July 5, 2002

William F. Mede
Owens & Turner
1500 West 33rd Avenue, Suite 200
Anchorage, A 99503-3502

Dear Mr. Mede:

My purpose in writing today is to respond to your letter of June 13, 2002 to Mark Torgerson, in which you dispute the department's jurisdiction to intervene in private sector labor disputes under AS 23.05.060(2).

The language of the statute itself, with the reference to "industrial peace" negates your interpretation, as does the history of labor disputes in the State of Alaska - and in the territory before statehood. While many states have full-time agencies responsible for mediation of private sector labor disputes, Alaska law places that responsibility with this department. While it is true that the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service has been the primary provider of mediation services in Alaska in recent years, the department has exercised its mediation and conciliation power as recently as 1999, when this office facilitated and monitored mediation efforts in the Providence Hospital strike.

I appreciate your cooperation with Mr. Torgerson's inquiry into the Nabors-Laborers dispute. That inquiry has resulted in a finding that the industrial peace of the state does require mediation of the Nabors-Laborers dispute.

I will be writing to you and to counsel for the Alaska Laborers within the next two weeks to inform you of my appointment of a mediator and requesting the attendance of the parties at a mediation session in Anchorage as soon as possible.

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