THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Press Secretary

PRESIDENT CLINTON NAMES THREE MEMBERS OF THE NATIONAL MEDIATION BOARD

President Clinton today announced his intent to nominate Ernest W. Dubester, Francis J. Duggan and Magdalena G. Jacobsen to serve as members of the National Mediation Board.

Mr. Ernest W. Dubester, of Passaic, New Jersey, is an airline and railroad industry labor relations expert. A member of the three-member National Mediation Board since 1993, he served as Chairman from December 1993-July 1995 and from July 1997-July 1998. Prior to his appointment, he was the Legislative Counsel of the AFL-CIO, a post he held for nine years. From 1981-1984, Mr. Dubester was in private practice with Highsaw & Mahoney, a firm specializing in matters related to the Railway Labor Act. He began his career in 1975 with six years of service at the National Labor Relations Board as counsel to the Chair and as a field attorney in Los Angeles. Since 1997, he has served as member of the adjunct faculty of Catholic University Law School, teaching collective bargaining and arbitration. Mr. Dubester received an A.B. degree from Boston College, a J.D. degree from Catholic University, and an L.L.M. degree in labor law from Georgetown University.

Mr. Francis J. Duggan, of Alexandria, Virginia, is currently an attorney with Mullenholz, Brimsek & Belair, in Washington, DC. He served on the President's Commission on Aviation Security and Terrorism from 1989-1990. From 1988-1989, he was Assistant Secretary for Congressional Affairs at the US Department of Labor. From 1978-1987, Mr. Duggan was Assistant Vice President for Taxation for the Association of American Railroads. He has been a member and officer of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 2677 and the American Federation of Teachers Local 169. He has a B.A. degree from St. John's College and received two graduate fellowships from political science.

Ms. Magdalena G. Jacobsen, of Port Ludlow, Washington, has served as a Member of the National Mediation Board since 1993. She is an experienced labor-management practitioner with more than 30 years of experience. Prior to joining the Board, Ms. Jacobsen was a Commissioner with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.

In her fifteen years of service, she has mediated hundreds of disputes with a wide variety of industries and labor organizations, and has trained labor-management practitioners in alternative dispute resolution. From 1989 - 1992, she served as Director of Employee Relations for the City and County of San Francisco. In this role, she had overall responsibility for the City & County labor relations with its unionized employee groups, as well as supervision of subordinate professional, technical and secretarial staff. Ms. Jacobsen also served as a labor relations manager for Continental Airlines from 1972 to 1976. She previously served as Secretary/Treasurer of the Steward and Stewardess Division of the Airline Pilots Association and as Master Chairman of Continental Airlines Flight Attendants. She received a Bachelor of Science degree from the University of San Francisco and a Master's degree in Human Resources Management from Golden Gate University. Ms. Jacobsen is President-elect of the Industrial Relations Research Association.

The National Mediation Board was created by the Railway Labor Act of 1934. The Board works to maintain the free flow of commerce in the railroad and airline industries by resolving disputes which impact travel or imperil the economy. The Board also handles airline and railroad union representation disputes and provides administrative support services for the arbitration of grievances in both industries.

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