Former AFGE Deputy General Counsel Appointed Chair of Federal Service Impasses Panel

Washington, D.C., Sept. 15, 2009 - President Barack Obama on Sept.14 appointed the seven members of the Federal Service Impasses Panel (FSIP) whose job is to resolve negotiation impasses over conditions of employment between federal agencies and unions representing federal employees. AFGE worked closely with the White House to ensure that the new panel would be comprised of individuals who are familiar with and support collective bargaining in the federal sector.

Mary Jacksteit, former AFGE deputy general counsel and member of the FSIP during the Clinton administration, was appointed the FSIP chair. Jacksteit has been associated with the Public Conversations Project in Watertown, Mass., and has maintained a private practice focused on community, public policy, organizational planning, and conflict management.

"Having worked with Mary Jacksteit for many years, I can attest to the fact that President Obama could not have made a better pick," said AFGE General Counsel Mark Roth. "She brings total integrity, skill, and fairness to the Chair position. Together, the new FSIP will restore fitness, credibility, and integrity."  

Other panel members are:

• Martin Malin, a law professor and the director of the Institute for Law and the Workplace at Chicago-Kent College of Law, Illinois Institute of Technology. He also serves on the executive committee of The Labor Law Group and is a past chair of the Association of American Law Schools Section on Labor Relations and Employment Law.
• Barbara Franklin, a mediator for the U.S. Court of Appeals and District Court for the District of Columbia. Since 1999, she has served as a public member of the D.C. Police and Firefighters Retirement Board, a position appointed by the D.C. mayor.
• Marvin Johnson, a former FSIP member and nationally recognized mediator and arbitrator of public and private disputes. He served 16 years as assistant and associate professor of Labor Relations, Business Law and Conflict Management at Bowie State University where he found the Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution.
• Thomas Angelo, a former attorney with the Labor Department and regional attorney for the San Francisco Region of the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA). He serves as a panel arbitrator for many private and public sector parties.
• Edward Hartfield, a former FSIP member and executive director of the National Center for Dispute Settlement. He has devoted his entire 36-year career to serving as an impartial party as mediator, arbitrator, facilitator, election administrator, trainer, neutral convener, and ombudsman. Hartfield has served as commissioner with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service and state mediator for the New Jersey Office of Dispute Settlement.
• Don Wasserman, a former member and chair of the FLRA during the Clinton administration. Prior to his appointment to the FLRA, he held various top positions at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees where he served as director of the Department of Collective Bargaining and assistant to the president. He's a member of the D.C. Public Employee Relations Board and the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority Employee Relations Council.