Tagged: Mediation

Pretty much everything on this news site pertains to the topic of mediation!

July 21, 2012

Stockton Mediation: Before Bankruptcy

The city of Stockton pursued mediation sessions with union leaders and its creditors for more than 200 hours.

Author: Stephen Alexander – With more than 210 hours of mediation under its belt, the city of Stockton finally made the decision to head to bankruptcy last month. The talks with its unions produced some fruit as the city negotiated six agreements with nine of its unions.

The time spent in sessions with union leaders last nine full days with two additional five hour meetings. The new law from the California legislature mandates mediation before filing bankruptcy.

On Friday, the city of Stockton released several hundred pages of documents pertaining to the AB506 mediation process that happened before the city filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection on June 28, 2012. The documents showed that the process consisted of forty-seven meetings and four conference calls.

The documents showed that Stockton had most of its discussions with the labor groups and retirees. The city failed to reached tentative agreements with two of its fire unions and the Stockton Police Officers Association. However, those mediation sessions had numerous offers and counteroffers.

The six unions that reached agreements during the process will have their contracts ratified by the City Council on Tuesday, the 24th of July

Though the city has not reached tentative agreements with two of its fire unions or with the Stockton Police Officers Association, in all of those cases numerous offers and counteroffers were exchanged, the documents reveal. The tentative agreements that were reached with six of the unions are expected to be ratified by the City Council at its meeting Tuesday night.

The Association of Retired Employees of the City of Stockton also negotiated in good faith, as the group made two counteroffers to the city’s proposal. However, no agreement was finalized.

Some of the creditors of Stockton, such as Assured Guaranty, National Public Finance Guarantee Corp., Wells Fargo and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, declined to make any counter-proposals to the city’s offers.

However, two other creditors, Franklin Advisers and plaintiffs from a lawsuit against Stockton, participated in good faith and made counter-proposals during the mediation.

July 19, 2012

Mediation Bypassed for San Bernardino

With mediation bypassed, San Bernardino’s next stop is Chapter 9 bankruptcy in 30 days.

Author: Stephen Alexander – Declaring a fiscal emergency, the City Council of San Bernardino moves to bypass a 60-day mediation period with its creditors in order to file a planned bankruptcy. The mediation is mandated by California law.

The council followed the emergency declaration with a 5-2 vote to seek Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection. According to a statement by interim city manager Andrea Travis Miller, “the City of San Bernardino will move forward with its plan to file Chapter 9 bankruptcy protection in approximately 30 days.” The city will continue to negotiate with its creditors prior to the Chapter 9 filing, according to the city manager.

Recently, the interim city manager and Finance Director Jason Simpson released a report saying the city was soon to be insolvent. The city’s expenses were projected exceed revenues by $45 million.

In 2001, the general fund of San Bernardino was as high as $19 million. With downtown Los Angeles 60 miles to the west, the city of 211,000 has lost $10 to $16 million in annual revenue in the last few years.

Contracts with city workers that reduced salaries ended July 1, 2012. The increase in salaries and benefits is expected to cost around $10 million. Moreover, costs will rise even higher as merit increases resume. According to the report, pay concessions and a reduced work force of 20% over the past four years, San Bernardino will not have enough cash on hand to meet its obligations.

When it files bankruptcy, San Bernardino will become the third California city to file bankruptcy in this year. In June, the city of Stockton filed for Chapter 9 protection after three months of mediation with its creditors. Stockton’s budget was $26 million short after slashing services and employee compensation over a three year period. With the floodgates open, more cities in California are expected to file for Chapter 9 protection.

July 17, 2012

Mediation – Annan’s Visit Bears Fruit

Kofi Annan’s visit to Iran last week bears fruit as Foreign Minister announces willingness for a mediation in the Syrian crisis.

Author: Stephen Alexander - Kofi Annan traveled to Iran last week to seek help in a resolution of the Syrian crisis. A step in this direction is not one in which the United States was prepared to make. However, Annan’s trip to Iran bears fruit this week as the Iranian Foreign Minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, announced a desire for mediation between the Syrian government and its opposition forces.

Iran’s offer to help in the Syrian crisis has been rejected by the United States and its allies who support the dissident groups in Syria. Kofi Annan has suggested that stumbling blocks are created when foreign nations send weapons, money, and personnel to Syria.

In May 2012, the Washington Post and the US Daily, reported that the Syrian dissidents fighting against the Syrian government have received significantly more and better weapons in recent weeks. The weapons were paid for by Persian Gulf Arab states and arranged by the United States.

Moreover, the newspapers reported that Obama administration officials expanded contacts with the Syrian opposition. Accordingly, the weapons are being stockpiled in Damascus, in Idlib near the Turkish border, and in Zabadani on the Lebanese border.

Recently, Iran was omitted from Kofi Annan’s multinational “action group” meeting on Syria in Geneva in June 2012. At that meeting, the western countries called for a “transitional government.” However, the former United Nations’ chief traveled to Iran last week to seek help from Iran in a resolution of the Syrian crisis.

Contact between the Syrian government and the Syrian opposition with the Islamic Republic of Iran could pave the road for a mediation between the two sides, according to Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi.

The Foreign Minister announced that the Iranian government is ready to facilitate talks between the Syrian Republic’s government and the opposition. He has asked the countries in the region and those interested in making peace, stability and security in the region to come together to settle the Syrian crisis. He wants to find a way to secure the interests of the Syrian people, and the regional and global community.

An invitation for mediation was given by Iran to Syrian dissidents to come to Tehran “to prepare and facilitate the ground for talks” between the two parties. The Foreign Minister said that the Syrian crisis should not need foreign governments involved in the negotiations. He hopes that the Syrian problems can be resolved with cooperation between Iran, the United Nations and other regional states.

July 16, 2012

Family Dollar Stores in Mediation Pact

The mediation pact with the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission will mediate all eligible discrimination cases prior to an investigation or litigation.

Author: Stephen Alexander – Family Dollar Stores, Inc, and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) signed a mediation pact to resolve workplace disputes through Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR). The agreement calls for mediation before an EEOC investigation or potential litigation and covers an estimated 50,000 team members for Family Dollar Stores throughout the United States.

Family Dollar Stores currently does business in more than 7,200 stores in 45 states. It’s a Fortune 300 company, based in North Carolina in the Charlotte area. Family Dollar Stores is a publicly held corporation with common stock traded on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol FDO.

The pact is under the National Universal Agreement to Mediate (NUAM). It covers all eligible charges of discrimination filed with the EEOC when Family Dollar Stores is named as an employer or respondent.

Under NUAM, such cases will be sent to the EEOC’s mediation unit. Family Dollar Stores will assign a corporate representative to deal with all matters related to any potential charges in order to arrange an the mediation.

Bryan Venberg, the Family Dollar Stores’ Senior Vice-President – Human Resources, says that providing workers an “opportunity to be heard” through the EEOC’s mediation program “provides all parties the opportunity for a fair resolution to any workplace charges.”

Thus far, the EEOC has signed pacts with 257 national and regional private sector employers, including several Fortune 500 companies. Expanding the use of mediation is a key focus of the EEOC’s efforts to improve performance.

Moreover, the EEOC has signed pacts with around 1,850 employers at the local level. The success rate for mediation at the EEOC is around 70%. Since 1999, almost 150,000 charges of discrimination have been mediated.

July 4, 2012

Save Mart Enters Mediation With UFCW

Author: Stephen Alexander -The United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) and Save Mart are entering mediation in order to resolve differences before a deadline next Tuesday.

The president of UFCW’s Local 8 in Roseville, Jacques Loveall, posted a message on the union’s website stating that a mediator was agreed to with Save Mart. Moreover, the message said that a deadline of July 10th would attempt to reconcile an audit of Save Mart’s need for financial relief, the structure of labor costs based on the audit, and authorization of union-management bargaining committees to establish agreements to allow the union to “design an overall health and welfare plan.”

Save Mart said that a “strike is not beneficial for our company or our associates, and an agreement must be reached quickly,” according to a statement made on Tuesday. Save Mart hopes that an agreement will be made that provides job security for their workers and more hours and allows Save Mart to “stay competitive in the retail food marketplace.”

Save Mart is owned by Save Mart Supermarkets, which own and operates more than 240 stores under the names of Save Mart, S-Mart Foods, Lucky,and FoodMaxx in Northern California and Southern Nevada.

Recently, workers at Save Mart have been discussing a strike. Workers at UFCW Local 5 in San Jose took a vote to authorize a strike with an approval of 94% of its members. That vote means that union leaders have the power to call a work stoppage.

UFCW is currently engaged with negotiations with Raley’s and Safeway.

July 4, 2012

Ohio AG Adds Public Records Mediation

Author: Stephen Alexander – The Ohio Attorney General established a new mediation policy to reduce lawsuits filed to get public records and make it easier for government officials to handle open record requests.

Mike DeWine, the Attorney General, said in a press release that the “Public Records Mediation Program will protect the rights and interests of both Ohioans and their local officials by helping resolve disputes before parties turn to time consuming and costly litigation.”

The offer of free mediation services through the attorney general’s office provides an alternative resolution to litigation when a public records request is denied by a government agency. The dispute must be with a city, county, township or other state entity and both parties in the dispute must agree to participate in mediation to be eligible for the program.

Mediation requests can be made by filling out a form on the attorney general’s website: www.ohioattorneygeneral.gov.

July 4, 2012

Alabama County Small Claims Mediation

Author: Stephen Alexander – In Alabama’s Marshall County a Small Claims Court mediation is operational. The mediators are seven volunteers from the Marshall County Retired and Senior Volunteer Program.

Their training consists of twenty (20) hours of mediator training. The funding was derived from the State of Alabama Community Service Grants program.

In Alabama, the mediators in Small Claims Court works towards settlement of cases up to $3,000 before the cases proceed to a judge. With a mediator, both parties can resolve their dispute without taking it to court.

The mediation service is open to all parties whether or not they have a lawyer. The process is voluntary and can end before settlement is reached. If a settlement is not reached, then both parties go before a judge.

The mediation service will also help the court system as docket backlogs are reduced and more cases are resolved through mediation.