Senate panel hears Bureau of Mediation Services overview and unanimously recommends confirmation of Commissioner Johnny Villarreal

The Senate Labor Committee received an overview of the Bureau of Mediation Services (BMS) from Commissioner Johnny Villarreal and then voted to recommend his appointment as commissioner to the full Senate. The committee recorded the motion to recommend confirmation as passing.

Villarreal told the committee BMS is a neutral state agency, established under the Minnesota Labor Relations Act in 1939, whose mission (as later codified in the record under the Public Employment Labor Relations Act) is to promote orderly and constructive relationships between public employers and employees. He described the bureau's stakeholders as including more than 850 cities and townships, 87 counties, over 300 school districts and more than 40,000 state executive and judicial branch employees. Villarreal said the agency's budget is 100% supported by the state general fund and that the bureau currently employs a small staff including six mediators, a working commissioner and deputy, three mediators who also serve as hearing officers, a recently hired general counsel and other administrative staff.

Nut graf: The BMS presentation highlighted the bureau’s role in preventing strikes, handling unit-determination and grievance work, and improving training and arbitration processes. Committee members followed with brief remarks and then the committee moved to recommend Villarreal’s confirmation.

The commissioner gave numerical context for recent workloads: 349 mediation cases processed in fiscal year 2023 and 367 in fiscal year 2024; grievance mediations were resolved more than 80 percent of the time, and contract mediations— which make up more than half the bureau’s mediation cases—were often settled prior to strikes (Villarreal said the bureau settles more than 90 percent of those prior to a strike or interest arbitration). BMS also manages rosters of arbitrators: a main roster (25–60 arbitrators by statute) currently at 43 arbitrators that handled 425 lists issued over fiscal years 2023–24, and a separate Peace Officer Grievance Arbitration Roster (POGAR) with six arbitrators that were assigned 13 cases in fiscal years 2023–24.

Villarreal described training and outreach initiatives, including a new training partnership with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service called Path Forward Discussion and a POGAR arbitrator curriculum developed with Hennepin Technical College to meet statutory training requirements. He said the agency opted to use the traditional rule-making process to address statutory changes such as unit merger and to post a 60-day public comment period before finalizing rules. Villarreal also noted the agency is using Odyssey funds for updates and continues monthly stakeholder check-ins called “coffee with the commissioner.”

Senator Pratt and other members commended the bureau and acknowledged the commissioner’s active role in mediation work. After the presentation, Senator Dornick moved that the committee recommend Villarreal’s appointment as commissioner; the committee voted in favor and the chair announced the motion had passed.

Ending: The committee’s recommendation advances Commissioner Villarreal’s appointment to the full Senate. Villarreal told the committee he would continue to use his experience in labor relations and the National Guard in leading the agency.