Neutral Profiles

Walter L. Darr, Jr. brings over 36 years of expertise in labor relations, mediation, collective bargaining and training. He serves as one of our more sought-after neutrals in Mediation, Arbitration, Facilitation and Training.

Prior to joining the NMCS, Walter served as Field Operations Manager at the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS), supervising more than 25 mediators across the southern and midwestern U.S., and as Commissioner for Southeast Texas and Southwest Louisiana. Prior to that, he spent nearly five years as a Mediator with the National Mediation Board (NMB), facilitating positive labor-management relations for industries governed by the Railway Labor Act and instructing in Dominican University’s Masters of Conflict Resolution program.

As Principal of his own consulting firm, Walter provided services in mediation, alternative dispute resolution, human resources, labor relations, contract negotiations, and organizational effectiveness for clients across both the Railway Labor Act and National Labor Relations Act sectors.

He co-authored “Options for Improving Negotiations and Dispute Resolution: A Report of the Working Group on Airline Labor Relations” with the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation and MIT’s Global Airline Industry Study. Walter earned a B.S. in Business Administration from the University of Phoenix, completed training in Interest Based Bargaining and Grievance Mediation, and holds a certificate in Alternative Dispute Resolution from the University of Houston Law Center.

Active in the field, he serves on the Board of Directors for the Texas Labor Management Conference and as Second Vice President of the Houston Chapter of the Labor and Employment Relations Association.