Employers' and Union Officers Views on the Ideal Mediator

Most of the research on the factors considered important in a 'model' mediator been based on the vieivs of experienced mediators. This paper, instead, presents various dimensions of mediator background and behaviour considered important employers and union officers active inside the mediation process. The purpose is examine whether the contending parties do have a fixed stereotype image of the id mediator and, indeed, whether these two stereotypes coincide. Close agreement between employers and union officers can be taken as some evidence of the identifiable facte that distinguish the successful mediator from the poor mediator.