The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) has begun to significantly curtail services as the agency moves to implement a March 14 Executive Order, Continuing the Reduction of the Federal Bureaucracy, that directs FMCS and other agencies to “reduce the performance of statutory functions and associated personnel to a minimum presence and function required by law.” In response to this Executive Order, FMCS anticipated implementing the agency’s contingency plan, issued in December 2020 in preparation for the potential of a budget-based disruption of agency operations.
As a result, and as noted in a statement FMCS released on March 19th, the agency announced it would examine how to apply the Executive Order in practice moving forward, specifically by ensuring “a coordinated approach to efficiency, optimization, and mission focus.” Among the immediate effects is that, on March 26, most, if not all of FMCS mediators were placed on administrative leave pending layoff, according to multiple news sources.
Blog Editors
Recent Updates
- Update: The NLRB Has Lost Its Quorum – DC Circuit Stays District Court’s Reinstatement of Board Member Gwynne Wilcox – and a New General Counsel Has Been Nominated
- FMCS Services Curtailed Pursuant to Executive Order
- Major Changes at the NLRB: A New Acting General Counsel, the Rescission of Biden-Era General Counsel Memoranda, and the Disappearing-Reappearing Quorum
- President’s Termination of NLRB General Counsel and Member - What Does This Mean?
- NLRB Finds Lawful Employer Statements to Employees Are Unlawful Going Forward