You don’t have to convince a mediator. They mediate, that’s it. Maybe it’s confusion from when Alaska ALPA agreed to binding arbitration a while back. That’s an arbitrator and they get to decide…but not a mediator.

The only thing a mediator needs to be convinced of is that the parties are entrenched and will no longer budge, so whatever tactics they have to get movement aren’t working anymore. Then they can pass that to the NMB to consider release.