(a) The Commission will consider participation in specific disputes which conform with the following criteria:
(1) The disputes will have a significant impact on construction activity in the area involved.
(2) The dispute concerns negotiations for a new or expiring agreement, or a question of interpretation or application of an existing agreement, where all other internal methods of resolution have been exhausted.
(b) The Commission will normally refrain from participating in specific disputes where;
(1) The dispute involved concerns jurisdiction of work.
(2) The parties have failed to utilize an independent disputes handling procedure presently in existence or subsequently established. (A number of such procedures exists currently in several branches of the industry.)
(3) The parties have not fully utilized the service of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service.
(c) In setting forth a disputes procedure the Commission emphasizes that it is not intended to provide a substitute for the collective bargaining process. Nor is it a means to bypass or neglect existing mediation facilities or industry branch dispute settling procedures. The standard procedure for the Commission to accept cognizance over a collective bargaining dispute is through referral to the Commission by the Director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service. The Commission will exercise its judgment in accepting or declining specific disputes. The staff of the Commission is directed to maintain close contact with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service on all aspects of bargaining in the construction industry and to see that critical disputes are brought to the attention of the appropriate International Union and the national offices of an appropriate contractor association.