WASHINGTON, DC – Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) Acting Director, Rich Giacolone announced on June 26 during a regularly-scheduled managers’ meeting that, effective immediately, FMCS Commissioner Gary Hattal will be replacing John Pinto as Deputy Director of Field Operations in preparation for Pinto’s upcoming retirement.

Pinto served FMCS for almost 30 years, beginning his career as a field mediator in 1988 and assuming the duties of Deputy Director, Field Operations in 2016.

The Deputy Director, Field Operations oversees the FMCS field office structure and ensures maximum support to all field staff, including administrative assistants, mediators, and managers.

WASHINGTON, DC (June 26, 2018) Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) Acting Director, Rich Giacolone (second from right) announces at a regularly-scheduled managers’ meeting his selection of FMCS commissioners Gary Hattal (right) and David Thaler to serve as the new Deputy Director of Field Operations and Senior Advisor to the Director’s Office, respectively.  (FMCS Photo/Released)

WASHINGTON, DC (June 26, 2018) Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) Acting Director, Rich Giacolone (second from right) announces at a regularly-scheduled managers’ meeting his selection of FMCS commissioners Gary Hattal (right) and David Thaler to serve as the new Deputy Director of Field Operations and Senior Advisor to the Director’s Office, respectively. (FMCS Photo/Released)

Hattal has been with FMCS since 1995 and has served as a field mediator in three field stations (Washington, D.C., Oakland, CA and Seattle, WA), director of Arbitration Services for the FMCS, director of the FMCS Institute for Conflict Management, and as a special assistant to the FMCS’s former Agency Director. He has served across a variety of arenas including dispute settlement, preventive mediation, training, assessment, coaching, and facilitation skills to achieve enhanced work relationships. He has varied and extensive experience in the phases of interest-based negotiations procedures, organizational culture, and labor-management partnership development.

Prior to receiving his FMCS appointment, Hattal’s experience includes over 15 years of labor relations representation, contract negotiations, and has served as an adjunct professor for numerous colleges and universities.

Giacolone also announced that FMCS Commissioner David Thaler will be transitioning to a new position as Senior Advisor to the Director’s Office. In this capacity, Thaler will advise and support senior managers in the Office of the Director in policy development and implementation.

Thaler, previously based out of the Metro New York field office, mediated disputes involving collective bargaining, and designed and facilitated labor-management committee cooperation efforts involving major hospitals and unions in the New York City area. He also trained labor and management partners in a variety of industries in core relationship and communications skills so that they could excel in the administration phase of their collective bargaining agreements. Prior to joining FMCS, Thaler practiced employment and commercial litigation in New York City, handling cases involving employment-related statutes such as the Fair Labor Standards Act and Title VII. He later served as an International Programs Officer with the Bureau of International Labor Affairs at the U.S. Department of Labor.