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Sims Appointed as Director of the Office of Mediation Services

NATIONAL MEDIATION BOARD

Press Release

Washington, D.C. 20572
(202) 692-5000

October 29, 2018

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

NATIONAL MEDIATION BOARD  (NMB)
Contact: NMB Public Information Line — (202) 692-5050

Re: Sims Appointed as Director of the Office of Mediation Services

Washington, DC — The National Mediation Board (NMB) is pleased to announce that Ms. Patricia  S. Sims has been selected as the new Director of the Office of Mediation Services effective October 28, 2018. Ms. Sims is the first woman to hold the position as Director of Mediation Services.  She replaces Michael Kelliher who has elected to return to practicing mediation with the agency. Terri D. Brown remains as a Supervisory Senior Mediator at the Board.

Ms. Sims brings more than 20 years of experience in mediation in both the Air and Rail Industries. She has mediated major disputes with all of the legacy air carriers and their unions along with regional carriers and unions. Ms. Sims has successfully mediated agreements with Class I, II and III railroads and their unions. She is known for her expertise in bringing difficult cases to closure.

Ms. Sims joined the NMB in 1997 as a Mediator after a successful career as a union leader at USAirways. She was promoted to a Senior Mediator in 2000, where she supervised a team of mediators and advised senior management and the Board on case management strategy. Additionally,  Ms. Sims worked to create the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) department at the NMB, which provides problem solving training to the parties in both industries.

In the rail industry she mediated the first interest- based contract in the rail industry at CSX with their yardmasters.  This was precedent setting as the rail industry historically engaged in a traditional style of negotiating.

In the airline industry, Ms. Sims facilitated the first and only expedited mediation to achieve an agreement. Additionally, she was responsible for oversight on the United Airlines/Continental Airline merger negotiations which included separate negotiations for each class and craft.  More recently, her accomplishments include successful outcomes with Hawaiian Airlines and Spirit Airlines, whose pilots are represented by ALPA.

In 2016 Ms. Sims was the President of the Association of Labor Relations Agencies (ALRA), an association comprised of Federal and State agencies engaged in mediation and labor relations all over the United States and Canada.

Ms. Sims earned her BA in education from Virginia Tech and received her mediation certification at Harvard Law School, and at the Private Adjudication Program at Duke University Law School. Ms. Sims is a native of Richmond, Virginia and credits her late father, William C. Sims, for his unwavering support of her professional success.

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The National Mediation Board (NMB) is an independent agency created by the Railway Labor Act, which governs labor management relations in the railroad and airline industries.  To avoid serious disruptions to the Nation’s economy and protect the public interest, the Act imposes on carriers and their employees the duty of settling disputes through negotiation, mediation, and arbitration.  The NMB, headed by three Presidential appointees, has as its chief statutory responsibilities: (1) mediation of collective bargaining disputes; (2) determination of employee representation for collective bargaining processes; and (3) administration of a grievance arbitration system.

Contact:  NMB Public Information Line:  202-692-5050

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