Mediation Series, 0241

Individual Occupational Requirements

Experience Requirements

All positions covered by this standard require 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level in the normal line of progression. Applicants for GS-11 positions must have had 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the GS-9 level. Applicants for positions at GS-12 and above must have had 1 year of specialized experience equivalent to at least the next lower grade level.

Specialized Experience (for all positions): Experience in negotiating or interpreting labor agreements covering a large number of employees or a number of different crafts or classes, on such matters as wages, hours of work, and working conditions; or in mediating between, or negotiating with, management and employee representatives in the application of labor agreements. Such experience must have demonstrated all of the following:

• Knowledge of the background history of industrialization and the labor movement.
• Knowledge of economic, industrial, and labor trends, of current developments and problems in the field of labor-management relations, and of changes and trends in union agreements.
• Knowledge of collective-bargaining principles, practices, and procedures.
• Knowledge of the general structure, functions, policies, and practices of management and labor organizations.
• Knowledge of applicable laws governing collective bargaining, wages, hours, etc.
• Ability to deal effectively with people in tense situations.
• Ability to preside at meetings or conferences with dignity, poise, and impartiality.
• Ability to confer effectively with representatives of labor and management in order to obtain a clear understanding of their views on varied and difficult problems.
• Ability to analyze the issues in a dispute and evaluate their relative importance and susceptibility to compromise.
• Ability to formulate concrete and practical suggestions for alternative solution, compromise, and settlement.
• Ability to write clearly and concisely.

Examples of qualifying specialized experience include:

• Work as a representative of a national labor organization or of management.
• Federal or State government or other work that involved dealing with labor relations problems and collective-bargaining agreements or that involved interpretation or application of labor laws, regulations, etc.

Applicants for GS-11 positions must have participated in the negotiation or mediation of labor agreements involving moderately difficult matters, or assisted in the resolution of complex issues in this field.

In addition to meeting the requirements described above, applicants for positions at GS-12 and above must have:

• Knowledge of the Railway Labor Act, as amended, and the history of railroad and airline legislation and the background of working agreements in these industries.
• Knowledge of current railroad and airline operations and practices, and of current railroad and airline occupations and crafts or classes, and understanding of the problems arising in the interpretation and application of railroad and airline agreements.

Applicants for positions at grades GS-12 and above must have had experience that included such activities as: (1) investigating representation disputes and conducting elections to choose collective-bargaining representatives, or (2) the mediation of increases in pay rates, or (3) the mediation of changes in rules or labor agreements. To be creditable as specialized experience, the work must have demonstrated active involvement in labor-management negotiations.

Interview

Eligible candidates will be required to appear for an interview for the purpose of evaluating their interpersonal skills, leadership qualities in group situations, and logical and objective reasoning.

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