Exploring the Role of Representation in Employment Mediation at the USPS

Abstract

This study uses participant exit surveys in a national mediation program for mediation of employment discrimination complaints at the United States Postal Service to compare the role that different categories of representatives (lawyers, union representatives, co-workers, other, or no representation) play in perceptions of procedural justice, settlement rates, and duration of mediation. We conclude that representation makes a valuable contribution to the mediation process, and that union representation specifically can play a constructive role in an employment mediation program outside the collective bargaining context. We also conclude that there is evidence that union representatives, lawyers, complainant representatives, and respondent representatives play different roles in the mediation process, and that these differences are consistent with what principal-agency theory would predict.

Keywords: conflict resolution, employment, mediation, unions, discrimination

JEL Classification: D74, J52