The New Jersey Chapter of the Labor and Employment Relations Association (LERA) is a unique organization of professionals from New Jersey and continguous states who are interested in labor & employment relations and human resource management. The chapter includes members from the management, labor, neutral (including arbitrators and mediators), government, and academic fields.

The New Jersey Chapter holds six dinner meetings a year where members listen to distinguished speakers and share their knowledge and experience. The New Jersey Chapter is affiliated with the Labor and Employment Relations Association (formerly the Industrial Relations Research Association), which sponsors national meetings for practitioners and academics and publishes books, conference proceedings, and periodicals that are designed for a wide audience.

Our next meeting will be held on May 13, 2013.

Teacher Tenure Reform - The New Law (NJTEACH) - How Is It Working?

In the summer of 2012, the NJ State Legislature passed a bill, which was subsequently signed by Gov. Christie, aimed at toughening the path to tenure for the New Jersey’s public school teachers. At this meeting, we will examine the law and discuss how it is working so far.

Panel:

Vince Giordano, NJEA

Joel Weisblatt, Arbitrator

Steve Cohen, Esq.

Arsen Zartarian, Esq.

At this meeting we will also vote on the slate of officers for 2013-14. The proposed slate is:

President:           Erica Tener, Arbitrator

Vice President:    John Vreeland, Esq. (Genova Burns Giantomasi Webster)

Treasurer:           Paul Montalbano, Esq. (Cohen, Leder, Montalbano & Grossman)

Secretary:            Pat Westerkamp, Arbitrator

Board Members:

                           Lisa Charles, Arbitrator

                           Lucille Alfano, Arbitrator

                           James Cooney, Rutgers Professor

                           Vince Giordano, NJEA

                           Zella Felzenberg, NJEA

                           Jonathan Cohen, Esq. (Apruzzese, McDermott, Mastro & Murphy)

 National LERA Liaison:

                           William Dwyer, PSEG

Click on links below for the meeting announcement registration:

May 13, 2013 Meeting Notice

REGISTRATION LINK

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 ANNUAL 2012-2013 ANNUAL MEMBERSHIP

Membership Application→ Annual Membership Registration Form

Payments can be made by mailing a check or using your credit card (via Pay Pal) Instructions are on the registration form.

Payment Options:

Annual Membership - Full$35.00 USD Anual Membership - Student$5.00 USD Dinner Meeting - Member$40.00 USD Dinner Meeting - Non Member$50.00 USD Dinner Meeting - Student$32.50 USD

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LERA is holding its 65th Annual Conference

June 6-9 in St. Louis, MO

NJ will be well represented at this conference. Included on the program is a presentation by Jeff Keefe (Rutgers) and Pat Westerkamp (Arbitrator):

LERA Competitive Papers II—312

Chair: Oren Levin-Waldman, The Metropolitan College of New York
Presenters:

• Jeffrey H. Keefe, Rutgers University—A Reconsideration and  Empirical Evaluation of Wellington's and Winter's, The Unions and the Cities (1971)
• Michele Tiraboschi, University of Modena and Reggio Emilia—Labor Market Policies to Tackle the Crisis and Sustain the Economic Growth in EU: Models and Solutions
• Matthew Bidwell, University of Pennsylvania—What Happened to Long Term Employment? The Role of Worker Power and Environmental Turbulence in Explaining Declines in Worker Tenure
• Pat Westerkamp —Dilemmas Facing Advocates and Arbitrators Who Mediate Grievances

John F. Burton, Jr. (Rutgers) will also make a presentation:

 Workers' Compensation: Recent Developments (Workshop)

For more information please click below: 

LERA 65th Annual Conference Information

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8th Annual Labor and Management Conference:
Health, Well-Being and Work
Labor Education Center | Rutgers University | 50 Labor Center Way, New Brunswick, NJ 08901
9:00AM- 3:00PM | MAY 8, 2013

How will workplace health and wellness initiatives be affected by the Affordable Care Act?

How can labor and management negotiate these initiatives to produce real results and employee support?

What are the model cases we can learn from?

According to a new report by the National Academies Press, Americans are actually less healthy across their entire life spans than citizens of 16 other wealthy nations; yet, the United States has the most expensive health care system in the world ($2.6 trillion a year). Our nation is currently in the midst of a health crisis. How will labor and management respond? For a list of speakers and to register, please see the attached flyer:

RU Labor Management Conference

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES - LINKS

LERA - National Site

American Arbitration Association

New Jersey PERC

New Jersey State Board of Mediation
Federal Mediation and Concilation Service
New Jersey Small Business Administration
New Jersey Education Association
New Jersey Chamber of Commerce