National Academy of Arbitrators (NAA) – 76th Annual Meeting & Education Conference, May 3-6, 2023, Grand Hyatt, Denver, CO.  Note that the NAA also maintains a calendar of continuing education and regional activities; in particular, the Southwest Rockies Region hosted its 44th Annual Labor-Management Conference on February 23-25, 2023, Houston Hobby Airport – Double Tree by Hilton, Houston, TX (the 2024 meeting is tentatively scheduled for February in Dallas).

Labor and Employment Relations Association (LERA) – 75th Annual Meeting, June 1-4, 2023, MotorCity Hotel and Casino, Detroit, MI.  LERA also maintains a calendar of the 36 local chapters that meet across the country on a regular basis, with a mix of in-person gatherings and many virtual and hybrid attendance options.

Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) – National Labor-Management Conference.  The NLMC brings together labor, management, practitioners, government agencies, advocates, and neutrals.  Meetings have typically been held in Washington, D.C. and Chicago, IL, with virtual convenings in 2020 and 2022.  In 2024, the NLMC will take place in New York, NY alongside the LERA and ILERA meetings (June 26-30, 2024, Hilton Midtown Manhattan).

American Bar Association (ABA) – The Labor and Employment Law Section hosts a number of events online and in-person throughout the year, including an annual conference each fall.  The 2023 Section conference will be held during the month of November in Seattle.

National Association of Railroad Referees (NARR) -  2023 Conference.  September 20-22, 203, Chicago, IL. The annual gathering brings together rail carriers, rail unions, arbitrators and the National Mediation Board to discuss issues under the Railway Labor Act.

National Centers for the Study of Collective Bargaining in Higher Education Professions (NCSCBHEP) – 50th Anniversary Annual Conference. March 26-28, 2023, Hunter College, New York, NY.  This annual gathering brings together faculty and staff unions, institutional representatives, advocates, neutrals and policymakers to discuss labor and employment-related issues in higher education.

Society of Federal Labor & Employee Relations Professionals (SFLERP) - 49th Annual Symposium.  March 23-24, 2023, Hilton Arlington National Landing Hotel, Arlington, VA.  Annual gathering of labor, management and neutrals in the federal sector.

Boston LERA Chapter Meeting, November 15, 2022, Dorchester Brewing Co. (Photo Credit: M. Loconto).

Local LERA Chapters

*Remember to check the local LERA chapters for upcoming gatherings, which are regularly updated.  Two upcoming statewide and regional conferences to be aware of are:

California: 40th Annual Labor and Employment Law Conference.  July 19, 2023, Sheraton Park Hotel, Anaheim, CA.  Sponsored by the SoCal LERA Chapter.

Washington state: 46th Collective Bargaining and Arbitration Conference.  April 20-21, 2023, Hotel Murano, Tacoma, WA.  Sponsored by the Northwest LERA Chapter.

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Alphabetical, by state:

Alabama

          Governor’s Labor Management Conference.  The conference last met prior to the pandemic.

Arkansas

Annual Labor & Management Conference.  Summer meeting co-sponsored by the Arkansas AFL-CIO and local industry.

California

2023 Western Mechanical Labor Management Conference. April 12-14, 2023, Omni Rancho Las Palmas Resort, Rancho Mirage, CA. A program organized by unions and employers in the mechanical and plumbing industry across the Western United States and Canada.

Florida

Annual Public Employment Labor Relations Forum.  The Florida Bar Labor and Employment Law Section maintains a roster of annual events, including a fall meeting focused on public sector labor issues.

Florida Labor Management Conference.  The conference last met in 2019.

Georgia

2023 Georgia Labor Management Conference.  June 21-23, 2023, Sea Palms Resort, St. Simons Island, GA.

Illinois

Federal Sector Labor Relations and Labor Law Conference.  Chicago-Kent College of Law, Chicago, IL.   

Kentucky

Kentucky Labor-Management Conference.  September 12-14, 2023, Kentucky Dam Village State Park, Gilbertsville, KY.

Northern Kentucky University Alternative Dispute Resolution Center.  The Center hosts an annual labor-management conference in the spring.

Louisiana-Mississippi

Louisiana-Mississippi Labor-Management Conference.  The 2022 conference was cancelled.

Massachusetts

49th Annual Robert Fuchs Labor Law Conference.  February 16, 2023, Suffolk Law School, Boston, MA.  A program of the Massachusetts Bar Association.

Michigan

Upper Peninsula Labor-Management Council 2023 Annual Conference. March 9, 2023, Island Resort & Casino, Harris, MI.

Missouri

Mid-America Labor/Management Conference.  July 9-12, 2023, Camden on the Lake, Lake Ozark, MO.  The Labor-Management Council of Greater Kansas City organizes this annual event; watch the website or the organization’s Facebook page for registration information.

Montana

          Big Sky Labor & Employment Conference.  August 9-11, 2023, Big Sky, MT. 

43rd Annual Arbitration and Labor Relations Conference.  August 29-31, 2023, Billings Convention Center, Billings, MT.

New Jersey

2023 Public Employment Conference.  May 4, 2023, Hilton East Brunswick, East Brunswick, NJ.  Annual public-sector labor law conference sponsored by the state Public Employee Relations Commission; first time back in-person since 2019. 

New York

75th Annual NYU Conference on Labor & Employment Law.  May 23-24, 2023, NYU Law, New York, NY (*note updated date as of March 2023). 

Ohio

          Annual Arbitrator & Advocate Symposium.  Fall meeting co-sponsored by FMCS, LERA and NAA.

Oklahoma

2023 Oklahoma Labor/Management Conference.  May 3-4, 2023, Renaissance Waterford Oklahoma City Hotel, Oklahoma City, OK.

Pennsylvania

2023 Pennsylvania Bar Association Labor and Employment Law Section Annual Retreat.  March 17-18, 2023, The Hotel Hershey, Hershey, PA.

Rhode Island

University of Rhode Island Schmidt Labor Research Center.  The Center hosts two annual conferences.  The Spring conference focuses on labor and employment law issues at the state and federal level and is scheduled for April 14, 2023, Roger Williams Law School Appellate Courtroom, Bristol, RI.  The Fall conference is co-planned by the NAA New England region; the most recent meeting took place in Newport in November 2022.

Tennessee

33rd Annual Tennessee Labor-Management Conference.  The Tennessee Labor-Management Foundation hosts two annual meetings.  The last summer meeting took place in Murfreesboro, TN in September 2022.  The 2023 mid-year conference will be held in Memphis (date and details TBA).

Virginia

Collective Bargaining & Collaborative Approaches to Labor Relations Conference. The Virginia LERA chapter recently hosted a full-day conference in Richmond on statewide issues; a meeting is scheduled for September 14, 2023 at the Marriott in Richmond.

52nd Annual Conference on Labor and Employment Law.  The Virginia Bar Association hosted the last gathering of the labor and employment law section at a two-day meeting in Charlottesville in September 2022.