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Mediation Under the Federal Railway Labor Act: What Does it Mean for My Negotiations
Q: What is Federal mediation? Mediation is a way of facilitating progress in negotiations using the assistance of a third party. It is a process wholly different than arbitration that was used to settle our last contract.
If, at any time during negotiations, either or both parties feel that negotiations aren’t progressing, they can request mediation from the National Mediation Board. The mediator is an impartial third party who has specialized training designed to help the parties reach agreement.
Q: Is Mediation binding in the way our last contract negotiation was? No it is not. Mediation is different from arbitration in that neither the Federal Mediator nor the National Mediation Board (NMB) has the power to impose any terms of a contract.
Q: What happens now that we have requested mediation from the National Mediation Board? As an administrative matter, the NMB will assign a docket number to the case and determine that it’s appropriate for assignment of one of about 20 staff mediators. If so, one of the mediators will be assigned to the work and, over the course of the next few weeks, will contact the parties to begin meeting. A variety of factors, including individual work loads, mediator availability, schedules, the history of a given mediator with the parties, mediator background, and complexity of the case, are considered when the Board makes mediator assignments.
The NMB staff mediators are selected for their experience and knowledge in relations and dispute settlement. NMB mediators typically come from either union or company backgrounds and have extensive labor relations experience in either the rail or airline industries.
The National Mediation Board has the authority to establish where the parties will meet while in mediation, although this normally is agreed upon by both parties and the mediator. The mediator and the two parties typically determine the schedule for mediation sessions, but the NMB also has the authority to determine when the parties will meet, for how long, and when meetings will be recessed.
Q: What is the mediator’s role in our negotiations? The mediator’s goal is to avert a strike by bringing the parties together in an agreement. He or she is trained to bridge gaps between the parties’ positions to facilitate an agreement. The mediator does not have the authority to impose conditions upon the parties or decide issues.
Q: What happens if we are unable to reach an agreement in mediation? Another important roll of the mediator is to determine when further mediation is likely to be unproductive. Once the mediator has made a recommendation, it’s up to the National Mediation Board itself (three individuals who are appointed by the President and confirmed by the Senate) to determine how to process the case further. It’s at this point that the Board can decide that further mediation would be pointless, that the parties are at an impasse, and that the parties should be released to self help.
If that determination is made the NMB must make a “Proffer of Binding Arbitration.” Either party may refuse the offer of arbitration. If either party refuses, both parties will enter a 30-day cooling off period followed by a period where both parties are free to engage in self help—employees can strike and management can impose terms and conditions of employment.
More information on this process may be found on the pilots Web site and the Family Awareness Web site; www.alapilots.com and www.alafamilyawareness.com, respectively.
Q: How long will mediation last? There is no set timeframe for NMB mediation. Some cases have lasted weeks, others years. The mediator and the Board have substantial discretion with regards to how long to continue their mediation efforts. Under the Railway Labor Act, the NMB ceases mediation efforts when it concludes that all reasonable efforts to reach a voluntary agreement through mediation have failed.
Your Negotiating Committee has worked hard to achieve much outside of mediation. Since we began direct negotiations in January 2007, we have consistently worked to achieve a contract that meets your goals and one that allows our company to prosper and remain competitive. Our proposals have been reasonable and affordable. Additionally, we have reached tentative agreements on 21 of 31 sections. These facts may help to make the time spent in federal mediation shorter rather than longer. But there is no guarantee or prediction that can be made about how long mediation efforts will continue.
Q: What is likely to happen to the pace of negotiations once we enter mediation? Since negotiations began in January 2007, our negotiators have been meeting with management several times a week, nearly every week. Because the schedule of meetings in mediation is reliant on the mediators’ availability, it is unlikely that we will be meeting with management as frequently as before.
However, as we have said, your negotiators are committed to working to obtain the contract that you have earned and are willing to meet with management, even prior to the involvement of a mediator, if management indicates a change in direction and a willingness to move toward an agreement.
Q: Is the status quo in effect during Mediation? The status quo remains in effect throughout mediation just as it has since our amendable date more than a year ago. Frustrations with senior management are likely to rise during this time as are tensions while at work. The safety net provided by following the three rules for surviving the status quo are more important now than ever: (1) Do your job, and allow others to do theirs; (2) Be polite; and (3) Fly safe and fly the Contract.
Q: What can I do to continue supporting my negotiators and our negotiations? Aside from attending rallies and pickets, there are a number of important things you can do to support our negotiations. Follow the rules of the status quo: Do your job, and allow others to do theirs; Be polite; and Fly safe and fly the Contract.
More specifically, be polite to your fellow Alaska Airlines employees and allow them to do their jobs. We are negotiating with management, and management’s attitudes are the reason that we do not yet have the contract we have earned. Our fellow employees are just trying to do their job. We are trying to do ours.
Additionally, beware to avoid conflict that could give management an excuse to discipline you. This could not only produce personal challenges for you, but also diverts the Association’s resources, as many of the same individuals who will need to protect your interests personally are the ones who are working at the negotiating table to obtain our next contract.
You should reacquaint yourself with every provision of your contract, as we cannot improve upon our current contractual rights if we are unwilling to make management live up to the promises they already have made. We will continue to send out Contract Alerts, and our newly introduced ATC & Violations Alerts. Make sure you are familiar with the protections of your contract and the requirements and regulations you face as an airline pilot at Alaska Airlines so you can stay safe & fly the contract.
Q: What considerations should my family be discussing? Your MEC and Negotiating Committee’s goal remains unchanged: to reach agreement on a new contract that meets your goals, not to strike. However, should management behave in mediation in the same manner they have so far in direct negotiations, they may force us to strike to achieve the contract we have already earned.
You and your family should continue preparing for the financial hardship of a strike. We will work tirelessly to reach an agreement that meets your needs but we will not bring a contract to you for ratification that diminishes the four cornerstones.
In the coming months, we will continue to build our Family Awareness program in an effort to connect family members with one another and to share information with families directly from the Union.
FRom The National Mediation Board
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