Government in the Bargaining Process: The Role of Mediation

Three federal agencies engage in mediation ac tivities : the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the National Mediation Board, and the Atomic Energy Labor- Management Relations Panel. Many states and cities also have such agencies. In major disputes or at critical times, however, it is customary for other officials to supplement the efforts of these agencies, and it is not uncommon to enlist the aid of outsiders on an ad hoc basis. Currently, a trend seems to be developing to use collective bargaining as a test of strength rather than as a means of resolving problems. Be cause of the danger that this will spread and produce a public demand that some form of legislative regulation be substituted for free collective bargaining, it is imperative that the most effective use be made of mediation. The prime function of mediation is to induce the parties to employ reason rather than sheer power. Since mediation is and must remain a noncom pulsory activity, mediators must be careful not to lead the parties to suspect that the mediator's personal interest has any bearing on his conduct. The judicial theory that mediation and any form of fact-finding or decision-making must be com pletely divorced should be discarded. This theory has not been followed in practice, and it deprives the mediator of a source of information and strength in his difficult task.