Office of the Director
The FMCS Director, appointed by the President with the advice and consent of the Senate, has the responsibility for establishing and directing policy and for the overall administration and strategic direction of the Service. The Director serves as agency liaison with the White House, members of the President’s Cabinet and the Congress, and also provides direction for and participation in mediating major disputes.
Acting Director
John Pinto
Acting Director John Pinto oversees all aspects of the administration of FMCS operations and the Washington headquarters, including formulating consistent policies and procedures across regions, implementing the Agency’s goals and priorities, reviewing and revising, as necessary, the field office structure, and ensuring maximum support to all field staff, including administrative assistants, mediators, and managers. The Acting Director also oversees the work of the Arbitration and Notice Processing Unit to ensure that notices of contract expiration are promptly and efficiently communicated to the Regional Directors for assignment and that knowledge and use of FMCS arbitration are appropriately incorporated into field outreach services.
Mr. Pinto formerly served as the FMCS Deputy Director, Field Operations. Mr. Pinto began his career as a field mediator with FMCS in 1988 and worked in the Pittsburgh, PA regional office from 1989. In 1999, Mr. Pinto became a Director of Mediation Services (currently Regional Director) for FMCS Region 3, based in Pittsburgh. In March 2015 he was appointed Manager of Field Operations, and assumed the duties of Deputy Director, Field Operations in 2016.
Over the course of his career with FMCS, Mr. Pinto has served as the lead mediator in over 700 collective bargaining mediation meetings across a variety of industries including manufacturing, service, freight, oil and chemical, steel, healthcare, utilities, law enforcement, and education. Mr. Pinto has also worked on numerous training efforts in the area of collaborative labor/management processes in the federal, public, and private sectors.
Prior to his appointment as Commissioner, Mr. Pinto was employed as a Business Representative for the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 66, Pittsburgh, PA, where he served as contract administrator and chief negotiator on numerous labor agreements with various construction firms, equipment dealerships, and aggregate producers. In addition, Mr. Pinto held several elected positions within his union.
Mr. Pinto earned his Masters Degree in Personnel Administration and Industrial Relations from St. Francis College in 1992. He received his Bachelor of Arts Degree from Antioch College in 1986.
Click here to download a copy of John Pinto’s biography in PDF format.
Deputy Director
Scot Beckenbaugh
The Deputy Director reports to the Director and serves as the Agency’s “master mediator” of high profile collective bargaining disputes and is responsible for developing and coordinating increased engagement with FMCS customers for future relationship development and mediation opportunities in key industries and occupations. The Deputy Director also is responsible for mentoring the Agency’s next generation of major dispute mediators and serves as the management Chair of the Mediator Partnership Council. The Deputy Director handles a variety of assignments to support the initiatives, policies, and programs of the Director of FMCS and represents the Director in meetings of various national, state, and area organizations concerned with labor relations and conflict resolution matters to explain and promote the use of FMCS services by employers, unions, and government entities.
Scot L. Beckenbaugh, who serves as FMCS Deputy Director, joined the Agency in 1988. He was appointed Western Regional Director in January 2004, having served as Regional Director for the Upper Midwestern Region since 1997. He was the Director of Mediation Services (currently Regional Director) for the Upper Midwestern Region for two years and, before that, he was a field mediator stationed in Des Moines, Iowa. In addition to providing the full range of FMCS services to the labor management community in Iowa, he served as the Minneapolis District Alternative Dispute Resolution Coordinator. Mr. Beckenbaugh has also served on an interim basis as the Agency’s Acting Director on three occasions.
Deputy Director Beckenbaugh is the Agency’s “master mediator” of high profile disputes. He has mediated national master agreements in the aerospace, national defense, professional sports, cereal, heavy equipment manufacturing, aluminum, grocery, health care, meatpacking, and maritime industries. He has extensive experience in public sector dispute mediation, as well as in regulatory negotiations, public policy, land use, and civil rights disputes. A long-time member of the Association of Labor Relations Agencies, Mr. Beckenbaugh also serves on the ALRA Executive Board.
From 1986 to 1988, Mr. Beckenbaugh was a Member of the Iowa Public Employment Relations Board (PERB). Prior to his appointment as Member, he was an Administrative Law Judge and Director of Mediation Services for Iowa’s PERB. He also had a private arbitration practice and was listed with FMCS. He has served on the Twin Cities Labor Management Committee and for two terms as Chairman of the Industrial Relations Advisory Council at the University of Minnesota. He has taught at the high school, junior college, and university level and was a bill drafter and research analyst for the Iowa Legislature.
Mr. Beckenbaugh holds a B.A. in Political Science from the University of Northern Iowa and an M.A.P.A., with an emphasis in Industrial Relations, from the University of Iowa.
Click here to download a copy of Deputy Director Beckenbaugh’s biography in PDF format.