LERA 68th AM - Professional Development Workshops 2016

LERA Professional Development Workshops

Special Pre-Conference Day Sessions, Held in Conjunction with
LERA 68th Annual Meeting, May 26-29, 2016, in Minneapolis, MN

In conjunction with the LERA 68th Annual Meeting in Minneapolis, Minnesota, LERA is offering two professional development workshops on Wednesday, May 25, 2016 which provide hands-on training for managers and staff dealing with labor and employment relations issues.

  • 7:45 - 8 am, Badge Pickup and Registration (Grand Ballroom Foyer)
  • 8 - 8:30 am, Continental Breakfast (Grand Ballroom Central)
  • 8:30 am - 12 pm, Choose 1 Workshop to Attend (Grand Ballroom Central or South)
  • 12:15 - 1 pm, Lunch (Grand Ballroom Central)

Who should attend?

When?

Where?

Managers, union leaders & staff, mediators, facilitators

Wed., 5/25/16
8am - 1pm

Millennium Hotel, 1313 Nicollet Mall, Minneapolis, MN, 55403

More About Workshop 1 | More About Workshop 2 | Register


Registration for Workshops

Registration is now open. All participants and attendees must register.
Online registration will be open through May 22, 2016, and includes continental breakfast and lunch.
The registration fee is $100.

Please register at:
https://lera.memberclicks.net/index.php?option=com_mc&view=mc&mcid=form_217959 


Workshop 1 -
Tools for Addressing Contemporary Workplace Tensions & Conflicts
Facilitated by:
Carolyn Chalmers 
Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld Erin Kelly  Thomas Kochan Nancy Peace  Mary Rowe
Workshop Facilitators:

Mary Rowe, Adjunct Professor at MIT and an organizational ombudsman at MIT for nearly 42 years.
Erin Kelly, Professor at MIT where she studies diversity and work-life programs.
Thomas Kochan, Professor at MIT where he studies work and employment policies.
Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Professor at Brandeis where he leads research on stakeholder alignment.
Carolyn Chalmers, Twin Cities’ ADR practitioner and employment lawyer and former Dir. of the Ofc. for Conflict Resolution at UMN.  
Is your organization experiencing increased racial or gender tensions in the workplace?  Have you heard or had reports of disparaging or hurtful comments taking place in the workplace?

Issues that arise at work are often a reflection of the tensions and problems occurring in our societies, but when they happen in the workplace they put our organizations at risk for a variety of consequences, including litigation.  Now is the time to create a proactive strategy that will help address these tensions and, if executed well, improve the work environment.

This workshop will help you identify NEW ways to address workplace tensions before they escalate into potentially destructive conflicts.  As just two examples, we can discuss adding an organizational ombuds office into a conflict management system, and strategies for teaching “micro-affirmations” as one way of preventing “micro-inequities.”  We will focus on examples from organizations in the Twin Cities area.  Hands-on exercises illustrate how to utilize state-of-the-art tools for conflict management in your workplace.

Who should attend:  Managers, union leaders, mediators and facilitators of organizational change and others who share an interest in and responsibility for addressing the tensions, inequities, and conflicts occurring in workplaces today.
Who should attend? Managers, union leaders, mediators and facilitators of organizational change and others who share an interest in and responsibility for addressing the tensions, inequities, and conflicts occurring in workplaces today.

Workshop 2 -
Unions and Internal Organizing
Facilitated by:
 
Monica Bielski Boris Michelle Kaminski
Workshop Facilitators:

Monica Bielski Boris, Labor Educator at University of Minnesota
Michelle Kaminsky, Assistant Professor and Labor Educator at Michigan State University

This workshop will address union strategies for internal organizing and membership mobilization. There has been a renewed focus on these strategies because of the spread of right-to-work laws and the possibility of open shop conditions for all public sector unions because of the Friedrichs case.

Many unions have developed plans for outreach to both members and non-members to foster union commitment. These plans involve workplace mapping, relational organizing, and issue campaigns. We will explore various models with hands on exercises and interactive discussions.

Who should attend? Leader unions and staff from unions should attend as well as academics and researchers interested in union member engagement.

 WORKSHOP 1 | WORKSHOP 2 | REGISTRATION