National Academy of Arbitrators (NAA) – 76th Annual Meeting & Education Conference, May 3-6, 2023, Grand Hyatt, Denver, CO.  The 2024 conference will take place in May at the Park Plaza hotel in Boston, MA.  Note that the NAA also maintains a calendar of continuing education and regional activities; in particular:

• 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 next meeting is scheduled for February 22-24, 2024 at the Dallas Love Field Embassy Suites, with the topic AI and Automation in the Workplace; registration info to follow).

• Northern California Region hosted a 2023 Labor Arbitration Advocacy Conference on September 29, 2023 at the Elihu M. Harris State Office Building in Oakland, CA (*I participated in several panels with fellow PERC and SMCS arbitrator panelists).  

• Southeast Region Labor Advocacy Training and Labor Arbitrator Conference will take place on March 1-2, 2024 at the Hyatt House Tampa Airport/Westshore, Tampa, FL.

Labor and Employment Relations Association (LERA) – 75th Annual Meeting, June 1-4, 2023, MotorCity Hotel and Casino, Detroit, MI (*I led panels on organizing and starting a new arbitrator practice; materials available online).  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 - call for proposals now available on the LERA website).  

The FMCS Arbitrator Symposium, co-sponsored by the NAA Mid-Atlantic Region and the New Jersey chapter of LERA, was held on October 12-13, 2023 at the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino in Atlantic City.

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 is on November 8-11, 2023 in Seattle.

National Association of Railroad Referees (NARR) -  2023 Conference.  September 20-22, 2023, 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.  2024 conference save the date: September 25-27.

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 (*I led a panel on discrimination in religious institutions).  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.  2024 conference save the date: March 17-19.

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.  Check the SFLERP website for additional training opportunities throughout the year, including an online panel set for September featuring discussion on selecting arbitrators in the federal sector (details to follow).  2024 conference save the date: March 14-15.

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.  Upcoming and recent statewide and regional conferences to be aware of are:

California: 40th Annual Labor and Employment Law Conference.  Virtual event, July 19, 2023 (an in-person reception took place at the Los Angeles Athletic Club on July 18).  Sponsored by the SoCal LERA Chapter.

  Virginia:  Collective Bargaining & Collaborative Approaches to Labor Relations Conference. The Virginia LERA chapter          recently hosted its second annual full-day conference in Richmond on statewide public sector issues, on September 14,     2023 at the Richmond Marriott (*I participated as a panelist on the "red light/green light" arbitrator panel).

Maine: the LERA-Maine Chapter's half-day conference will be held in Scaroborough on November 17, 2023.

Washington state: 46th Collective Bargaining and Arbitration Conference.  April 20-21, 2023, Hotel Murano, Tacoma, WA.  Sponsored by the Northwest LERA Chapter.  The 47th annual conference will be held at the same location on March 28-29, 2024.

---

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.  There does not appear to be a 2023 meeting scheduled.

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.  The 2023 event took place on October 19 in Orlando (more details at the link above).

Advanced Labor Topics 2023.  The Florida Bar Labor and Employment Law Section hosted this two-day conference on May 19-20, 2023 at the Ritz-Carlton on Amelia Island, FL.

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 (web domain no longer operational).

Massachusetts

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

44th Annual Labor & Employment Spring Conference.  May 24, 2023, Suffolk Law School, Boston, MA.  A program of the Massachusetts Bar Association.  One-day conference (10 am to 6 pm) featured EEOC Vice Chair Jocelyn Samuels and a networking reception.

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.  2024 conference save the date: October 1-3, Copper King Hotel & Convention Center, Butte, 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. 

Ohio

          Annual Arbitrator & Advocate Symposium.  October 26-27, 2023, Crown Plaza Columbus-North Worthington, Columbus, Ohio. 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.

Oregon

Oregon Labor Law Conference (OLLC) 2023.  January 27, 2023, IBEW Local 48 Meeting Hall, Portland, OR.  Check back on the website for the 2024 event.

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 took place on April 14, 2023 at the Roger Williams Law School Appellate Courtroom, Bristol, RI.  The 2024 conference will return to Roger Williams on April 4.

The Fall conference is co-planned by the NAA New England region and took place on November 6, 2023 at the Newport Marriott, Newport, RI (pre-conference activities on the evening of November 5); members of the NAA New England region arbitrator salon, including me, moderated panels at the conference.

Tennessee

34rd Annual Tennessee Labor-Management Conference.  The Tennessee Labor-Management Foundation hosts two annual meetings. The most recent scheduled meeting was in Gatlinburg on August 21-23, 2023.

Virginia

53nd Annual Conference on Labor and Employment Law.  The Virginia Bar Association recently hosted a multi-day gathering of the labor and employment law section, at the Hyatt Regency in Reston on September 21-23, 2023.