The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) is the premier provider of free and low-cost labor mediation and training in private and state/local government sectors, as well as for the federal government.

Its health and functioning are often of deep concern to NM public bargaining professionals.  As the National Academy of Arbitrators (NAA) pointed out in response to the EO,

The FMCS punches well above its weight.  With a tiny $55 million budget – less than 0.014% of the federal budget – it “delivers extraordinary outsized economic benefits,” minimizing labor strife and encouraging industrial peace at a value that exceeds $500 million a year.

See Safeguarding Workplace Peace and the Future of the FMCS – Arbitration Info

Pursuant to an Executive Order dated March 14, 2025, the services and staff of the FMCS were drastically reduced, with direct impacts on PELRB constituents.

The PELRB has received numerous calls in 2025 inquiring about the status of FMCS, and it continues to receive such calls as of December 2025.  The information provided herein is intended to aid NM public bargaining professionals as they navigate their collective bargaining relationships in uncertain times.

Additionally, the PELRB was happy to provide a Declaration upon request, in support of a multi-state effort to enjoin the EO, which appears to have been successful.

The State of New Mexico’s Attorney General joined in litigation with approximately 20 other state AGs in a lawsuit filed in the United States District Court for the District of Rhode Island.  The lawsuit challenges the EO due, among other things, to its direct and immediate impact on non-federal sector collective bargaining in New Mexico”.

The R.I. U.S. District Court temporarily enjoined the federal administration from implementing the planned reduction or elimination of FMCS staff and services.  It appears from the Court’s decision issuing a temporary injunction that the Declaration was helpful and persuasive to the Court.

On November 21, 2025, the Court made the injunction permanent upon Petitioners’ motion for summary judgment.

• Read the Complaint
• Read the Court’s Temporary Injunction Order
• Read the PELRB Exec. Director’s Declaration in Support of Injunction
• Read the Court’s Permanent Injunction Order

However, the FMCS’s long-term and even medium-term status still remains uncertain.  PELRB Staff are informed that FMCS staff and services have not been fully restored for NM public employers and employees.  Additionally,  such services may be further impaired when the FMCS’s FY26 budget is finally approved.

As of 12/11/25, the FMCS had not yet received Congressional approval for its FY26 budget, over which the Administration and the Senate sharply disagreed.  The FMCS under the present Administration recommended $7.4 million, to close down the FMCS; but the Senate recommended in its $184.5 billion Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies budget that the FMCS be maintained at its FY25 budget of  $53.7 million.  See Senate Bill at page 181 for FMCS’s portion; see also House Appropriations Press Release noting the House Appropriation Committee’s approval of the overall Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies budget.

Staffing and workload permitting, the PELRB will attempt to update this information if, when, and/or as the PELRB learns of new updates on the status of the FMCS.

Revised on 01/30/2026