The Trump administration's short-sighted attacks on the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

Introduction

The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) is a small, independent agency whose mission is to support businesses and workers in resolving workplace disputes and building positive labor-management relationships. FMCS has no authority to adjudicate disputes or issue regulations. Outside of the health care industry, it cannot require any business, worker, or union to participate in mediation or take any particular action. Rather, FMCS uses its expertise and experience to help parties find mutually agreeable solutions to workplace disputes. Through its work, FMCS has helped resolve thousands of workplace disputes and saved the U.S. economy hundreds of millions of dollars annually (FMCS 2025a).

In spite of this, the Trump administration has targeted this agency for elimination. Trump first attempted to shut down the agency by laying off almost all of its employees, but he was stopped by two lawsuits and two federal court injunctions. Trump’s proposed fiscal year (FY) 2026 budget included only $7.4 million for FMCS to use in shutting down the agency. In a series of continuing resolutions, Congress has rejected the Trump administration’s proposal and has continued to fund FMCS at close to its FY 2025 levels.

This report describes FMCS’s work and its importance to our national policy of supporting collective bargaining. It goes on to detail the Trump administration’s attacks on the agency and efforts to resist these attacks. The report concludes with recommendations for rebuilding and maintaining a quality, effective FMCS—recommendations that can also be implemented by states that have their own mediation agencies.

What is FMCS?

FMCS is a small, independent federal agency established by Congress to assist companies, workers, and their unions in building productive labor-management relationships and preventing costly and disruptive workplace disputes. Unlike most federal agencies, FMCS has no regulatory power and cannot force any company, worker, or union to agree to any term or participate in mediation (outside of the health care industry). It is a service agency that provides support to parties in the collective bargaining process and other aspects of labor-management relations.

https://www.epi.org/publication/the-trump-administrations-short-sighted-attacks-on-the-federal-mediation-and-conciliation-service/