Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service

 Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service

* http://www.fmcs.gov/internet/

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National Office (regional offices below):

Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
-2100 K Street, NW; Washington, DC 20427 Phone: (202) 606-8100 | Fax: (202) 606-4251

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“Our History”: http://www.fmcs.gov/internet/itemDetail.asp?categoryID=21&itemID=15810

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“What We Do”: http://www.fmcs.gov/internet/categoryList.asp?categoryID=12

-Advancing the Nation’s Welfare through Effective Settlements, Improved Labor-Management Relations and Conflict Resolution

-Dispute mediation – and other conflict resolution services – are the tools and techniques used by FMCS to promote collective bargaining, strengthen labor-management relations, and enhance organizational effectiveness, etc.

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Agency Departments

-The FMCS Organization – Functionally Focused, Nationally Networked

-Although headquartered in Washington, DC, the public functions of FMCS are delivered through a network of regional and field offices in order to be close to its customers.

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Office of the Director

The Office of the Director is responsible for overseeing policy development, agency administration, and serving as liaison to the White House, Congress and the labor relations community.

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George H. Cohen - Director

George H. Cohen serves as the 17th Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.

* Confirmed by the unanimous consent of the U.S. Senate on October 5, 2009, George H. Cohen was sworn in as Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service on October 8, 2009. He was nominated by President Barack Obama on July 6, 2009.

Director Cohen has had an extensive and distinguished career as a labor lawyer, negotiator, and mediator. During the period 1966-2005 he was a senior partner at Bredhoff & Kaiser, a Washington, D.C. law firm with a national practice, specializing in representing private and public sector labor organizations in collective bargaining involving a wide variety of industries and government entities. Prior to entering into private practice, the Director served as an appellate court attorney with the National Labor Relations Board. He is a graduate of Cornell University and its Law School and earned a LLM degree from Georgetown Law. In the past three years he has been engaged in a solo practice as a mediator. He is a member of the prestigious Mediation Panel of the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and has successfully mediated numerous, complex, high-profile disputes. From the mid-1970s through 2005, the Director was an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown Law School where he taught the Art of Collective Bargaining and other labor courses.

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Scot L. Beckenbaugh - Deputy Director

 Scot L. Beckenbaugh serves as Deputy Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service for Mediation Services and Field Programs. 

* Scot L. Beckenbaugh serves as Deputy Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service for Mediation Services and Field Programs.  

Born in Libertyville, Illinois,  Scot Beckenbaugh has been with the FMCS since 1988. During his tenure with FMCS, he was named as  Western Regional Director in January, 2004, having served as Regional Director for the Upper Midwest Region since 1997. He was the Director of Mediation Services for the Upper Midwest for two years and, before that, he was a field mediator stationed in Des Moines, Iowa. In addition to providing the full range of FMCS services to the labor management community in Iowa, he served as the Minneapolis District Alternative Dispute Resolution Coordinator.

From January 1, 2005 until January 3, 2006, and from January 21, 2009 until October 8, 2009 he served as Acting Director of the Agency. 

Mr. Beckenbaugh has mediated national master agreements in the cereal, heavy equipment manufacturing, aluminum and meatpacking industries. He has extensive experience in public sector dispute mediation, as well as regulatory negotiations, public policy, land use and civil rights disputes. A long-time member of the Association of Labor Relations Agencies, he has served on the ALRA Board.

From 1986 to 1988, Mr. Beckenbaugh was a Member of the Iowa Public Employment Relations Board (PERB). Prior to his appointment to the Board, he was an Administrative Law Judge and Director of Mediation Services for PERB. He also had a private arbitration practice and was listed with FMCS. He has served on the Twin Cities Labor Management Committee and has taught at the high school, junior college and university level. He was a bill drafter and research analyst for the Iowa Legislature.

Mr. Beckenbaugh holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Northern Iowa and an M.A. in Public Administration with an emphasis in Industrial Relations from the University of Iowa.

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Allison Beck - Deputy Director

 Allison Beck serves as Deputy Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service for National and International Programs.

* Allison Beck was named Deputy Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service for National and International Programs, effective March 2, 2010.

Ms. Beck has had an extensive career in the field of labor-management relations.  Most recently, from 1989 to 2009, she served as General Counsel of the International Machinists and Aerospace Workers, AFL-CIO after serving as Associate General Counsel from 1980 to 1989.  In those positions, she helped develop bargaining initiatives and assisted in negotiations with major employers; she became well-versed in all aspects of labor and employment law and litigated cases in federal courts and before government labor agencies.  In addition, she assisted in overseeing the administration of the IAM, developed budget and strategic plans and supervised the work of the IAM legal staff and its dozens of outside counsel. 

Prior to joining the IAM, Ms. Beck served as an appellate court attorney at the National Labor Relations Board and a legislative aide on employment issues to Senator Alan Cranston (D-CA) and the Senate Committee on Labor and Public Welfare’s Special Subcommittee on Human Resources.  Ms. Beck graduated with honors from Goucher College and the Columbus School of Law at Catholic University.  She has been a frequent speaker and trainer at American Bar Association meetings, labor conferences and other programs. 

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Office of the Director
Setting a Strategic Direction – FMCS Leadership

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Bonnie Chernikoff is the Executive Assistant to the Director.

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Fran Leonard is the Chief Financial Officer at FMCS. The CFO reports to the Director and serves as the chief administrative officer.

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Dawn E. Starr is the Agency’s General Counsel. She carries out all legal activities of the FMCS; ensures full and proper implementation of the Agency’s statutory responsibilities; provides legal counsel to the Director, the Deputy Director, and other officials of FMCS.

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John Arnold serves as the Director of Public Affairs. The Director of Public Affairs acts as the agency spokesperson and oversees FMCS communications to the news media and to key public and governmental organizations.

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Office of General Counsel
Dawn E. Starr is the General Counsel of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.

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Director of Public Affairs John Arnold

* John Arnold has served as the agency’s Director of Public Affairs since August 2003. In that capacity, he acts as agency spokesperson and oversees FMCS communications to the news media and to key public and governmental organizations.

Arnold previously served as Associate Vice President, E-Communications, for the Advanced Medical Technology Association, where he was responsible for member communications for the largest medical technology trade association in the world. Prior to joining the trade association, he was a principal in the communications firm of Arnold & Genero, based in Alexandria, Virginia.

From 1988 to early 1993, he was Administrative Assistant (chief of staff) and Press Secretary for U.S. Representative Matthew Rinaldo (NJ). He supervised both Washington and district office staffs and served as spokesperson for the congressman on a variety of major issues. From 1974 until 1988, he was a newspaper journalist. His work for the Miami Herald (Miami, Florida) was recognized with a number of professional awards.

At Ohio State University, he received a B.A. degree from the school of journalism in 1970 and was recognized as a distinguished graduating senior. He did graduate study in European history at the University of Michigan, and in 1973, he was awarded a fellowship in public affairs reporting at Ohio State. He received an MA degree in journalism from Ohio State in 1974.  

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Arbitration and NPU

Vella Traynham – Director of Arbitration

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Budget and Finance

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Education and Training

Glen Mazur – Director

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Office of Equal Employment Opportunity

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FMCS Institute

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General Counsel

Dawn E. Starr – General Counsel

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Human Resources

Dan Ellerman – Director

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Information Technology and Administrative Services

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International/Dispute Resolution Services (ADR)

Michael Stein – Director

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Labor-Management Grants

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Public Affairs

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Regional Offices