Annual Montana Arbitration & Labor Relations Conference- 9/23-24 – Bozeman

2004-09-23 08:00:00
GranTree Inn in Bozeman

The 25th annual Arbitration and Labor Relations
Conference will be held on September 23 and 24, 2004, at the GranTree Inn in Bozeman.

The conference provides a forum for everyone in the labor
relations arena to meet to exchange information and learn from one another,
as well as from practitioners throughout the labor relations community. In
order to give practitioners an opportunity to further participate in the
labor relations process, the Montana Board of Personnel Appeals will conduct
its regular September meeting directly following the conference on Friday
afternoon.

The conference program includes:

* Keynote Speaker Barry Bluestone is the Stearns Trustee
Professor of Political Economy and director of the Center for Urban and
Regional Policy at Northeastern University in Boston, Massachusetts. As
part of his work, Bluestone spends a considerable amount of time consulting
with trade unions, with industry groups, and with various federal and state
government agencies.

* Several well-respected members of the economic community in
Montana have been invited to respond to the keynote: Rep. Pat Williams in
the U.S. Congress from 1979 to 1997. Professor Paul E. Polzin is director of
the Bureau of Business and Economic Research and Professor in the Department
of Management, University of Montana, Missoula. David Hoffman is manager of
External Affairs for PPL Western Operations at PPL Montana, LLC, in Helena.

* Concurrent sessions will be offered regarding negotiations
in practice, workplace mediation, and reinstatement remedies for wrongful
discharge in various labor systems. Presenters from the Billings and Helena
School Districts will discuss negotiation methods each used in bargaining
their last contracts. FMCS Commissioner Ted Handel will present a session
on workplace mediation. Yaron Catane, legal advisor to the Labor Court in
Jerusalem, Israel, will join Montana’s LeRoy Schramm to bring together the
European, Montana and Israeli perspectives concerning reinstatement remedies
for wrongful discharge.

* Karl Englund and LeRoy Schramm will address Montana
employment law developments, while representatives of the National Labor
Relations Board (NLRB) and Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS)
will provide updates from their agencies.

* Nationally recognized arbitrator Jack Flagler will return
and again present a program on the fundamentals of arbitration.

* A panel of representatives from the Montana Board of
Personnel Appeals (BOPA) and the NLRB will discuss the similarities and
differences between the public and private boards following concurrent
sessions about the fundamentals of each act. John Andrew, Labor Standards
Bureau Chief and Catherine Roth, an agent of the NLRB, will present these
concurrent sessions.

* Disciplinary action for off-duty conduct as well as drug
and/or alcohol use as it relates to the work place will be discussed by
experienced labor and management representatives. This topic will culminate
in the Red Light/Green Light session, where a panel of four arbitrators will
hear grievances based upon these presentations and individually set out the
analysis used prior to giving a decision on each case.

The entire agenda for the conference is available at the new conference home
page, http://www.mtlaborrelationsconf.com
This page provides links to the agenda, presenter biographical information,
and on-line pre-registration for the conference.

The conference is sponsored by the Montana Department of Labor and Industry,
Board of Personnel Appeals, Montana Arbitration Association, Federal
Mediation and Conciliation Service, and the National Labor Relations Board.