MUSK & TRUMP'S DOGE CANCEL MEDIATION PROGRAM

Following the creation of the Department of Labor, Congress approved the creation of the U. S. Conciliation Service in 1917, which was renamed the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service in 1947, the oldest continuing mediation institution in the country. From its creation, the FMCS has provided mediators when requested by labor and management. In many ways, FMCS set the standard for mediation in America.

In fiscal 2024, the agency’s 54 million dollar budget paid the salaries of about 220 employees who conducted over 5,400 mediations and more than 10,000 arbitration panels to settle labor disputes. Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, has placed all but about a dozen of FMCS employees on administrative leave with firings to follow saving an estimated 0.0014 percent of the federal budget.

About a dozen major unions have filed lawsuits to reverse Trump’s actions arguing that the agency saved the country’s economy some $500 million annually. Some major employers and trade organizations have also petitioned Trump to reverse the decision.

DOGE has responded that the remaining dozen or so mediators will handle only labor disputes involving more than 1,000 employees nationwide.