(C) Common Dreams
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Federal labor mediation agency cuts staff down to ‘skeleton crew’ [1]
['Jory Heckman']
Date: 2025-03-26 18:45:19+00:00
The Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service will cut its workforce from about 220 employees down to a dozen.
The Trump administration is cutting almost the entire workforce at a small, independent agency that handles collective bargaining disputes in the private sector and across the federal workforce.
The Federal Mediation & Conciliation Service is terminating most of its employees and services by the end of the day Wednesday, according to four employees who spoke to Federal News Network.
President Donald Trump signed an executive order earlier this month eliminating FMCS “to the maximum extent consistent with applicable law,” along with six other small agencies and programs.
Senior Executive Service officials at FMCS told regional managers about the terminations in a call Wednesday morning. Most managers then notified their employees in another call later that morning.
FMCS had about 220 total employees at the end of last year, according to its most recent budget request.
The agency saves half a billion dollars a year by preventing, minimizing and resolving work stoppages and labor disputes in the private sector and across the federal workforce.
Employees said only a “skeleton crew” of about a dozen employees will remain at FMCS.
“There will be a small D.C. headquarters team to continue what the administration considers to be the statutorily mandated services,” one employee said.
Congress created FMCS when it passed the 1947 Labor-Management Relations Act. The agency handles labor issues in both the federal workforce and in the private sector.
In fiscal 2024, the agency conducted over 5,400 mediated negotiations and provided more than 10,000 arbitration panels to settle labor disputes.
“Nearly all of the services we’ve provided — mediation for collective bargaining, grievances, employment disputes, EEOC complaints, and trainings with both unions and management to promote labor peace — are no longer going to be provided,” another employee said.
The agency wrote in a statement that its $55 million annual budget is less than 0.0014% of the federal budget and it saves the American economy well over $500 million each year.
Another small agency targeted by Trump’s executive order, the Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), is expected to soon lose more than half its 75-employee workforce, and will be reduced to only core statutory functions.
IMLS is the primary source of federal support for U.S. libraries and museums. The agency supports them through grants, research and policy development. As of fiscal 2024, it had an annual budget of nearly $295 million.
An IMLS employee told Federal News Network last week that the agency could be cut down to 30 people, and that some remaining staff may be moving to the Labor Department.
Deputy Labor Secretary Keith Sonderling was sworn in as the acting IMLS director last week, after Trump designated him to serve in the role.
Among its services, IMLS issues library grants to each state and territory, based on population.
Those grants go toward a variety of state and local services — including workforce development, digital literacy, after-school programs for children, and field trips for students to visit museums and historical sites. The employee said IMLS is also a major source of funding for internet connectivity programs in rural areas.
If you would like to contact this reporter about recent changes happening in the federal government, please email
[email protected] or reach out on Signal at: JHeckman.29
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[1] Url:
https://federalnewsnetwork.com/workforce/2025/03/federal-labor-mediation-agency-cuts-staff-down-to-skeleton-crew/
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