Events

The 40th anniversary of the Taylor Law - the statute governing labor relations between unions and government in New York State - will be commemorated at a statewide conference in Albany on May 15-16.

The program is designed to bring together state, county, city, town, village, and school district labor and management representatives, students and members from the public with an interest in public sector labor relations.

Jerome Lefkowitz, PERB's Chairman, participated in the original drafting of the Taylor Law, and will open the program with a commentary titled: "The Taylor Law and Public Sector Collective Bargaining Through the Years; the History and Future Direction of PERB and the Law."

Several scholars will then present papers on various aspects of public sector labor relations, which will be responded to by leading representatives of labor and management.

Presenters include:

• Dean Harry Katz, ILR School, examining what the future holds for public sector labor relations in New York State
• Chicago labor attorney R. Theodore Clark, who will examine alternative statutory systems used in other jurisdictions;
• Albany Law School Professor Vincent Bonventre, who will discuss the impact of recent Court of Appeals' decisions on Taylor Law issues;
• Professor Thomas A. Kochan, co-director of MIT's Workplace Center and Institute for Work and Employment Research, who will examine the impact of compulsory interest arbitration and other impasse procedures on the bargaining process, updating the original "Kochan Report" he co-authored over thirty years ago.

A variety of interactive panel sessions, on topics dealing with health care challenges, retirement issues, pattern bargaining, collaborative enterprises, "Triborough" impact, strike penalties and others having broad appeal, will round out the program.

For more information and to register for the conference, please visit the PERB website or download the brochure (pdf).

The conference is sponsored by the New York State Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) and co-sponsored by the New York City Office of Collective Bargaining, Cornell University and the ILR School's Labor and Employment Law Program and the Scheinman Institute on Conflict Resolution, the Government Law Center at Albany Law School, and the Labor and Employment Law Section of the New York State Bar Association.