Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) is an independent agency of the United States government. It helps prevent or settle disputes between labor unions and management that affect interstate commerce. Another government agency, the National Mediation Board, handles such disputes in the airline and railroad industries. Mediation involves helping opposing sides in a dispute resolve their differences.
The law requires either management or a union to give 60-day notice of any intention to end or change a labor contract. If the employer and union do not reach an agreement within 30 days after such notice, they must notify the FMCS. The FMCS then may offer its services to assist the parties. The FMCS is not a law enforcement or regulatory agency. It depends on persuasion.
The FMCS has mediators in principal industrial areas throughout the country. The agency also maintains a roster of qualified private citizens who arbitrate (judge) labor-contract disputes (see Arbitration (Industrial, or labor, arbitration)). The FMCS was established under the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947.
