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Mediation has been part of the world of international diplomacy for hundreds of years, and it remains so. Indeed, the Charter of the United Nations declares, in Article 33, that "parties to any dispute, the continuance of which is likely to endanger the maintenance of international peace and security, shall, first of all, seek a solution by negotiation, inquiry, mediation, conciliation, arbitration, judicial settlement, resort to regional agencies or arrangements, or other peaceful means of their own choice."
On the domestic level, mediation (along with arbitration) has, since the end of the nineteenth century, been a standard part of the process for the resolution of disputes between labor and management. Indeed, in 1934, Federal law established the National Mediation Board which remains responsible for facilitating harmonious labor-management relations in the railway and airline industries. In 1947 the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service was created, and that agency is available to mediate disputes in contract negotiations between employers and unions representing workers in private as well as public sector employment. Over time, the FMCS has expanded its focus to provide dispute resolution services in matters beyond the labor relations field.
Indeed, agencies such as ours, providing services which have come to be broadly labeled Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), grew out of an effort to transfer the negotiation and mediation experience from labor-management to community dispute situations. As noted in the following text prepared in 1970 by the Board of Mediation for Community Disputes which had just been formed in New York City, "labor and management…developed a system for the settlement of group conflict called 'collective bargaining'. Over several decades, collective bargaining…steadily improved its capacity to achieve the peaceful accommodation of differences which at one time spawned violent confrontations…Collective bargaining is particularly adaptable to the reconciling of…differences…that are not susceptible to solution through or governed by the dictates of law."
The delivery of community mediation services in Albany and Rensselaer Counties began to be formalized in 1979 when the Albany Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) was instrumental in the training of volunteer mediators and the creation of two pilot projects, one in Albany and the other in Troy. The Rensselaer County program developed under the auspices of Troy Area United Ministries, while the Albany program from its inception has been an independent, not-for-profit agency.
In 1981, the New York State Legislature created the Community Dispute Resolution Centers Program as a three-year pilot project under the administration of what now is the New York State Unified Court System's Office of Alternative Dispute Resolution. This groundbreaking legislation established standards for the delivery of mediation services throughout New York State and authorized funding for local community dispute resolution centers. The legislation was made permanent in 1984, and the Unified Court System now funds local community dispute resolution centers that serve the needs of citizens in every one of New York State's 62 counties.
An excerpt from the introduction to the 1981 legislation continues to provide a succinct statement of the rationale behind the existence and funding of these centers: "To assist in the resolution of disputes in a complex society, there is a compelling need for the creation of dispute resolution centers as alternatives to structured judicial settings. Community dispute resolution centers can meet the needs of their community by providing forums in which persons can participate in the resolution of disputes in an informal atmosphere without restraint and intimidation."
Elsewhere, the 1981 legislation notes: "Each individual dispute, which is not adequately resolved [in court] may be of small social or economic magnitude, but taken collectively such disputes are of enormous social or economic consequence."
For more than twenty years, the Rensselaer County and Albany County ADR programs engaged in cooperative ventures but existed independently of each other. In 2001, the two organizations were combined under a single administration that serves the needs of both counties.
Since our inception more than two decades ago, we have gone through several changes in name, address and program offerings. Our primary service throughout that time and the guiding principle of our agency, now explicitly stated in our name, remains MEDIATION MATTERS.
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