April 1, 2020

LERA colleagues and conference participants,

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, traveling poses a danger to your health and to the health of the nation, and LERA will not ask you to travel to the LERA 72^nd Annual Meeting, June 13-16, 2020, in Portland, Oregon.

Despite that, an exchange of research and best practices for the field of labor and employment relations is needed now more than ever, so LERA is not cancelling this event. Instead, the LERA 72^nd Annual Meeting will be conducted as a fully virtual conference, over the same date range, and we are so grateful in advance for your flexibility during these uncertain times.

To ensure that our members and attendees will be able to participate in a meaningful exchange of cutting edge research and best practices in the field, we will be rolling out new virtual engagement tools shortly to our members, and we will give you details as we go.

Meeting participants can expect to be contacted over the next few days and weeks with details and options. Meeting attendees registered prior to 4/1/2020 can expect the same. Registration remains open at our website.

Thank you so much for your interest in this organization, and for your support as we adjust to new realities of a global pandemic.

March 12, 2020

LERA is considering how the novel Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) may impact the LERA 72^nd Annual Meeting, June 13-16, 2020, in Portland, Oregon. Since it is a rapidly evolving outbreak and there is much to be learned, LERA will continue to closely monitor the situation and inform you of any policy changes in relation to our annual meeting. At this time, we have no plans to cancel the event.

It would be difficult if not impossible to re-schedule the event were it to be cancelled and we do want to ensure that our members will be able to participate in a meaningful exchange of cutting edge research and best practices in the field of labor and employment relations in 2020, as we have been anticipating for many months. So, we ask our colleagues to be as flexible as possible in accommodating changes that may be required to respond to the evolving situation, and we will be preparing contingency plans as necessary.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown announced yesterday that she is banning all public gatherings of more than 250 people statewide for four weeks, effective March 11 through April 11. We will be monitoring travel guidance from the CDC, and determining the best course of action for all meeting participants in the next 14 weeks.

We will continue to check on this public health situation and will relay any changes that may affect the LERA 72^nd Annual Meeting, June 13-16, 2019. Thank you so much for your interest in this organization, and for your support as LERA grapples with this extraordinary circumstance.