At the end of March, Isael Hermosillo received a sinister message from his supervisor around 7 AM ordering him to cancel all his scheduled meetings that day.
HERMOSILLO RUSHED TO NOTIFY SUVERAL LOCALS OF THE UNITED FOOD AND COMMERCIAL WORORKERS UNION AS WELL AS ATTORNEYS FOR ALBERSONS AND KROGER THAT WOULD NOT BE AABLE TO ATTEND A SESSION IN BUENA PARK LATER THAT MORNING – THE THIRD CONSECUTIVE MEOTING SET WE for labn that week for labn that week for labn that week for labn that week for labn that week for labn that week for labn that week for labn that week for labn that week for work that week is that week that arennnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn chains and unions of groceries representing their workers.
Two hours later, Hermosillo found himself in a videoconference in which he was informed by his supervisor that would be presented with a paid administrative license of one month, and that work would be completed.
Hermosillo is among the 130 federal mediators that were fired on March 26 after the Trump administration cost reduction team, called the Government Efficiency Department (Dux), cash closed a 79 -year -old federal agency that mediated labor disputes.
The terminations in the agency, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, have promoted concern between unions and employers who will intervene to help relieve labor conflicts in southern California and beyond.
Relatively small and dark thought, the agency plays a vital role in helping to solve disputes to avoid work disturbances that can interrupt the free trade flow, according to the old mediators and federal experts.
Kisses negotiating negotiations for private employers, mediators handle workers’ complaints; Train work management committees; Designate referees if a dispute cannot be resolved; and help with impasses in the federal sector. These services are sacrificed little or no cost.
“We are the ones who come in silence when people have contractual problems or negotiations do not work and we are falling separately,” said Hermosillo. “We enter and help, and then we go to the next group that may need help. I think it is a lot of why the American people do not know who we are and what we do.”
Hermosillo works at the Los Angeles Agencies office in Glendale, attended by five mediators and a supervisor.
Your termination Employers and unions captured by surprise, next week after the labor contracts that cover some 5,000 workers of edible unionized in California had expired, and threw a key in the negotiations, said Kathy Finn, president of Local UFCW 770.
Finn said that because Hermosillo has worked in negotiations for many years, in multiple cycles since around 2017, both parties trust him and he was very early in the process, which has helped avoid strikes.
“We always make difficult negotiations with the thesis companies … We have Goths very close to going to strike many times, ending or reaching a deal minutes or hours before a deadline, or later,” said Finn. “The help Isael has provided has been very valuable.”
Local UFCW 770 is among the seven stores representing the workers of San Diego to Santa Barbara in labor conversations with AlbertsonsOwner of the parents of the chains of Vans and Pavililons, and Kroger, owner of Ralphs.
Finn said mediators like Hermosillo are highly effective. Without them, negotiations can decompose in the signaling of the fingers instead of becoming productive sessions focused on the substance of a contract, said Finn.
Neither Kroger nor Albertsons returned requests for comments.
Dooge and the United States Management and Budget Office also did not respond to comments requests.
Last week, UFCW joined the union boxes in the unions in Bring a demand Against the Trump administration to reverse the closure of the Federal Agency. The lawsuit, presented in a federal court in the South District of New York, argues that the dismantling of the Trump administration of the mediation service is in a “clear challenge” of the constitutional powers of the Congress to create and dissolve such agencies.
In fiscal year 2024, the agency, which has a budget of $ 54 million, used about 143 full -time mediators that made more than 5,400 mediated negotiations and provide about 10,000 arbitration panels. And recently estimates show that mediators’ services save more than $ 500 million annually, according to the demand. The demand quotes data from the website of the agency that have been scrubbed in recent weeks.
Only five mediators and some support workers remain in the agency after the cuts, according to the demand.
Some important employers and commercial associations have been requesting the Trump administration to reverse the decision, said Martin H. Malin, Professor Emeritus at the Chicago-Kent Law Faculty and a mediator that served in the federal service impose the duration of the panel and the BIDES administrations.
“No one will talk about this publicly,” said Malin. “You can see this mind triggered mentality in the White House. Everyone is afraid.”
Dege has said that the agency will limit its services to labor disputes involving more than 1,000 employees. But Malin said even those restrictions, the workload will be too much for removal mediators.
“It is impossible for four mediators to cover the entire country,” said Malin. “The situation is quite serious.”
Tina Littleton, another federal mediator at the Glendale office who had worked at the agency for 15 years, was surprised by the decision.
“I feel that this was done correctly or properly?” Littleton asked. “My answer is no.”
Littleton recently facilitated negotiations between 200 workers and its employer, which manufactures plastic bags used to dispense IV infusions in medical facilities.
“We don’t care if it’s big or small, they still have some role they play to make sure interstate trade continues,” Littleton said.
Martha Figueroa, a field representative who helps the Federation of Business Contracts of the Federation of Teachers of California, said that it was often based on a federal mediator in the discussions with Head Start, the directed cuts without profit of children’s development. She worries about having to resort to private mediators, which are “very, very expenses.”
“When you have a private mediator, it is very stressful for both parties,” said Figueroa. “The more you are at the table, the more they are paid. And that is not the case when you have a public mediator.”
Instead of saving money, dismantling the agency will create more inefficiencies, said William Resh, associate professor of public policies and management with the Sol Price Public Public Policies School of the USC.
“What you have without mediation are disputes that will be longer, more controversial,” said Resh. “These are highly professional people with a lot of experience in negotiation and conflict negotiation.”
California and several other states are exploring how they could fill the void.
The California Public Employment Relations Board, which supervises disputes between state workers and their employers, also has the authority to sacrifice mediation services to private employers, but does not, said Lorena Gonzae. Labor groups have been promoting state legislators in budget conversations to increase the Board budget by several million dollars, he said.
“In the long run, the State benefits. We do not want people to strike. Sometimes, it is necessary, but for the most part, if mediation can help obtain a good resolution, we prefer that,” Gonzalez said.
