SIXTH ANNUAL
The Commissioners and staff of the WERC are pleased to invite you to the Sixth Annual Wisconsin Public Sector Labor Relations Conference.
We acknowledge and thank the University of Wisconsin Law School and the Labor and Employment Law Section of the State Bar for their continued support and assistance as co-sponsors.
We are excited about the program
for this year's conference and hope that you will find it as informative and
enjoyable as in previous years. We look forward to seeing you on April 29
in
The April 29, 2010 Public Sector Conference
program, registration
form, and hotel
information appear below.
Judy Neumann, Chair
Sue Bauman, Commissioner
Paul Gordon, Commissioner
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Sixth Annual
April 29, 2010 –
Presented by the
Co-Sponsored by the University of
the Labor and Employment Law Section
of the State Bar of
8:15-9:00 Registration
Judy
Neumann, Chair,
An overview of developments in
Peter G. Davis, General Counsel,
10:20-11:50 Four
90 minute breakouts / 1 Nuts and Bolts Session
Session A I
Have to Take This Call
During the
term of a contract, an employer may face an issue, such as subcontracting, that
triggers a call from the union to bargain over the issue. The duty to bargain over the issue can
be complicated, often requiring an understanding of such concepts as mandatory
and permissive subjects of bargaining, waiver, past practice, declaratory
rulings and impact bargaining.
Experienced practitioners examine these concepts, discuss various dispute
resolution procedures, and consider hypothetical situations that explore this
duty to bargain.
Moderator:
Michael Julka, Attorney, Lathrop & Clark
Richard Saks, Attorney, Hawks Quindel
Session B Toil
and Trouble – Managing and Representing
The Troubled Employee
Management and labor representatives
spend considerable time and resources dealing with the workplace problems posed
by troubled employees. Substance
abuse, mental illness, and emotional distress all express themselves on the
job. Two experienced advocates lead
an interactive discussion of how employers and labor organizations can most
effectively deal with this challenging subset of the workforce.
Moderator: Stuart Levitan,
John English, Staff Representative, Milwaukee District
Council 48, AFSCME
Session C And
the Winner Is… The Year in Interest Arbitration
Has the last year been
a sea change, or just a passing squall?
Three experienced practitioners review
the decisions, trends and likely future direction of the interest arbitration
process.
Moderator:
Eileen Brownlee, Attorney, Kramer & Brownlee
Richard Terry, Bargaining Consultant
Session D When
the Going Gets Tough, the Tough Get Furloughed
Subcontracts, hours reductions, and
furloughs have become an increasingly common response to the difficult economic
times. Are these emergency
measures, or are they likely to become a recurring feature of budget management
and labor relations in
Moderator: Danielle Carne,
Richard Badger, Executive Director,
Session E Nuts
and Bolts I – Preparing for Collective Bargaining
Part one of a three part presentation for
those who are relatively new to the process of public sector collective
bargaining. This session examines
how parties organize themselves in advance of bargaining, identifying issues
and priorities, costing, crafting and presenting the initial proposals, and
laying the groundwork for successful collective bargaining.
Moderator: Sue Bauman,
David Friedman, Attorney, Friedman Law Firm
Sam Gieryn, Staff Representative,
12:50- 2:20 You Think
It’s So Easy??
The audience gets its chance to play the
role of arbitrator, as each table listens to the arguments of experienced
advocates on four grievances, then comes to a conclusion on the proper
outcome. After the votes are
tabulated, three grievance arbitrators give their results, and the rationale
supporting them.
Allan Ponak,
Arbitrators: George Fleischli, Arbitrator
A.
Henry Hempe, Arbitrator
Advocates:
Steven
Rynecki, Attorney, von Briesen & Roper
Daniel Vliet, Attorney, Buelow, Vetter, Buikema, Olson & Vliet
2:30-3:40 Four
70 minute breakouts / 1 Nuts and Bolts Session
Session F The
Way You Do The Things You Do
Arbitrators Explain Why They Do All of Those Annoying Things
Have you ever wanted to ask an arbitrator
why she doesn’t seem to take your procedural objection seriously? Or why he lets in all of that seemingly
irrelevant testimony? Or why last
minute changes in the theory of the case don’t get it tossed out? This is your chance. A panel of well known arbitrators
answers questions posed anonymously by practitioners, and live by audience
members, about any and every aspect of grievance arbitration and engage the
audience in a discussion of why arbitrators do the things they do.
Moderator: Lauri Millot,
Janice
Session G Someone
Call 911. Bargaining and Administering
Protective Services Contracts in the Midst of Economic Hard Times
The past year has forced many
municipalities to think the unthinkable – cutting back in the areas of
police and fire protection. Two
experienced advocates specializing in bargaining police and fire contracts
discuss the significant practical, political and legal developments of the past
year in the protective services sector.
Moderator: John Emery,
John Kiel, Attorney,
Session H Well,
Why Didn’t You Say So?
Is that letter of discipline
bullet-proof, or more like Swiss cheese?
How a letter of discipline is written can make or break a case on just
cause review under either a labor agreement or the State Personnel Code,
potentially negating even the most thorough investigation. What strategies would a well-informed
employer apply? What loopholes does
a sharp-eyed employee advocate hope to see?
Moderator: Kurt Stege,
Nicholas Fairweather, Attorney, Hawks Quindel
Lisa Rutherford, Director, Office of Administrative Legal Services, UW-Madison
Jana Weaver, Assistant Executive Director,
Session I Just
Desserts – Pay for Performance in Public Sector
Bargaining
Merit pay – a popular bargaining
proposal in the 1980’s – is making a comeback of sorts. Other places have tied pay to the
employer’s performance – tax revenues, state aids and fees. How significant might these concepts be
for bargaining at a time of austerity and uncertainty? What are the practical limits?
Moderator:
James Carlson, Director, Kettle Moraine UniServ Council
Mark Vetter, Attorney, Buelow, Vetter,
Buikema, Olson & Vliet
,
Session J Nuts
and Bolts II – Basic Theories, Techniques and Tactics in Collective
Bargaining
Part two of a three part presentation for
those who are relatively new to the process of public sector collective
bargaining. This session examines
the actual process of bargaining following the exchange of initial proposals
– how to evaluate the other side’s proposals and intentions, how
messages are sent through the crafting and modification of proposals, how
roadblocks are avoided or resolved, how and when a mediator might be used and
how momentum is built toward a settlement.
Moderator: Sue Bauman,
James Ruhly, Attorney, Melli Law
Patrick Kilbane, Field
Service Representative, Wisconsin Fire Fighters
3:50-5:00 Three
70 minute Breakouts / 1 Nuts and Bolts Session
Session K Ethics
in the Round
An interactive
examination of scenarios raising issues of ethical conduct for attorneys and
practitioners in the field of labor relations.
Moderator: Paul Gordon,
Steven Weld, Attorney, Weld Riley Prenn &
Ricci
Session L What
Do We Have for Our Winners, Johnny?
Remedies in Grievance Arbitration
The focus in
the arbitration is all on the merits, but some of the most challenging issues
are presented by proposing and crafting an appropriate remedy. Experienced practitioners discuss the
central importance of getting the remedy right.
Moderator: John C. Carlson, Jr.,
Alan Levy, Attorney, Lindner & Marsack
Matthew Robbins, Attorney, Previant, Goldberg
Richard McLaughlin, Arbitrator,
Session M The
Old College Try - Collective Bargaining Rights for
Faculty and
Academic Staff in the
The 2009 Budget Bill granted bargaining
rights to UW System faculty, and academic staff. The process of organizing has begun,
although actual bargaining is some ways in the future. A representative of the UW System, and
the legal counsel for TAUWF, examine the issues looming for the System, the
faculty and the labor organizations in the next three years.
Moderator: William Houlihan,
Christopher Ashley, Senior System Legal Counsel,
Timothy Hawks, Attorney, Hawks Quindel
Session N Nuts
and Bolts
Part three of a three part presentation
for those who are relatively new to the process of public sector collective
bargaining. This session examines
the process of interest arbitration – how final offers are designed, how
the arbitration process is conducted, and how the arbitrator evaluates and
chooses between the offers.
Moderator: Sue Bauman,
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2010 Public Sector Conference -- Registration Information
Registration Fee: $110.00
Registrations will be accepted on a space available
basis.
Registration
Forms are
available in two formats:
-
a convenient auto-fill
Registration Form in RTF format.
The form can either be filled-out on screen (IE browser required) and
then printed and mailed/faxed, or the form can be downloaded, opened with your
word processor, filled out on screen and either e-mailed or printed and
mailed/faxed.
-
a printable
Registration Form in PDF format.
Cancellation Policy:
Cancellations prior to April 17 will result in a full refund of the
registration fee. Cancellations on
or after April 17 will not result in a refund. Registrations may be transferred to
other persons at any time prior to May 1, but you must advise us by April 30 of
the name of the registrant and the name of the substitute.
Registration
Questions: contact Georgann Kramer georgann.kramer@werc.state.wi.us 608-266-9287
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2010 Public Sector Conference
-- Special Hotel Rate
The
Sheraton Madison Hotel is making a block of rooms available to registrants for the
Sixth Annual Wisconsin Public Sector Labor Relations Conference at special
rates for the nights of April 28 and/or April 29, 2010, the night before and
the night of the April 29 Conference.
The
Conference rates for a standard room are $70 for single occupancy and $100 for
double occupancy, plus taxes, if applicable. Conference rate reservations will be
available on a first-come, first-served basis through April 14.
The
Sheraton Madison is located at
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