FLRA NEWS
FEDERAL LABOR RELATIONS AUTHORITY · WASHINGTON, DC · 20424
December 15, 1997 · PR 119-97
Contact: Kim Weaver
202-482-6500
FLRA APPOINTS NEW DIRECTOR OF
COLLABORATION AND ALTERNATIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION OFFICE
Phyllis Segal, Chair of the FLRA, Joe Swerdzewski, FLRA General Counsel, and Betty Bolden, Chair of the Federal Services Impasses Panel, announce the appointment of Fern Feil to be the Director of the Collaboration and Alternative Dispute Resolution (CADR) Office and Program.
The Authority, the Office of the General Counsel, and the Federal Service Impasses Panel established this cross-component program in January of 1996. The program offers collaboration and alternative dispute resolution services in pending unfair labor practice, representation, negotiability, and bargaining impasse disputes at every step -- from investigation and prosecution to the adjudication of cases and resolution of bargaining impasses. The CADR program provides partnership facilitation and training activities to assist labor and management in developing constructive approaches to conducting their relationship. The CADR Office has responsibility for coordinating, supporting and expanding the unified alternative dispute resolution (ADR) program.
Ms. Feil brings to the FLRA her expertise in the use of ADR tools and techniques, as well as her teaching ability and her experience in public speaking. Ms. Feil most recently served as Deputy Director of Mediation Services at the Department of Health and Human Services, where she directed the Federal Sharing Neutrals Program, designed and provided ADR training, facilitated labor-management interest based negotiations and other group interactions, and mediated disputes (most involving workplace conflicts). Through the Sharing Neutrals Program, more than 90 mediators from 25 different federal agencies, mediate disputes throughout the government.
Ms. Feil's previous work experience at HHS includes serving as Chief Negotiator and attorney advisor for the Administration for Children and Families, where she led the management team in its successful first interest based negotiation of the agency's National collective bargaining agreement with NTEU. In addition, Fern served as Assistant HHS Regional Counsel in Philadelphia. She is a member of the adjunct faculty at the Department of Justice Legal Education Institute, and a member of both the District of Columbia and New York Bars. She earned an undergraduate degree in Economics from Cornell University and her JD from Duke University Law School.