MEDIATION’S HISTORICAL ORIGINS The federal government adopted mediation as an alternative dispute resolution method as early as 1898, when the Erdman Act established the Commissioner of Labor and the Chairman of the Interstate Commerce Commission as mediators between operating railroad employees and carriers engaged in interstate commerce. This Act ultimately led to the establishment of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service by the Taft-Hartley Act of 1947. To this day labor controversies are submitted to mediation when impasses occur. However, it was not until the 1960's that mediation and other forms of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) began to find wider usage. The Community Relations Service was formed under the provisions of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Disputes concerning civil rights, Vietnam War protests, women's rights, consumer protection, and environmental actions began to be submitted to mediation.
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