At the request of the Association for Conflict Resolution’s Workplace Section, on Monday, August 26, 2013, I presented a teleseminar on my fifteen years of mediating EEO cases for the U.S. Postal Service as a part of the REDRESS program. Those who called in and joined the group heard me speak about the variety of cases I have mediated (with some specific examples, though maintaining confidentiality), the use of EEO filings as a remedy for workplace and various personnel issues, the juxtaposition of EEO filings and union grievances, the endemic management-worker-union conflict, the role of unions and union representatives in mediation, the failed REDRESS II mediation experiment and other topics inspired by questions from the audience.
As a conflict resolution professional who also does Group Facilitation, I have a somewhat more varied background than many of the U.S. Postal Service mediators in the Colorado-Wyoming District, and thus have had a wider variety of cases assigned to me than most of the mediators in the District.
The teleseminar is an hour in length, and I hope you take the time to listen to it. I think you may find my observations valuable, whether or not you do EEO or other types of workplace conflict resolution.
You can listen to the teleseminar below: