Originally Posted by waterskisabersw

The MEDIATOR does not release the parties to self help. The mediation BOARD releases the parties, and can be overridden, for a short period.

With regards to the NMB (again, not the mediator), they can indeed dictate the meetings times/lack thereof, for any meetings that are conducted under the auspices of meditation. They cannot prevent a mutual decisions of the parties to meet in addition to or in lieu of said mediated meetings.

The mediator mediates and can make a recommendation to the board to release the parties. That's it. There's nothing about "not letting demands fly", "throwing you on ice for x number of days", or a "binding arbitration". Even your statement that the mediator can release the parties is false, since that falls on the 3 members of the National Mediation Board.

Source: years of working in SPCs, NCs, Management, and the actual language of the RLA, not an overview FAQ.

The mediator themselves has very little actual power other than making recommendations to the board (which then have to be voted on, and can be overridden for a period of time).