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June
4, 2004
FMCS
ANNOUNCES RESULTS OF THIRD CUSTOMER SURVEY
CHICAGO,
IL -- Labor-management relations across the country have
become increasingly polarized with a greater need for mediation
and conflict resolution services to reduce a heightened
level of tension, according to results of a survey conducted
for the U.S. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
(FMCS).
Results
of the federal agency's third customer survey were presented
here on June 4, 2004, at the FMCS's National Labor-Management
Conference by researchers Thomas Kochan and Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld
of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's (MIT) Engineering
Systems Division and Sloan School of Management.
FMCS
conducted its first customer survey in 1996 and has commissioned
a survey every three years to fulfill the government's requirement
under the Government Performance and Results Act (GPRA).
The survey team, which included the University of Massachusetts
and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, used information
from the FMCS case database and surveyed 1,168 matched pairs
of representatives from labor and management. Union and
management representatives were asked whether or not they
used FMCS services, their assessment of the services they
received, the issues and challenges faced during negotiations,
and the nature of collective bargaining relationships.
The
survey found that there is increased polarization in labor-management
relations and that the collective bargaining environment
has become increasingly adversarial. Less emphasis is placed
on labor-management strategic partnerships, such as joint
task forces, employee involvement in decision-making, or
increased worker involvement in operation decisions to improve
the workplace. Labor and management respondents reported
increasing degrees of contentiousness. FMCS said a heightened
level of labor-management tension means a greater need for
agency services to assist in resolving complex workplace
problems.
Where
FMCS services are utilized, management and labor representatives
report a positive view of the agency. Ninety percent of
management representatives and 92% of labor representatives
have a positive view of FMCS's work in collective bargaining
mediation. About 84% of union respondents and 70% of management
respondents rated the FMCS mediation excellent or very good,
and nearly 100% of union officials and 96% of management
officials would use FMCS mediation services again.
Both
labor and management representatives using FMCS services
had a very high regard for mediators' knowledge and skill.
Ninety-two percent of management respondents and 95% of
union respondents reported that mediators have a high level
of trustworthiness and general expertise. Ninety-five percent
of union respondents and 88% of management respondents believe
that mediators have a good understanding of the issues at
the bargaining table. Ninety- two percent of management
officials and 88% of union officials have a high regard
for FMCS mediation skills.
The
survey also asked respondents about mediators' processes
and substantive knowledge that they bring to the bargaining
table. Around 75% of management and union representatives
believed that mediators make a "big" or "very
big" effort to help the parties identify underlying
obstacles to reaching agreement. Around 70% of both parties
also believe that mediators make a "big" or "very
big" effort in helping the parties face reality. Fifty
percent of management respondents and 60% of union respondents
perceive that mediators make a big or very big effort in
proposing substantive suggestions to reaching an agreement.
Respondents
in the public and private sectors were asked about the likelihood
of a strike, lockout or arbitration without mediation efforts.
Fifty percent of private sector union and management respondents
reported that a strike, lockout or arbitration was likely
if there were no mediation at all. In the public sector,
52% of management respondents and 62% of union respondents
reported that a strike, lockout or arbitration was likely
without mediation.
FMCS
provides arbitration services, grievance mediation and relationship-development
training, in addition to collective bargaining mediation.
With respect to FMCS arbitration services, 65% percent of
management and 88% of union respondents ranked arbitration
panelists as excellent, very good or good, and more than
90% of both sides reported receiving panel names in a reasonable
period of time. Eighty-eight percent of management and 90%
of union respondents rated grievance mediation services
as excellent, very good or good. As for the agency's relationship
development and training programs, more than 95% of both
labor and management ranked FMCS services as excellent,
very good or good.
In
his remarks at the 12th National Labor-Management Conference,
FMCS Director Peter Hurtgen challenged labor-management
practitioners to review the results of the survey and consider
their roles in the collective bargaining process. With a
clear pattern of increased polarization in labor relations,
Hurtgen told conferees that labor-management cooperation
and collaboration are more valuable than ever. "In
tough times, it is easier for both sides to succumb to a
"lose-lose" adversarial strategy," the FMCS
Director said. "The best strategies in times such as
these are not so much winning strategies as those that avoid
losing." He told attendees that, with increasing tension,
both labor and management must look for ways to work together
to achieve high-producing, quality workplaces.
The
MIT survey team will continue to run correlative tests with
the data and will roll out results of the survey to union
and management representatives at various locations throughout
the country. Roundtable discussions also will be conducted
to secure labor's and management's perspective on the survey
results.
The
U.S. Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, created
in 1947, is an independent U.S. government agency whose
mission is to preserve and promote labor-management peace
and cooperation. Headquartered in Washington, DC, with 10
district offices and more than 70 field offices, the agency
provides mediation and conflict resolution services to industry,
government agencies and communities.
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