cyprus and the Czech Republic -- in Prague, Czech Republic. The event was sponsored by the European Foundation for the Improvement of Living and Working Conditions (the "Foundation"), a Dublin-based EU governmental organization. The Workshop was organized around four separate breakout sessions, in which the 5 acceding countries met in their own language to: (1) assess the state of their current "system" for conflict resolution in their own countries; (2) assess the future challenges for conflict resolution in their respective countries; (3) draft National Development Plans; and (4) finalize their draft National Development Plans. After each breakout session, each country group received feedback on its work product through comments by representatives from the U.S. FMCS as well as experts from Finland, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Ireland and France. In between breakout sessions, participants heard different presentations on the British, Dutch, Finnish, French and Irish mediation systems. FMCS presented Handbook on Strengthening Governmental Conciliation Institutions, which was developed in conjunction with the APEC 2002 project. (See the discussion of the APEC 2002 project in the "Past Projects of Note" section, below.)  Building on the Prague Workshop, in order to allow for further information sharing and to provide a forum for focusing such capacity, the Foundation sponsored an event in Ljubljana, Slovenia in March 2004 to help the acceding countries to implement the National Development Plans that were drafted in Prague. In Ljubljana, the 5 countries that attended the Prague Workshop were joined by the other 5 acceding EU countries - i.e., Poland, Hungary, Malta, Estonia and Slovenia - which had drafted their own National Development Plans at a similar conference in Prague in October 2003. The Director and an FMCS Commissioner again represented the United States.

Ghana:  In July 2005 two FMCS Commissioners will travel to Accra, Ghana to assist the lead local consultant and the National Labor Commission to design and deliver a one-week training course for arbitrators and mediators of the National Labor Commission. The course will cover, among other things, the dispute settlement mechanism, the mediation process, practical examples in the settlement of industrial disputes, negotiations and mediation and the FMCS and dispute settlement – successes and failures.

Hungary: In November 2005 two FMCS Commissioners plan to travel to Budapest to deliver a training program for the newly hired mediators of the Hungarian Mediation & Arbitration Service. This program will be held pursuant to a March 2004 Memorandum of Understanding entered into between FMCS and the Hungarian Labor Mediation & Arbitration Service.

Indonesia:  Under the auspices of the ILO’s Project “Promoting and Realizing Freedom of Association and Collective Bargaining,” in May-June 2005 an FMCS Commissioner traveled to Indonesia to train senior Indonesian mediators and labor relations professionals in 1) Mediation Skills for the Workplace and the Community; 2) Joint Problem-Solving, Interest Based Bargaining, Consensus Decision-Making and Negotiation Skills; and 3) Labor-Management cooperation and Formation of Worksite Labor-Management Committees.

Ireland: In May-June 2005, FMCS and the Irish Labor Relations Commission (LRC) held their annual Mediator Exchange Program.  In May, two FMCS mediators traveled to Dublin and other Irish cities in order to observe LRC mediators in both their conciliation and advisory capacities. In June, LRC mediators traveled to the FMCS Seattle and Chicago field offices to observe FMCS mediators in the Dispute Resolution and Relationship Development & Training work. The annual FMCS-LRC exchange forms a part of a broader continuing bilateral relationship aimed at fostering mutual learning and advancement of the field of labor dispute resolution.

Korea: In December 2004, FMCS represented the United States at the International Symposium on Labor-Management Cooperation in the Workplace, hosted in Seoul by the Korea Labor Education Institute (KLEI). Other international participating organizations included the Irish Labor Relations Commission, the British Advisory, Conciliation & Arbitration Service and the International Labor Organization, in addition to KLEI itself. At the Symposium participants presented and discussed the structure, process and methodology of providing governmental labor dispute resolution and prevention services. FMCS participated in the event pursuant to a 2003 Memorandum of Understanding with the KLEI in which each side agreed to undertake cooperative activities to foster understanding of labor-management best practices in their respective countries.

Morocco: As part of the State Department’s Middle East Partnership Initiative, in May 2005 an FMCS Commissioner traveled to Rabat as part of a delegation consisting of the Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service, U.S. Trade Representative, National Labor Relations Board, and the Occupational Safety & Health Administration and Wage & Hour Divisions of the U.S. Department of Labor. The delegation provided information to ten governments from the Middle East and North Africa in their implementation of the labor provisions of either current or prospective Free Trade Agreements with the United States. 

Nigeria:  In August 2005, under the auspices of the International Law Institute at Georgetown University, FMCS will host a delegation of judges from Nigeria, including five members of the Nigerian Supreme Court. FMCS Commissioners will train the judges in techniques of Alternative Dispute Resolution.  As part of this program, FMCS is also organizing a series of visits for the judges to various tribunals to observe court annexed ADR programs.  (tentative)

Northern Ireland:  In conjunction with the Washington, DC based Alliance for Conflict Prevention and Resolution and the Belfast Local Strategy Partnership, in May 2005 an FMCS Commissioner facilitated discussions aimed at (1) the development of an early warning and early response mechanism to prevent violent conflict in countries deemed to be "at risk"; (2) building a leadership capability to coordinate violence prevention efforts and make sure that local NGOs are brought into the process so that concrete prevention activities actually take place; and (3) how participants' organizations might contribute to the International Peace and Prosperity Project (IPPP) to assist local people in Guinea Bissau to avert state failure and violence in that country. This meeting was be a continuation of discussions that the same group held in Belfast in early December 2004.

Philippines: In March 2004, an FMCS Commissioner traveled to the northern highlands of Baguio City, Philippines to deliver the keynote address at the Philippine Association of Labor Management Councils (PALMCO) Annual Convention. The theme of the event was "Labor Management Cooperation - an International Perspective." The FMCS Commissioner discussed Labor Management Cooperation in a global perspective, zeroing in on the social, political, and economic context in which cooperative initiatives take place, as well as international initiatives and documented best practices in the region.   For the text of the Commissioner's keynote address please go to the "Speeches and Presentations" section of the FMCS website (http://www.fmcs.gov/).

Romania: With funding from the State Department’s Bureau of International Information Programs’ Democracy and Human Rights Program, in July 2005 two FMCS Commissioners will travel to Craiova, Romania to deliver a Mediation Skills Seminar for trial judges, appellate judges, Ministry of Justice officials, and practicing attorneys.

Serbia & Montenegro: Since January 2003, FMCS has been working in Serbia and Montenegro on a USAID-funded project to train unions, employers, and government agencies in the prevention and resolution of labor conflict. In the design phase of the project, FMCS Commissioners met with key labor, management, and government officials, separately and in focus groups, to discuss their training needs and the need for broad tripartite involvement in the project. Following these meetings, FMCS Commissioners designed a series of trainings that emphasize cooperation between labor, management, and government in the context of the collective bargaining process. The initial trainings, in both Serbia and Montenegro, took place in June 2003, when FMCS Commissioners delivered programs in Interest Based Problem Solving and communications skills for labor, management, and government officials. In November 2003, FMCS Commissioners trained the social partners in the process of contract administration, grievance handling, the formation of labor management committees, and advanced problem-solving techniques. In the next phase, in October 2004,  FMCS Commissioners met with key representatives from unions, management, and government to discuss how a mediation service should be structured, looked at various models from other countries (including Hungary, the United Kingdom, Belgium, and the U.S.) and possible criteria for selection of governmental labor mediators.   Both republics are considering legislation to establish such services.  

Southern Africa:   In August 2004, former FMCS Director Peter J. Hurtgen traveled to Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa and Swaziland for a speaking tour with labor unions, employer associations, government officials, diplomats, think tanks and universities to spread the message that Collective Bargaining and Freedom of Association are not only important humanitarian considerations, but are also critical for the economic and social stability that are prerequisites to economic growth for developing countries. Specifically, the Director discussed how FMCS supports Collective Bargaining and Freedom of Association at home and abroad.

Spain: In June 2005, an FMCS Commissioner, in conjunction with Whittier Law School in Long Beach, California, taught a course in “Negotiations From an International Perspective” at the University of Santender in the province of Cantabria. The course will be directed to both Spanish and U.S. law students and will feature featured modules taught by Spanish faculty.

Tajikistan:  Partnering with the Center for Intercultural Education & Development at Georgetown University, in February 2005 FMCS Commissioners trained Tajik Diplomats in techniques for successful negotiation, problem solving, and decision-making in crisis situations. The training formed part of a two-week program for Tajikistani Diplomats sponsored by the U.S. Department of State.

Vietnam:  In August 2004, under the auspices of the ILO’s Hanoi office, FMCS provided training for officials from the government, management and labor sectors in techniques of Interest-Based Problem Solving for collective negotiations as well as related labor relations skills such as consensus decision making, the formation and maintenance of labor-management worksite committees, joint problem solving, and non-defensive communication. The ILO’s Vietnam Project is currently headed by an FMCS Commissioner on a 4-year leave of absence from the agency.

Vietnam:   In December 2004, Director Hurtgen traveled to Hanoi, Vietnam to address the First International Industrial Relations Conference in Vietnam. The purpose of the conference was to broadly and loudly “market” modern labor relations in Vietnam and reinforce the good work that the ILO’s local provincial trainers have been performing over the past 18 months. The long-term goal of the ILO Vietnam Project is to build the capacity of managers to engage in sound and forward-looking labor relations and to improve union organizing and representational capacity on the union side. The Conference is modeled on the FMCS National Labor-Management conferences, with some Labor-Management panels from exceptional cooperative programs in Vietnam. There were also presentations by labor unions, the Vietnam Chamber of Commerce (employer representatives), and the Ministry of Labor to sum up lessons learned at the conference.

PAST PROJECTS OF NOTE

Argentina: The objective of this project, funded by the U.S. Department of Labor, was to strengthen the capacity of the Province of Córdoba, Argentina (the second largest province in Argentina) to conciliate labor disputes in the wake of the huge volume of dismissals resulting from the deep economic recession in Argentina. This great number of dismissals created a backlog of complaints by workers against their employers for non-compliance with various legal requirements incumbent upon them when they dismiss workers - i.e., to make out a case of economic hardship, provide adequate notice to the worker, follow a legally prescribed order in dismissing workers (e.g., seniority, number of dependents), and pay the dismissed worker a legally prescribed severance package.   In phase one of the project (November 2001), FMCS Commissioners trained the conciliators and labor inspectors of the province in techniques of Interest Based Problem Solving. In phase two of the project, the team returned to Córdoba in April 2002 to train private sector labor relations practitioners in win-win negotiation techniques. In September 2002 FMCS trained conciliators from 17 provinces of Argentina, a group that now comprises a Federal Mediation Training Team. The provinces of Río Negro, Mendoza, Buenos Aires, and Neuquén, among many others, have delivered training programs to their respective labor-management communities. Finally, in May 2003 FMCS provided a "train the trainer" program to many of the other members of the Federal Mediation Training Team to prepare them for their rolling out of the training program around the country.

Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC): This project, entitled "Training for the Prevention and Resolution of Labor and Employment Disputes, realized two objectives: (1) to impart training in new and different techniques for the prevention and resolution of labor and employment disputes; and (2) to survey the APEC region’s governmental conciliation institutions and provide an overview of practices that the institutions can adopt to improve their usefulness to their economies. The training component of the project took place from July 16-19, 2002 in Bangkok, Thailand. It featured trainers from 7 APEC member economies and trainees from 18 economies. The trainers taught numerous techniques for mediating interest-based negotiations and preventing labor conflict.   They also trained in, among other things, cross-cultural issues in employment conflict, gender issues in labor and employment dispute resolution, the role of rumor and hearsay in perpetuating conflict, mediation of multi-union disputes, and change management issues and their impact on labor and employment conflict. The institutional component of the project yielded the APEC Handbook on Strengthening Governmental Institutions, available at the project’s website at http://www.fmcs.gov/apeclmg/index.htm. At that website one can also find training materials, links to governmental conciliation institutions, completed surveys providing specific information about each institution, as well as a link to the "APEC Labor-Management Best Practices Tool Kit."

Baltic States: In September 2001, FMCS provided a basic dispute resolution techniques training for labor, management, and government officials in Riga, Latvia; Tallinn, Estonia; and Vilnius, Lithuania. In a follow-up event, in April 2003, FMCS delivered a two-week training program that exposed one mediator candidate from each country to methods of dispute resolution, mentoring by FMCS mediators in all regions, and site visits in six states. After a special orientation by FMCS and the U.S. Baltic Foundation in Washington, DC, these three candidates joined the FMCS New Mediator class of 21 federal mediators as part of FMCS’ "Sequence One-Dispute Resolution" training. Following the training, the three mediators shadowed FMCS mediators in several U.S. cities in both their Dispute Mediation and Relationship Development & Training work.

Bulgaria: In May 2001, FMCS hosted a two-week visit by a delegation that included 14 high level officials from labor, management, government and the ILO to observe various models for resolving labor-management disputes. The group witnessed both an arbitration and a mock mediation, met with numerous officials, and received assistance in developing an action plan for the formation of a governmental institution for the resolution of labor conflict. In May 2003, FMCS conducted, via simultaneous translation, a training for 35 incoming mediators of the newly formed National Institute for Conciliation and Arbitration (NICA). In September 2003, FMCS commissioners delivered a follow-up training in advanced techniques for the prevention and resolution of labor conflict. At that time the Commissioners also met with NICA’s Executive Director to discuss the provision of arbitration services by the institution as well as the establishment of a code of ethics.

Canada: In May 2003, FMCS Commissioners trained experienced mediators from the Canadian FMCS as well as the various provincial mediation services in both the programmatic as well as the delivery aspects of Preventive Mediation (PM) programs. The Commissioners presented a template to help the participants determine the propriety of several PM programs according to twelve criteria and addressed advanced topics in problem solving such as economics in Interest Based Negotiations, Investigatory, Diagnostic and Interest Based Problem Solving Models, Appreciative Inquiry and "Ladder Of Inference" Reasoning.

Croatia: In April of 2002, under the auspices of the AFL-CIO’s American Center for International Labor Solidarity (Solidarity Center), FMCS Commissioners provided a series of joint training programs for approximately 50-60 representatives of labor, employers and government in Croatia. The purpose of the trainings was to provide the participants with an in-depth familiarization of the collective bargaining process, including communication and negotiation skills, substantive training in the history and practice of collective bargaining, and presentation/train the trainer skills. As a result of these programs, several participants have served, either individually or jointly, as trainers, resource persons and "agents of change" in their respective organizations.

East Africa: FMCS Commissioners provided a week of training in negotiations, conciliation and mediation skills to 65 mostly Department of Labor (but some Social Partner) officials from Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, under ILO auspices, from December 3-7, 2001. This sub-regional workshop was part of an ILO program aimed at Capacity Building in the area of Collective Bargaining/Freedom of Association rights pursuant to the 1998 Declaration of the Fundamental Principles of Rights at Work. At the conclusion of the session, the participants brainstormed and developed an Action Plan to continue the diffusion of the techniques taught in the course. In an update in June 2003, the ILO’s Chief Technical Advisor for the region informed FMCS that several components of the Action Plan had been implemented and that several individuals from the course had taken on leadership roles in the spread of ADR techniques in their respective countries.

Ireland: In November 2003, FMCS Commissioners traveled to Dublin, Ireland to deliver three programs in Interest-Based Problem Solving (IBPS) to professionals from labor, management, government, academia and the private third-party neutral community. The first two programs, both consisting of 30 participants, emphasized the basic theory underlying IBPS and included practical exercises and role-plays to connect theory to practice. The third program was geared exclusively to management officials from the Allied Irish Bank and their union counterparts, in anticipation of upcoming contract negotiations and to assist in their ongoing efforts to ensure labor peace at the bank. The trip arose from one of the Commissioner’s participation in an ongoing mediator exchange program that FMCS conducts annually with its counterpart organization in the Irish government, the Irish Labor Relations Commission.

Korea: In June 2003, FMCS conciliators trained a team of professors and conciliators from the Korea Labor Education Institute in the timing and use of various Preventive Mediation (PM) programs, as well as techniques for their delivery. The Korean participants also shadowed FMCS Commissioners in their delivery of PM programs in the Seattle area.

Mozambique: In collaboration with the United States Department of Labor, during 2002-2003 FMCS conducted a multi-phase program aimed at enhancing the capacity of the Mozambican Ministry of Labor. In the first phase (November 2002), business, labor and government leaders were trained in the areas of interest-based bargaining, consensus decision-making, active listening, communication skills and teambuilding. The training provided the parties with the skills necessary to address a broad range of issues (minimum wage, labor-arbitration procedures and modifications of/or changes in labor laws) using an interest-based approach. In the second phase (June 2003) FMCS trained a cadre of Mozambican business and labor leaders at the enterprise level to provide them with a basic understanding of labor-management relations, their roles and responsibilities as stewards and supervisors, interest-based problem solving, consensus decision-making, and teambuilding. FMCS also trained mediators from the National Ministry of Labor in Interest Based Problem Solving Processes. In the third phase (September 2003), FMCS Commissioners worked with the Labor Ministry and other tripartite stakeholders to develop a sustainable program to continue teaching skills to the Mozambican Labor Relations community after the project has ended. To this end, the Commissioners delivered a "train the trainer" course to teach the requisite pedagogical techniques for disseminating skills for cooperative labor relations, and presided over the creation and organization of a Steering Committee to launch a new Tripartite Training Team. The project concluded with a seminar in May 2004 to discuss the conclusions of the research component of the project. Those conclusions were published in a book that was released in February 2005.

Peru: With funding from the U.S. Department of Labor, FMCS Commissioners provided the following training programs: (1) for labor and management representatives from the National Council for Labor & Employment Promotion (November 2002); (2) for conciliators from the Ministry of Labor and Employment Promotion (MLEP) (November 2002); (3) a Train-the-Trainer program for conciliators from the MLEP who will form the nucleus of the newly-formed Centro de Conciliación, Arbitraje e Investigaciones (CENCOAMITP) Training Team (Trujillo, April 2003); and (4) for labor and management representatives from the labor relations community of the city of Trujillo (April 2003); (5) for labor and management representatives from the labor relations community of the city of Iquitos (August 2003); and (6) for labor and management representatives from the labor relations community of the city of Cusco (August 2003). To help Peru to develop a sustainable capacity to deliver training programs, a cadre of trainers was established in CENCOAMITP, and this cadre has delivered several programs for Peruvian labor and management representatives. To ensure the permanence and success of CENCOAMITP, FMCS provided consulting services as well as training to the Labor Ministry to enable the Justice Department to certify CENCOAMITP as the first entity in the country that can perform legally recognized extra-judicial (private) labor conciliations (May 2004). It is expected that CENCOAMITP will, in turn, certify other labor conciliators to perform extra-judicial conciliations, thereby greatly expanding the availability of labor mediation services in Peru.