Caucus

Caucuses are communities of individuals within an organization that meet, debate and make decisions about crucial issues. Caucuses are commonly used for mediation in the corporate community. Both the parties and a mediator are supposed to meet in this situation. One side would bring up a grievance they had with the other, and the two sides would work together to find a compromise that was acceptable to all parties.

A caucus of workers at a firm, for example, can develop because they want better working conditions. They would put these requests to the notice of others in positions of greater authority, and a final decision would be made.

How does a Caucus work?

During the mediation process, both parties meet with the mediator as an entity and break into caucuses to address the topic. The mediator alternates between the two caucusing sides in an attempt to get them closer. In a traditional union dispute, caucusing is used when negotiations on basic topics, such as welfare insurance, have reached a stalemate and neither party is willing to relent.