About Mediation

Mediation is distinctly different from arbitration. An arbitrator's role is to consider each party's evidence and arguments and then issue a final and binding decision. Usually there is a winner and a loser; rarely are both parties satisfied with the outcome. A mediator's role, in contrast, is to help adversaries find common ground; the two parties to a successfully mediated dispute will usually both consider the outcome satisfactory, even if different from what either one was trying for at the outset. A mediator's strategy is to examine every aspect of the dispute with the aim of finding and proposing possible solutions. The mediator's tactic is not only to participate in discussions between the two parties but also to meet with each party separately and shuttle back and forth with suggestions and proposals, looking for and articulating possible points of mutual interest and tradeoffs that can be made without compromising either side's core interests (Grievance Mediation Articles).

MREP provides two different types of mediation. In collective bargaining mediation, the mediator, using the techniques described above, assists the company and the union to negotiate a collective bargaining contract. In grievance mediation, the mediator assists the parties to resolve a dispute about the interpretation or application of a collective bargaining agreement to a particular situation.

Because the typical collective bargaining agreement provides for the arbitration (see above) of unresolved contract disputes, and because arbitration is vastly more expensive then mediation (see Mediation Costs & Results), the grievance mediator, in an effort to spare the parties the costs of arbitration, will provide them with an on-the-spot prediction (sometimes referred to as an "advisory opinion") as to how the grievance is likely to be resolved if it does go to arbitration.

If the parties do not accept the mediator's prediction, they are free to arbitrate. If they do, the mediator will not serve as arbitrator, and nothing said at mediation, including the mediator's prediction, can be used at arbitration.

It is rare that a company or a union will resort to arbitration after having gone to mediation. Most grievances are finally resolved without resort to arbitration. (See Mediation Costs & Results) In those cases that do go from mediation to arbitration, the mediator's prediction of the likely outcome of arbitration is accurate in three out of four cases.