Gordan R. Pavy, LERA President Elect

Gordon R. Pavy, director of the Collective Bargaining Department of the AFL-CIO, will begin his term as LERA president following the 63rd LERA Annual Meeting in Denver, in January 2011. Pavy will be the third LERA president from the labor perspective in the past decade, following Stephen R. Sleigh (2007) and Sheldon Friedman (2000). He has been a LERA member since 1979, joining shortly after earning an MS from the University of Massachusetts Labor Relations Center. He went to work as a research analyst for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters in 1983 and moved to the AFL-CIO’s Collective Bargaining Department in 1986, serving as a research analyst, the coordinator, and, since 2008, director of that department. 

Pavy has also been an active Washington DC LERA Chapter member since 1980, serving his chapter as a board member in 1991-94 and again in 2004-2008.  He was a LERA Executive Board member from 2005-2008 and has been involved in a number of LERA committees and interest sections including: the Collective Bargaining Interest Section co-chair, 2004–present; the Interest Section Coordinating Committee member, 2004–present; the LERA Technology Committee member, 2005–2008; the LERA Strategic Planning Committee member, 2004–2007;  and as Labor Unions and Labor Studies interest section co-chair 2001-2005.

Gordon chaired the US Dept. of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics Compensation and Working Conditions Labor Research Advisory Committee from 2003-2007, served as staff coordinator for the AFL-CIO Union Veterans Council from 2004-present, and has been the Editor of the AFL-CIO Collective Bargaining Digest since 2005. 
 
 As LERA president, Pavy is committed to working to expand the participation of both union and business labor relations practitioners in the organization

The three recipients included mediator/arbitrator Bonnie Castrey, Russell  Lansbury, and LERA charter member Martin Wagner (deceased).  Castrey was cited for advancing the cause of peaceful, constructive workplace relations in her many years with the FMCS and in her continued work as a mediator, arbitrator, facilitator, and change agent. Lansbury, who represented the first Lifetime Achievement Award provided to someone outside of North America, was recognized for his many contributions to the international and comparative literature. Lansbury is the outgoing president of the International Industrial Relations Association. Martin Wagner’s contributions to the field over his many years of work in labor-management relations as a scholar, educator, arbitrator, policy leader, and mentor were noted as was their importance in shaping our field, and his lifetime of support and engagement with LERA. Wagner’s daughter, Martha Wagner Weinberg and John Wagner accepted the award in his behalf.

Previous distinguished recipients of this award include: William J. Usery, John T. Dunlop, Lois Spier Gray, Theodore Kheel, Malcolm R. Lovell, Jr., F. Ray Marshall, David Brody, Lynn Williams, Wayne Horvitz, Clark Kerr, Neil Chamberlain, George P. Shultz, Walter Gershenfeld, Robert McKersie, George Strauss, Jack Stieber, and Dennis W. Rocheleau.

Lifetime Achivement Award Recipients, from left to right: Martha and John Wagner (for Martin Wagner), LERA President Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld (who presented the awards), Russell Lansbury, and Bonnie Castrey.

The 2009 LERA Nominating Committee, chaired by Hoyt Wheeler, University of South Carolina, presented its slate of candidates to the 2010 LERA Executive Board in January. The final slate, approved by the Board, is presented in the official ballot whose link is being emailed to all active LERA members. Members without email addresses are being mailed paper ballots, which must be postmarked by August 1, 2010. All active LERA members are encouraged to cast their votes; all votes are confidential.

Nominees were determined from a list of nominations received from the general membership and from those brought forward by the committee themselves. Other members of the 2009 Nominating Committee included past president Anthony T. Oliver, Jr, Parker, Milliken, Clark, O’Hara and Samuelian; Paul Almeida, AFL-CIO, Washington, D.C. ; Bob Bruno, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Chicago, IL; Teresa Ghilarducci, New School for Social Research, New York, NY; Lavonne Ritter, FMCS, Las Vegas, NV; and Art Schwartz (ret), General Motors, Ann Arbor, MI 

The electronic ballot shows 10 candidates running for 5 open seats on the Board. Terms for the newly elected Board members are for three years, and will begin following the Denver 63rd Annual Meeting on January 9, 2011. Those elected will fill seats left by outgoing board members Ellen Dannin, John Godard, Christian Weller, Beth Almeida, and Robert Chiaravalli.

Members who wish to read about the candidates biographical information can follow the link below. NOTE: This is not the official ballot; that will be sent to active members with instructions.

http://www.lera.illinois.edu/election/10CandidateBios.pdf

Members are also asked to submit names of nominees for the 2010 Nominating Committee to consider for next year’s election. They can do so by writing their names and affiliations on the enclosed ballot in the space provided, or by faxing or emailing nominations to the National Office or any 2010 Nominating Committee members. Nominees must be current LERA members. Self nominations are alsoencouraged.

LERA President Elect Gordon Pavy will chair the meeting and NPF Program Committee and will announce the meeting theme and program later this fall. Members interested in providing input to the Program Committee should contact the LERA office for information.

LERA’s 62nd annual meeting in Atlanta, organized under the leadership of Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld and marked by sessions that were lively and intellectually stimulating, set a high bar for our Association.  Thanks to Joel and everyone who made this a great success.

Thanks to this year’s Program Committee for its hard work creating an exciting program for the 63rd annual meeting, to be held in Denver on January 6-9, 2011. Plan to be there a day early on January 5 for all the exciting pre-conference activities. New this year, from 8:45 to 4 pm on January 5, we will hold a series of sessions – research presentations, round tables, discussions  – to examine “Labor Across the Boundaries” – which will present perspectives on labor from three disciplines. This is a new collaboration of academics from Labor and Employment Relations, Political Economy, and Labor and Working Class History.

LERA’s focus on Employment Relations for Economic Recovery and Sustainable Growth at the 2011 meetings is of central importance as the nation continues to confront the dual challenges of (1) replacing the more than 8 million jobs lost since December 2007 with high quality employment opportunities and (2) positioning U.S. employers to emerge from the recession poised to succeed in the new, more competitive environment.  Despite evidence that a recovery is underway, employment has been slow to recover. At this writing, nearly one in ten workers is unemployed, and the numbers are even higher if a broader definition of who wants and needs a job is used. The Congressional Budget Office predicts that the unemployment rate will be above 9.5% in 2011 and won’t drop below 9% before 2012. LERA stands out as a key organization where all of the stakeholders with an interest in restoring the growth of good quality jobs can meet to put research and experience to work in the service of policy and practice. In this vein, I am very pleased to report that submissions of symposia and workshops for the Denver LERA meeting that address these challenges have been of extraordinary quality – watch for the announcement of the Denver conference program on the LERA website. 

LERA is undertaking three exciting initiatives this year.  The organization continues to make significant progress with the certification initiative that began last year. Employers, unions and government officials have articulated a need for people skilled in negotiating collective bargaining agreements, operating labor-management committees, and building constructive labor-management relations. Led by Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Gordon Pavy and Robert Chiaravalli and others, committees representing our organization’s diverse membership have been formed to develop skill standards and design the certification process. LERA’s goal is to coordinate training and skill certification in labor and employment relations to fill that gap.
  
David Lewin is heading up the reexamination of LERA’s meeting architecture. The goal of this undertaking is to make LERA’s annual meeting the premier “go-to” event for everyone concerned with work or employment – academics from the many disciplines that focus on employment, labor process, work organization, and management practices; employers;  managers; union leaders and members; labor and employment lawyers; mediators and arbitrators; policy makers; and practitioners of all types. We want to increase the number of hands-on sessions that impart knowledge and skills that can be used immediately by practitioners, to enhance the number and diversity of the academic fields of research presented in symposia; and to bring together policy makers, practitioners, and academics for meaningful dialogue about the challenging labor market issues confronting the nation. 

The third project is to increase LERA’s membership by reaching out to the local LERA chapters and encouraging more of their members to join the national organization. Key to that will be the change in meeting architecture which will open up additional slots for sessions designed specifically to meet the needs of this LERA constituency. This will mean a greater emphasis on policy questions important at the state as well as the national level, and parallel sessions that specifically address the interests of the practitioner community. Look for exciting sessions at the Denver meeting of broad interest to the LERA community. Rose Batt and I will also be reaching out to LERA’s many active members to invite you to become contributing members. LERA is very close to resolving its structural budget issues, and this support can make the critical difference.

I look forward to continue working with all of you to strengthen LERA and to help the organization meet the needs of all of its constituents. Please feel free to contact me or the LERA office to share your ideas and suggestions.

Thomas A. Kochan, MIT Sloan School of Management is the principal investigator for the grant project and initial chair of the Steering Committee.  He pointed out that the Network is meant to fill a void in policy analysis left by the lack of analytical capacity and the narrow framing of labor and employment policy in the government today.  “Presently there is no single source or set of experts to whom policy makers can turn for timely analysis, nor a single site that catalogs the relevant academic research on these topics. The  purpose is to serve as the one place the best academic/analytical research on the broad range of topics that should be brought to bear on work, labor and the employment policy making process,” Kochan said.

The grant will be for the one-year period of May 2010-April 2011. The new website is scheduled to launch in November, 2010.  In addition to Kochan, other Steering Committee members are: Eileen Appelbaum, Rutgers University; Larry Katz, Harvard University; Lisa Lynch, Brandeis University; David Lewin, UCLA; and Andrew Sum, Northeastern University. The Committee will provide advice on the design, working paper content, and blogging features of the new website and be active in organizing several small network conferences, or offering commentaries on policy issues as they arise, or in organizing responses to questions in their specific areas of expertise.

The Network of Employment Relations scholars includes more than 60 confirmed participants representing 22 universities. It is expected the Network list will expand as the project is launched. They are researchers from diverse disciplines (economics, industrial relations, political science, law, management, sociology, etc.) with diverse views on employment policy issues.

Across the Network, there is deep expertise in a broad range of policy issues including: employment and unemployment, labor-management relations, labor policy, community and state level economic development, industry specific strategies for building high performance work organizations, health care economics and information technology, low wage labor markets, immigration, pension systems, global supply chains and international labor standards, enforcement of employment standards, wages determination, income inequality, executive compensation, technological change, alternative dispute resolution, work/life balance, and other issues. Working papers and previously published works will be cataloged on the EPRN site and will be continually updated.

Kochan also noted the Network itself will not take or endorse specific policy proposals. “We hope to be viewed as a non-partisan and highly credible source of information, ideas and discussion of the issues. We see this as an especially important contribution at this moment in history, given the highly polarized and often ideologically driven or stalemated debates that dominate so many aspects of work, labor market, and employment policy.”

Day to day management of the Network will be carried out by the LERA staff, including a new half-time professional, who will be assigned responsibility for managing the website-building project and related administrative duties. The Rockefeller Foundation’s financial support for the project is $150,900.

Awards to be handed out at the 2011 LERA Annual Meeting in Denver include:

The Chapter Merit Awards presented to chapters that meet the criteria in one or more of the following categories during a chapter year:

1. Chapter Turnaround or Startup
2. Outstanding Programming, such as co-sponsorship of events or awards with other chapters or groups or overall programming excellence
3. Member “Innovation,” such as creative student program, outstanding growth, creative recruitment methods, constituency or membership development
4. Community Involvement, such as promotion of scholarship
5. Chapters Helping Other Chapters
6. Consistent Chapter Excellence through: a) active governance (administration), b) stability (strong secretariat), c) programming over the years, d) diverse membership base, e) other
7. Chapter Communications, such as brochure design, web site, newsletters, membership directory, etc.
8. Chapter to National Relations and Support, such as support of national meetings, communications, fees)

The Outstanding Chapter Award, presented to chapters that receive at least 4 of the 8 merit awards in 5 consecutive years

The Chapter Star Award, presented to chapters that receive at least 6 of the 8 merit awards in 5 consecutive years, and thereafter, they may accrue merit awards again starting at zero.

Refer to the Chapter Award Nomination Form, complete and return to the LERA Office by October 15, 2010. Chapters may self-nominate OR be nominated by another chapter, NCAC committee through outreach discussion with chapters, or by LERA staff. Each Merit Award category need not be awarded each year. There may be multiple awards given in a category.

Alabama LERA, Northwest Seattle LERA, Long Island LERA, Washington DC LERA and the Gateway Chapter of St Louis received Outstanding Chapter Awards last year.

The meeting will be held at the Westin Tabor Center Hotel in Downtown Denver in conjunction with the LERA Annual Meeting at  the American Economics Association meeting. The Consortium program will feature panel dicussions by leading faculty in the field and informal discussions with fellow students and faculty in breakout sessions that also allow students the opportunity to discuss research in progress, with particular prominence given to the unique nature of our multi-disciplinary field.

The Program is currently under development. Students interested in attending or who would like to provide input regarding the program are invited to contact the co-convenors,  Todd Dickey or Tamara Lee for more information.

During the day, a buffet luncheon will  be provided to the student attendees and the speakers at the meeting and after the meeting, the Ph.D. students will gather for an informal dinner at a local restaurant to discuss the day and make plans for next year. A $35 registration fee is required by the AEA to attend but the LERA reimburses this fee to attendees after the conference.

Last year’s consortium was co-sponsored by Cornell University School of Industrial and Labor Relations, the University of Illinois School of Labor and Employment Relations, Rutgers University School of Management and Labor Relations, the Scheinman Institute of Conflice Resolution (Cornell ILR), MIT Sloan School of Management, Boston University, and the University of California at Los Angeles Anderson School of Business.

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The LERA gratefully acknowledges the continuing support of its annual organizational members.

ANNUAL MEMBERS 2010

AFL-CIO
American Federation of School Administrators
American Federation of Teachers
American Rights at Work
BlueCross BlueShield Association, National Labor Office (Sustaining Sponsor)
Bongelihle Employment Relations Agency
Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (Sustaining Sponsor)
California Labor Federation
Communication Workers of America Local #1034
Cornell University, Scheinman Institute of Conflict Resolution
Cornell University, School of Industrial and Labor Relations
Detroit LERA Chapter
Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service
International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Strategic Resources
Indiana University of Pennsylvania, PA Center for the Study of Labor Relations
Harvard University, Office of Labor Relations
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Sloan School of Management
Merrimack Films
National Labor College
New Jersey LERA Chapter
New York State Nurses Association, Economic & General Welfare Program
Paratransit Services
Parker, Milliken, Clark, O’Hara, Samuelian
Penn State University, Labor Studies and Employment Relations
Rollins College, Master of Human Resources Program
Rutgers University, School of Management and Labor Relations
Saint Joseph’s University, Haub School of Business
Society for Human Resource Management (SHRM)
Tennessee Employment Relations Research Association
United Steelworkers
United Food and Commercial Workers, Local #1776
University of California at Los Angeles, Institute for Research on Labor and Employment
University of Massachusetts at Amherst, Labor Center
University of Minnesota, Carlson Industrial Relations Center
University of Toronto, Center for Industrial Relations and Human Resources
West Virginia University, Department of Industrial Relations and Management

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Susan Annunziata, Newsday Inc., Melville, NY

Allison Beck, Washington, DC

Michael Campolo, Fox Entertainment Group Inc., Topanga, CA

Joel Cobb, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI

Sanjeeve DeSoyza, Bond Schoeneck & King PLLC, Albany, NY

Kevin Dolan, Manchester, MA

Joseph Fine, Montclair, NJ

Gina Fraternali, Goldstein & Gragel LLC, Cleveland, OH

Leslie Goldman, BNA, Inc., Arlington, VA

D’ Alexzander Gonzalez, Universidad de Puerto Rico, Camuy, PUERTO RICO

Frank Koller, Ottawa, CANADA

Richard Kropp, Caritas Christi Health, Boston, MA

Mike Lee, Tennessee Education Association, Morristown, TN

Meeta Bass Lyons, Steubenville, OH

Al Mance, Tennessee Education Association, Morristown, TN

Timothy Martin, Newsday Inc., Melville,  NY

Rose McCaffrey, Phoenix, AZ

Boniface Michael, California State University-Sacramento,Folsom, CA

John Meno, Unified Grocers Inc., Commerce, CA

Michelle Meyer, Newsday Inc., Melville, NY

A Alfonso Neal, Neal Labor Mediation Consulting LLC, Phoenix, AZ

Robert Nishi, County of Sacramento, Sacramento, CA

Chikako Oka, Paris, FRANCE

Joo-Young Park, Michigan State University, East Lansing, MI

Laura Schmidt, Central Co-op, Seattle, WA

Cathleen Slater, Ohio Nurses Association, Columbus, OH

Matt Sottong, BNA, Inc., Arlington, VA

Reese Thomas, Citterio, Hazle Twp., PA

Gayle Wintjen, Oak Hill Legal, Hartford, CT

Call for Proposals for 2013 LERA Research Volume—Due November 1, 2010
The LERA Editorial Committee would like to encourage members to submit research volume proposals for the 2013 research volume by November 1, 2010. The Editorial Committee will review proposals and present a recommendation to the Executive Board in January 2011 for approval. Visit www.lera.illinois.edu under “Publications/Research Volume” for submission requirements.

NOMINATIONS SOUGHT:
All nominations may be sent to the LERA National Office at LERAoffice@illinois.edu. Winners will be notified on or about November 1, 2010, and the awards will be presented to recipients at the LERA Annual Meeting in Denver, CO on January 8, 2010.

Susan C. Eaton Outstanding Scholar-Practitioner Award Nominations—Due Oct 1, 2008
The LERA Awards Committee announces a call for nominations for an award in honor of Susan C. Eaton, scholar and practitioner and LERA member who passed away in late December 2003. The award is given annually to a member of the Association who has achieved distinction as both a practitioner and a scholar in our field. Letters of nomination accompanied by vitas or substantial accounts of the accomplishments of the nominees.

Susan C. Eaton Scholar-Practitioner Project Grant Entries—Due Oct 1, 2010
The Awards Committee for the Susan C. Eaton Scholar-Practitioner Memorial Fund has issued a call for proposals for a $3,000 grant to be awarded in January 2010 to an academic engaged in a research project in the labor and employment relations or related field. Only LERA members are eligible to submit a proposal for the Committee to consider. LERA members may submit a 1-2 page proposal by October 1, 2010 outlining a research project for the Committee’s consideration. The outline should include a description of the project and why it is important, anticipated or possible findings or outcomes, and a project timetable.

John T. Dunlop Outstanding Scholar Award Nominations—Due Oct 1, 2010
The John T. Dunlop Outstanding Scholar Awards were established to recognize outstanding academic research by recent entrants to the field. Nominations for the 2010 Awards will be accepted in two categories: one award will recognize the research contribution of an academic for the best contribution to international and/or comparative labor and employment research. A second award will recognize the best contribution to research that addresses an industrial relations/employment problem of national significance. Letters of nomination should be accompanied by vitas or substantial accounts of the accomplishments of the nominees.

LERA Outstanding Practitioner Award Nominations—Due Oct 1, 2010
LERA is also accepting nominations for the LERA Outstanding Practitioner award. This annual award is made to a practitioner for outstanding contributions to the industrial relations profession consistent with the values and the mission of the LERA. Letters of nomination accompanied by vitas or substantial accounts of the accomplishments of the nominees should to be sent no later than October 1, 2010.

LERA Fellows Nominations (Academic and Practitioner)—Due Oct 1, 2010

Newsletter editor: Paula Wells, email: pdwells@illinois.edu. Chapter editor: Emily Smith email: eesmith@illinois.edu.

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Fundamentals of Labour Administration—By Giuseppe Casale and A. Sivananthiran. This volume spells out the main principles of labour administration, and the challenges facing it in implementing the Decent Work Agenda. It describes ways in which these challenges can be met through policy, organization, coordination and management and identifies some best practices in selected countries. 92 pages. Softcover ISBN: 978-92-2-122999-5. Price $28.00. International Labour Organization. www.ilo.org/publns.

Human Resource Economics and Public Policy—By Charles J. Whalen. This new book from the W.E. Upjohn Institute, Human Resource Economics and Public Policy: Essays in Honor of Vernon Briggs Jr., Charles J. Whalen, editor, pays tribute to Briggs and his enduring mark on the study of human resources. The chapters, by his students and colleagues, explore and extend Briggs’s work on employment, education and training, immigration, and local labor markets. His unwavering emphasis on institutional reality, public policy, and economic dynamics animates the entire collection. 305 pages. Softcover ISBN: 978-88099-359-3. Price $20.00. W.E. Upjohn Institute for Employment Research. www.upjohninst.org.

Employment Regulation in the Workplace—By Robert K. Robinson, Geralyn McClure Franklin, and Robert F. Wayland. This book endeavors to present a comprehensive, but practical, view of the regulatory environment under which practicing managers must operate. The material in this textbook is presented from the viewpoint that the HR professional is the employer’s representative and is, therefore, responsible for protecting the employer’s exposure to litigation through monitoring activities and viable employee policies. 448 pages. Paperback ISBN: 978-0-7656-2350-8. Price $99.95. M.E. Sharpe Inc. www.mesharpe.com.

Changing Poverty, Changing Policies—By Maria Cancian and Sheldon Danziger. This book documents how economic, social, demographic, and public policy changes since the early 1970s have altered who is poor and where antipoverty initiatives have kept pace or fallen behind. The authors’ focus on pragmatic measures that have real possibilities of being implemented in the United States not only provides vital knowledge about what works but real hope for change. 384 pages. Softcover ISBN: 978-0-87154-310-0. Price $42.50. Russell Sage Foundation. www.russellsage.org.

Workers and Welfare—By Michelle L. Dion. By focusing on organized labor and its powerful role in effecting institutional change, Workers and Welfare chronicles the development and evolution of Mexican social insurance institutions in the twentieth century. Michelle L. Dion’s study shows how the labor movement, up until the 1990s, was instrumental in expanding welfare programs, but has since become largely ineffective. Dion investigates the causes of the recent retrenchment in social benefits and the government’s focus on poverty alleviation. 328 pages. Softcover ISBN: 978-0-8229-6045-4. Price $27.95. University of Pittsburgh Press. www.upress.pitt.edu.

Spark—By Frank Koller. While factories in the Midwest are shutting their doors, Lincoln Electric remains a rare success story. The company has survived two World Wars, the Great Depression, and the recent credit crash. In this insightful and spirited investigation , journalist Frank Koller digs deep into Lincoln Electric’s inner workings—revealing surprising lessons about what happens when managers view their employees as valued assets rather than costs. 272 pages. Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-58648-795-9. Price $25.95. PublicAffairs. www.publicaffairsbooks.com.

Go to the Worker: America’s Labor Apostles—By Kimball Baker. Go to the Worker: America’s Labor Apostles is a popular history of the Catholic social-action movement, a group of priests and laypeople who, in the 1930s and 1940s, helped workers organize as part of the group’s pursuit of spiritual and social justice. This ecumenical movement fought for labor-employer cooperation, with the support of many labor-management professionals, and its worker-empowerment message is as timely as today’s newspaper. 276 pages. Paperback ISBN: 978-0-87462-749-7. Price $30.00. Marquette University Press. http://www.marquette.edu/mupress/.

David Lewin is the candidate for the 2011 President Elect, and the board nominees are:

Academic Candidates

• Francoise Carre
• Paul Clark
• Susan Schurman
• Anil Verma

Management Candidates

• Dennis Dabney
• James Pruitt

Neutral Candidates

• Suzanne Clement
• Sergio DelGado

Labor Candidates

• Owen Herrnstadt
• Lisa Jordan

Employment Relations for Economic Recovery and Sustained Growth is the theme , and more than 60 sessions and events will fill the four-day meeting–it’s a great way to network with academic and practitioner colleagues. If you are interested, there are still ways to be part of the program–visit Call for Papers and Posters for further details.  Deadlines run from April 1- October 1st, 2010.

Bookmark the LERA 63rd Annual Meeting page as more information will be posted here in the coming months, including registration, hotel accommodations, packet pickup forms, and more.  All LERA members will receive notification of online registration as soon as it is available online, and this year early sign-up will be more important than ever, with a shortage of hotel rooms expected in Denver.

Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis addresses LERA at the NPF 2009 in Washington, DC

“New Frontiers in Employment Relations: Ensuring Good Jobs, Fair Treatment, and High Performance in a Turbulent Economy” was the theme for the 8th LERA National Policy Forum held June 11 and 12, 2009 at Cafritz Conference Center in Washington DC. The 2009 forum sought to bring an informed perspective to the policy arena at a time of critical changes in the administration and economy connecting theory and practice with policy issues in ways that have impact.

View Video Footage of speakers and panel presentations.

Keynote Addresses were given by National Leaders including the featured luncheon speaker, Hon. Hilda Solis, Secretary, US Department of Labor; and plenary keynotes: Bob DuPuy, President and COO of Major League Baseball; and Lisa Lynch, Dean, Heller School of Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University.

Bob DuPuy, COO of Major League Baseball

This year’s Policy Forum offered a particular focus on policy issues around union organizing, pension and health care benefits, and other issues for which legislative debates are anticipated and where public policy can be informed by scholarly research and practitioner perspectives. The Forum also considered state and industry-level challenges in rebuilding the American Dream and surface deeper underlying assumptions about the workforce, unions, employers, and other stakeholders.

Blue Ribbon panels were organized for workshop discussions and Q&A sessions following presentations from leading experts in the areas of Health Care and Pensions, the Role of Government in the Auto Industry, Training and Skill Development, Federal Sector Labor Relations, Union Organizing and Collective Bargaining, Infrastructure Investments and Green Jobs, and Executive Compensation.

Program Chair and LERA President Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld and co-chairs Thomas Kochan, MIT; Bonnie Summers, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association; Richard Trumka, AFL-CIO and a large program committee worked together to shape the program. The forum was attended by 200 employment relations practitioners and scholars.

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Dennis Rocheleau accepts his Lifetime Achievement Award in San Francisco, January 2009.

Retired General Electric Labor Relations Manager Dennis Rocheleau was honored with the LERA Lifetime Achievement Award by LERA presidents and members at the San Francisco annual meeting on January 4, 2009.

The Lifetime Achievement Award, which is the most prestigious award given by LERA, signifies the admiration and appreciation of the members of the Association for Rocheleau’s lifetime of work and achievement in our field.

Anthony T. Oliver, Jr. 2008 president of LERA presented the Award to Rocheleau at the Presidential Luncheon at the 61st Annual Meeting in San Francisco. “You personify the LERA goal of advancing the cause of peaceful, constructive workplace relations in your many years with General Electric,” Oliver told Rocheleau at the presentation. “I am sure that everyone in our field shares the view that your labor-management achievements will continue to serve as a model for others to replicate in the future.”

Oliver also pointed out that Rocheleau was the first recipient of the award to come from the management/practitioner side of LERA membership.

Previous distinguished recipients of this award include: William J. Usery, John T. Dunlop, Lois Spier Gray, Theodore Kheel, Malcolm R. Lovell, Jr., F. Ray Marshall, David Brody, Lynn Williams, Wayne Horvitz, Clark Kerr, Neil Chamberlain, George P. Shultz, Walter Gershenfeld, Robert McKersie, George Strauss, and Jack Stieber.

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2010 Annual Meeting in Atlanta

Join your colleagues for the 62nd Annual Meeting at the Hyatt Regency in Atlanta January 2-5, 2010. 59 exciting workshops, symposiums, committee, section, and industry council meetings, plenaries, breakfasts, luncheons, and receptions are planned. Visit the website to see the complete Annual Meeting Program and Register Online before December 1 to enjoy the discount.

All participants and attendees must register, including speakers and discussants. Badges are required for admission to all sessions and activities. You must register and pay the registration fee before booking a room at the special conference rate. A five-digit registration ID number is needed to book a room or suite.

Once registration payment is received, you will get an email confirmation, registration ID number, housing form, and link to housing. If you register online you will get an email confirmation within a few minutes, faxed registration forms take up to three days, and mailed-in forms take up to two weeks to process. If you do not receive a registration confirmation within this time frame, email ASSA at assa@vanderbilt.edu If you prefer to register via fax or mail, print out and complete the ASSA Registration Form and fax to ASSA at 615-343-2986 or email to assa@vanderbilt.edu.

Those who pre-register by December 1, 2009 will receive the early-bird discount—the fee is $75 regular and $35 for full-time students and spouses for the four-day conference. After December 1, 2009, the registration fee goes up to $125 and $55 for students and spouses. Online registration is possible until December 31st. After that time, onsite registration will be offered at both the ASSA headquarter hotel, the Atlanta Marriott Marquis, and the LERA headquarters hotel, the Hyatt Regency, beginning January 2, 2010.

Tickets for the LERA Presidential Luncheon may be pre-ordered on the registration form. This year’s luncheon will feature an address by President Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld and the presentation of LERA Lifetime Achievement Awards. A limited number of tickets will be available onsite.

LERA members are encouraged to check off the box on the registration form that denotes LERA as their primary affiliation, as revenue from the meeting is distributed according to this report.

Don’t forget about LERA’s Packet Pickup Service. Through special arrangements made with ASSA, you can authorize the LERA office staff to pick up your ASSA registration packet, badge, and program for you and hold it at the LERA Information Desk at the Hyatt Regency Atlanta. Simply complete the form online Packet Pickup Form at the LERA website. Two minutes now will save you the hassle of standing in long lines in Atlanta. There is no charge for this service.

Plan to come early to attend any of seven Industry Council sessions on the Pre-conference Day, (January 2nd) as well as other workshops.

On Tuesday, January 5th, the late morning sessions offer two workshops and a symposium:

• NFL Labor Relations: First and Ten or Fourth and Long? organized by the host Atlanta Chapter and featuring NFL and college coaches, player reps, and an NLRB attorney
• Empirical Studies of Retirement Plans: Implications for Workers, Firms and Public Policy, a symposium chaired by Stephen Woodbury, Michigan State University
• The Current Economic Crisis: Can Industrial Relations Contribute to the Reform Process? organized by Anil Verma, University of Toronto and featuring John Budd, University of Minnesota; Arindrajit Dube, University of Massachusetts-Amherst; and Rafael Gomez, University of Toronto

In additions, two special sessions are planned for Tuesday afternoon by the International Interest Section that you will not want to miss:

• 12:15-2:15 p.m. Alternative Union Futures in a Neo-Liberal Environment
  Chair: Martin Upchurch, Middlesex University
  Presenters:  Martin Upchurch, Middlesex University; Andrew Mathers and Graham Taylor, University of the West of England—Alternative Futures for West European Trade Unionism
  Pauline Dibben, Kamel Mellahi and Geoffrey Wood, University of Sheffield—Is Social Movement Unionism Still Relevant?: The Case of South African Federation COSATU
  Heather Connolly and Miguel Martinez Lucio, University of Manchester—Workers’ Centres, Union Renewal, and the State: Immigration and Union Initiatives in Spain
  Edson I. Urano, University of Sophia; Paul Stewart, University of Strathclyde; and Andy Danford, University of the West of England—What to do about Workers on the Periphery. How Japanese Labor Unions are Responding to the Increasing Demands of the Excluded: Kanagawa City and Union MIE

• 2:30 -4:00 p.m. Conceptualizing Work
  Chair: Andrew Brown, University of Leeds
  Presenters: John Budd, University of Minnesota—Industrial Relations Theory: What About Work?
  Bruce Kaufman, Georgia State University—Theorizing Work: Implications of Institutional Economics
  Michael Perelman, California State University, Chico—The History of the Marginalization of Work
  David Spencer, University of Leeds—The Economics of Work: Past, Present and Future

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Returning Board members include: Beth Almeida, NIRS; Rose Batt, Cornell University; Robert Chiaravalli, Strategic Labor & Human Resources; Ellen Dannin, Penn State University; Richard Fincher, Workplace Resolution, LLC; John Goddard, University of Manitoba, Iain Gold, Intern’l Brotherhood of Teamsters; Bonnie Summers, BlueCross BlueShield Assn; Christian Weller, Center for American Progress; and Charles Whalen, Utica College.

LERA’s first electronic election was held this year via the Internet and yielded a 5% increase from last year in votes received. An email link to a user friendly listing of the candidates and their bios and an electronic ballot was sent to member this summer.  Several member requested paper ballots, which were also sent to those members who do not provide or have email addresses.

“Overall, we consider the new e-balloting successful, since it increased the total number of votes received and helped us reduce expenses,” reported Emily Smith, of the LERA office. “There were a few glitches reported which we were able to resolve or send a paper ballots. We plan to continue with the e-ballot process for future elections and ask LERA members to keep us informed of updated email addresses.”

Gordon Pavy, AFL-CIO, President Elect for 2010

Scot Beckenbaugh, FMCS

Linda Ewing, UAW

Dennis Kuhl, Boeing

Jody Hoffer Gittell, Brandeis University

By Eileen Appelbaum, President Elect

To submit an online proposal for the Denver meeting, visit the 2011 Meetings page at the LERA website beginning October 15, 2009.

by Eileen Appelbaum, LERA President Elect

The recent boom and bust cycle was fueled by flat or declining median wages, rising inequality, a mountain of consumer debt and reckless behavior by financial institutions. Reconnecting economic growth with rising wages and benefits is a necessary catalyst for reestablishing sustained economic growth.

With consumer spending a major component of GDP, rising employee earnings are key both to achieving sustainable profits and wealth creation and to avoiding a prolonged period of jobless growth and high unemployment. Employment relations are critical to the creation of good jobs and competitive business models capable of delivering quality outcomes.

The theme for the 63^rd Annual Meeting of the Labor and Employment Relations Association in January 2011 is Employment Relations for Economic Recovery and Sustained Growth. The dimensions of the employment relations system encompass the wage setting practices in organizations across an array of industries; the role of unions, employee representation, collective bargaining and industrial relations; the availability and affordability of education, training and workforce development; the organization and management of work for quality performance and cost effectiveness; the access of employees to work and life policies and practices at the workplace; and the sufficiency of pensions and retirement income security. Government policies – health care, unemployment insurance, labor law and enforcement, immigration, minimum wage, paid family and medical leave, and paid sick days – also have direct effects on management practices, employment relations, and household income.

The LERA Program Committee welcomes proposals for stimulating, creative, and controversial panels and workshops related to this theme as well as other proposals that deal with topics of current interest and the mission of LERA. We encourage submissions from the perspectives of multiple disciplines – including but not limited to economics, sociology, political science, labor and employment law, industrial relations, and human resource studies – and the perspectives of multiple stakeholders, including investors, managers, workers, and unions. Those submitting proposals will be asked to categorize their proposal into one of eight  areas of labor and employment relations: international and comparative industrial relations, industry studies, work and occupations, labor economics and labor markets; law, regulations, and dispute resolution; unions and labor studies, human resources, and labor- management relations.

Session proposals for both symposia and workshops will be considered. The Program Committee recommends a maximum of six (6) participants in your session, including chairs, presenters, and discussants to allow time for questions from the audience. Chairs, presenters, panelists, and discussants may only participate in one role and in one session on the program, although they may co-author other papers that are on the program. Exceptions are allowed for those who are invited to present in the LERA Refereed Papers, AILR/LERA Best Papers, and the upcoming LERA Research Volume Preview sessions.

Those wishing to submit papers rather than sessions are invited to submit to the LERA Refereed papers competition. Student authors are also invited to submit to the UCIRHRP Student Papers competition. Both of the above are refereed papers and winners are invited to publish in the LERA Proceedings.

To submit an online proposal, visit the LERA website beginning October 15, 2009. Organizers are requested to provide a brief session abstract and to list all participants, either confirmed or invited. Proposals must reach the LERA National Office no later than January 25, 2010.

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LERA President Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld

In this year’s Labor Day address, delivered in Cincinnati, President Obama addressed the role of labor in our economy, reaffirming his view that “in good economic times and bad, labor is not part of the problem. Labor is part of the solution.” What are the implications for LERA? Clearly we are more than “labor” since we also encompass management, government, neutrals and academic scholars. At the same time, we are the leading association focused on advancing labor and employment relations and we do need to ask ourselves how we can ensure that “labor” (broadly defined) is part of the solution.

Certainly the programs at our Annual Meetings, at the National Policy Forum, at LERA sessions at the FMCS National Labor-Management Conference, and in local chapter meetings around the country all help to advance theory, practice and policy in important ways. For example, NPF Video footage from the National Policy Forum, which is now available at the LERA website, is testimony to the valuable ways we are advancing knowledge in the field on topics ranging from health care, to the auto industry, to executive compensation, to workforce development, to public sector employment, to green jobs and other pressing topics. Similarly, the LERA publications such as Perspectives on Work, the annual volumes, the newsletter and others, all present state-of-the art information on labor and employment relations. So LERA is already part of the solution in the important programming and publications that we produce.

But we must do more. There were just under twenty U.S. scholars among the 900 delegates at the World Congress of the International Industrial Relations Association (IIRA), held in Sydney, Australia. While in Sydney, we learned a great deal about how workplace fairness has been linked to enterprise performance and elevated to be the centerpiece of Australia’s national economic policies. We also saw evidence of many other nations placing labor and employment relations at the center of their economic agendas, all of which is described on a brief document prepared under Tom Kochan’s leadership and now available at LERA’s blog forum. In the U.S., we have not yet had a full national dialogue aimed at aligning labor policy, economic policy, and daily workplace realities. In this regard there is much more work to be done if labor (and employment relations) are to be part of the solution.

It will be of interest to LERA members that the leadership of the International Industrial Relations Association voted at the 2009 World Congress to change the name of the association from IIRA to the International Labor and Employment Relations Association. (ILERA).This decision was made for reasons similar to our own name change – to fully signal a focus encompassing all aspects of employment relations. Certainly, the nature of work today and issues such as the future of the American Dream can’t be understood without attention to individual employment rights and worker relations with employers in nonunion settings. Interestingly, at the same time that we much attend to the full range work arrangements, the long-standing domain of union-management relations is re-emerging as having increased importance. LERA has been contacted by employers, unions and government officials – all indicating that traditional labor relations skills are in short supply. It is increasingly hard to find people who know how to handle grievances, negotiate collective bargaining agreements, operate labor-management committees, and generally build constructive labor-management relations. It is in response to this demand that LERA is in the process of launching a major initiative to coordinate training and skill certification for labor relations.

While there will be much more information on the LERA certification initiative in coming issues of the newsletter and extensive discussion at the January 2010 membership meeting in Atlanta, discussions to date point to the following model:

• LERA will develop the overall skills standards and certification process
• Actual skills training can be delivered by a broad range of providers, including universities, local LERA chapters, unions, employers, government agencies, and others – all based on the LERA curriculum standards
• Individuals will achieve different levels of certification based on a combination of tests and demonstrated proficiency coordinated by LERA

Content expertise will come from a blue ribbon panel of LERA members. Fees from the initiative (and we hope additional external support for launch) will enable LERA to provide the needed staff support. Thus, we build on the foundation of our programming and publications. Then, we must also elevate national policy debates and build needed labor relations capabilities. Taken together, LERA will indeed be helping to ensure that labor is part of the solution to the great economic and social challenges facing the U.S. and the global economy.

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We anticipate that this site will be used by a wide variety of LERA members, BNA readers, and others to post blogs and background articles/statements on a wide variety of policy issues. Each posting will represent the work and/or views of its author. LERA does not take positions on public policy issues; instead, it provides a forum for analysis, discussion, and debate of all points of view on policy matters.

One of the first major policy issues to be debated involves whether and if so how to reform the nation’s labor law. The first entry suggests the need to tone down the extreme rhetoric over the law and for leaders in the field to come together and ask how labor management relations can better contribute to the nation’s economic recovery.

For more information on how to host your own “Work in America” forum and bring dialog to the Atlanta Annual Meeting in January 2010, visit LERAblog.org.

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2009 Inaugural Scholar Fellows shown here L to R: Bruce Kaufman, Francine Blau, and Thomas A. Kochan. (Not shown: Richard Freeman and Arne Kalleberg

The LERA Awards Committee named five scholars and five practitioners as the inaugural LERA Fellows in San Francisoc last January at the 61st Annual Meeting. LERA Fellows is a new series of awards established by the LERA Executive Board to recognize scholars and practitioners who have made contributions of unusual distinction to the field and have been in the profession and field for longer than 10 years.

The committee for the LERA Fellows scholar title will consider those who making contributions from all disciplines such as Industrial Relations, Labor Law, Economics, Human Resources, Business, Sociology, Political Science, and Organizational Behavior. Inaugural Scholar Fellows were Francine Blau, Cornell University; Richard Freeman, Harvard University and Arne Kalleberg, University of North Carolina; Bruce Kaufman, Georgia State University; and Thomas A. Kochan, MIT.

Inaugural Practitioner Fellows shown here L to R: Friedman, Zack, Adler, Castrey, and Hoffman)

For 2010 and future years, the LERA Awards Committee will name as many as three scholars and three practitioners for LERA Fellows designations. The awards will be made during the LERA General Membership Meeting and Awards Ceremony each year at the LERA Annual Meeting.  Any LERA member may nominate a LERA Scholar by sending an email or letter of nomination to LERAoffice@illinois.edu.

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The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc. (BNA), a sustaining sponsor of the LERA, is hosting a live webinar featuring LERA member, David Lewin, of UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. The webinar is entitled:  “Managing Employment Relationship Conflict: Lessons for the HR Community,” and will be held Wednesday, November 11, 2009 at 2:00 PM – 3:30 PM ET. More information about the event can be found at:
http://hrcenter.bna.com/Pagemanager.aspx?pageId=8562.

LERA members may access this webinar free of charge. However, in order to do so, please do not register through the on-line store at the link above. Instead, please contact Matt Sottong at msottong@bna.com.  He will arrange for your complimentary attendance.

Bureau of National Affairs offers Free Webinar to LERA Members

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Addressing the staff reduction, Paula Wells, Executive Director of LERA pointed out that the decision not to replace former staff Lisa Sprinkle, who left LERA in January for a marketing position in the Champaign IL County Parks and Recreation Department, was “difficult but necessary, considering our economic reality.”

“LERA has a small operational budget and membership dues only cover half of the expenses. Without grant support or other revenue streams, we must get back to a balanced budget.“ She explained that LERA has cut expenses about as much as possible, already moving several publications, like the LERA Newsletter and LERA Proceedings to electronic publishing formats. She indicated she and LERA staffer Emily Smith will continue to work to support the broad range of member services.

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