July 1, 1998

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NATIONAL MEDIATION BOARD

RE: JACOBSEN NAMED NMB CHAIRWOMAN

Magdalena (Maggie) G. Jacobsen is the new Chairwoman of the National Mediation Board (NMB) effective July 1, 1998. Ms Jacobsen was first appointed to the NMB by President Clinton on December 1, 1993 and was unanimously confirmed by the U.S. Senate. She served an earlier term as Chairwoman from July 1, 1995 through June 30, 1996.

Jacobsen will replace Ernest W. DuBester, who has served as Chairman since July 1, 1997 and remains a Member of the Board. The third Member of the Board is Kenneth B. Hipp. The three member Board is an independent Federal agency that was established in 1934 by the Railway Labor Act (RLA). The RLA governs labor-management relations in the railroad and airline industries, two of the most heavily unionized industries in the country.

Since joining the Board, Ms Jacobsen has played a major role in promoting innovative approaches to collective bargaining in the railroad and airline industries. Working with other NMB members, she strongly supported initiatives to improve agency operations and administration along with several initiatives to enhance customer service. These included the reorganization of mediation services and the promotion of innovative approaches to dispute resolution such as interest-based bargaining and grievance mediation. During the last round of national railroad bargaining she was instrumental in successfully mediating disputes between the national rail freight carriers and the rail labor organizations. She has continued to foster meaningful dialogue among all parties outside of formal negotiations to improve the culture of labor-management relations and has encouraged the parties to consider often complex issues with the intent of bringing about constructive change.

Prior to joining the Board, Ms. Jacobsen was a Commissioner with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. During her 15 years' service as an FMCS mediator, Maggie handled hundreds of disputes with a wide variety of industries and labor organizations. In addition, she provided alternative dispute resolution (ADR) training to labor and management practitioners.

Jacobsen was a former Director of Employee Relations for the City and County of San Francisco. She had overall responsibility for the City & County labor relations and was the principal official dealing with employee unions.

Maggie also served as labor relations manager for Continental Airlines from 1972 to 1976 and worked for seven years as a Continental flight attendant. During that time Jacobsen was a Local and Master Executive Council officer and Secretary-Treasurer of the Steward and Stewardess Division of the Air Line Pilots Association, the forerunner of today's Association of Flight Attendants. She also worked as a flight attendant for nearly two years on Military Airlift Command (MAC) flights during the Viet Nam War.

Ms. Jacobsen began her professional career in the early 1960s in California, where she worked in the labor relations department of CBS Television.

She received a Bachelor of Science degree in organizational behavior from the University of San Francisco and a Master's degree in Human Resources Management from Golden Gate University. She is a past national executive board member and Washington, D.C. Chapter President of the Industrial Relations Research Association (IRRA). IRRA is a professional organization which fosters research and dialogue among labor, management, government agencies, academics and neutrals working in the industrial relations field.

A native of New York City, Ms. Jacobsen is one of a family of five children whose parents both immigrated to the United States from Europe. Her father worked for and retired as a barge captain for the marine division of the Erie-Lackawana Railroad.

(For further information, contact Jim Armshaw, 202-523-5623)