This is where research meets practice, and where ideas turn into strategy.

A Conference Within the Conference

If your work involves organizing campaigns, bargaining, workplace policy, dispute resolution, or workforce strategy, this hub is designed to help you focus on what matters most.

Rather than navigating the full program, this is a guided path through sessions that offer practical insight, lessons learned, and approaches you can apply immediately.

If you’re looking for sessions grounded in real-world application, these are some of the strongest in the program:

TOP 10 MUST-ATTEND PRACTITIONER SESSIONS

If your work is applied, strategic, and people-facing, these sessions stand out for their practical relevance:

Strategy and Organizing in the Private Sector

What today’s organizing campaigns are doing differently, and what is actually working

When the Dance Becomes a Mosh Pit: The Changing Dynamics of Collective Bargaining

How bargaining is evolving in more volatile, high-pressure environments

AI in Labor Arbitration: Enhancing Efficiency and Access Through Smart Tools

How AI is already being used in dispute resolution, and what it means in practice

From Evidence to Action: Connecting Research, Policy and Organizing on AI and Work

Bridging research and real-world implementation of AI in the workplace

Building Sustainable Labor-Management Relationships Through Grievance Mediation

Practical approaches to strengthening relationships through dispute resolution

Conducting Fair, Efficient, and Cost-Effective Union Elections: Lessons and Best Practices

What works in running elections effectively under real-world constraints

What Were They Thinking? Negotiators Share Controversial New Contract Language Proposals and How It Worked Out

Real examples of bargaining risks, innovations, and outcomes

Using Structure Innovation and Problem Solving in HR and Labor Relations

How organizations are redesigning structures to address complex workplace issues

Work Security: Alternative Approaches to Layoffs

New ways organizations are approaching workforce reductions and job security

Update from the National Labor Relations Board

What practitioners need to know about the current and future regulatory landscape

These sessions are complemented by plenaries and networking opportunities that connect perspectives across labor, management, and policy.

A PRACTITIONER’S PATH THROUGH THE MEETING

Here’s a curated path through the meeting focused on strategy, application, and connection.

Thursday: Grounding in the Landscape

Start with sessions that frame the current environment and give you immediately usable tools.

Strong starting points include:

• Work Security: Alternative Approaches to Layoffs
• Emerging Rideshare Collective Bargaining Models
• Scholar Meets Practitioner: Mediation in Research and in Practice

Then move into applied discussions:

• Assessing Just Cause During Disciplinary Investigations
• Bridging Legal and Contractual Worlds: External Law in Arbitration
• Using Structure Innovation and Problem Solving in HR and Labor Relations

Late afternoon highlight:

• AI in Labor Arbitration: Enhancing Efficiency and Access Through Smart Tools

Don’t miss:

• Opening Plenary
• Reception and informal networking

Goal: Understand the landscape and start building connections

Friday: Deep Dive into Practice

Friday is where practitioners get the most direct, actionable content.

Morning focus:

• Utilizing All of the Available Talent: New Strategies for More Representative Arbitration
• Worker Voice in Minnesota's Higher Education Sector

Midday and early afternoon:

• How Minneapolis Became a Mecca for Worker Justice Organizing
• When the Dance Becomes a Mosh Pit: The Changing Dynamics of Collective Bargaining
• Expanding Equity in Arbitration

Afternoon highlights:

• From Evidence to Action: AI and Work
• Labor-Management Partnership and Worker Engagement for Use of AI and Technology
• Working Through Differences: Methods to Bridge the Divide

Goal: Walk away with ideas you can apply immediately

Saturday: Strategy, Systems, and Takeaways

Saturday brings together practical insight with broader strategy and direction.

Morning:

• Conducting Fair, Efficient, and Cost-Effective Union Elections
• Negotiators Share Controversial Contract Language and Outcomes
• State Attempts to Regulate Private Sector Labor Relations

Late morning:

• Building Sustainable Labor-Management Relationships Through Grievance Mediation
• Strategy and Organizing in the Private Sector

Midday anchor:

• Presidential Address and Luncheon

Afternoon:

• Legal Trends in Arbitration and Their Impact
• Update from the National Labor Relations Board
• Making Mediation More Effective: Timing, Preparation, and Impact

Goal: Translate insight into forward-looking strategy

Sunday (Optional but High Value)

For those staying through Sunday:

• Drive-thru Unionism: Organizing Workers in the U.S. Fast Food Industry
• State Employment Standards Enforcement: The Minnesota Example
• Dealing with New State and Local Labor Law

Goal: Leave with concrete examples of where the field is heading

Plenary Sessions

The plenaries bring together leading voices across labor, management, and policy to address the biggest questions facing the field.

These sessions provide context for the challenges practitioners are navigating every day.

Reception and Networking

The Annual Meeting reception creates space for connection across roles and perspectives.

For many attendees, these conversations are where ideas turn into relationships, and relationships turn into action.

How to Use This Hub

You can:

• Build your schedule around these highlighted sessions

• Use them as anchor points and explore related discussions

• Connect with others attending similar sessions

Explore the Full Program

http://www.leraoffice.org/php/program.php 

Join Us in Minneapolis

If your work is applied, strategic, and people-focused, this program is designed for you.