March 22 2009
Groat Award Winner
Bonnie Weinstock '75 will be honored March 26 in New York
Bonnie Siber Weinstock '75, one of the nation's leading labor and employment arbitrators and mediators, will receive ILR's Groat Award on March 26 in New York City.
Ms. Weinstock has served as an arbitrator in industries including airlines, hotels and restaurants, health care, education, service, publishing, government, entertainment and manufacturing.
A member of the National Academy of Arbitrators, she serves on the arbitration panels of the American Arbitration Association, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the National Mediation Board and various state and local agencies.
After graduating from ILR, Ms. Weinstock earned her J.D. and LL.M. degrees at the New York University School of Law.
Ms. Weinstock served as the Jean McKelvey Neutral-in-Residence during the 2005-2006 academic year and is a founding advisory board member of the Scheinman Institute on Conflict Resolution. She regularly invites ILR students to attend arbitration hearings and has mentored others who have become arbitrators.
Ms. Weinstock has been a member of the ILR Advisory Council and the President's Council of Cornell Women.
Achievement in the labor relations field is the leading criterion for the annual Groat Award selection. Service to the ILR School and participation in alumni activities are also considerations.
The Groat Award, established in 1971, is named for Judge William B. Groat, who played a leading role in founding the ILR School and in writing its charter.
Groat served as counsel to the New York State Joint Legislative Committee on Industrial and Labor Relations. He later became a justice of the New York State Supreme Court, Eleventh Judicial District.
On March 26, hundreds will gather for the Groat and Alpern Celebration at The Pierre on Fifth Avenue.
In addition to Ms. Weinstock receiving the Groat Award, Doug Braunstein '83 will receive the school's annual Alpern Award. More information about the event is available at http://www.ilr.cornell.edu/alumni/events/Groat_Alpern_111708.html.
In an interview, Ms. Weinstock answered questions about her experiences as an ILR student and as a professional.
When you arrived at ILR, what were your expectations?
I understood I would study the social sciences at a world-class university. That's really all I knew. ILR had not yet adopted the "Advancing the World of Work" motto.
Did you know where you were headed professionally?
I had an interest in journalism when I came to ILR and, as we know, there is no journalism major at the school. I didn't fully understand the nuances of the ILR program until I started the core subjects and internships.
The internships gave me focus. Those internships included: a) work in the HR department of a Fortune 500 company where I was asked to work on compiling EEO compliance data. That opened my eyes to employment law. b) an internship at the New York City Office of Collective Bargaining in a program funded by the Municipal Labor Committee. That provided a fascinating look at labor relations in New York City. c) a shadowing experience with a union organizer. Two other students and I stood outside in the January cold and handed literature to the employees on the early shift as they arrived for work.
When you look back on your years at ILR, what are your strongest memories?
My strongest and fondest memories include the wonderful friends I made from many walks of life. The diversity of the ILR student body has always been a strength of the school.
I also had the opportunity to work with Gordon Law who taught me ILR research skills so I could sit in the reference librarian's chair on the night shift and answer students' questions.
Likewise, I have extremely fond memories of getting to know my professors and to study in small groups with renowned scholars like Jean McKelvey, David Lipsky and Duncan MacIntyre.
When and how did you know arbitration would be your career focus?
I learned about arbitration in a course taught by Visiting Professor June Weisberger, a friend of Professor Jean McKelvey, and then from my independent studies with Professor McKelvey, an ILR founder. The academic literature was fascinating to me for its focus on due process.
I decided that arbitration would be my career goal when I came to the realization that I was much more interested in seeing disputes resolved fairly than I was in advocating the merits of one side.
I would not have embarked on my career were it not for the Women Arbitrator Development Program created by Jean McKelvey, whose goal was to make the profession of arbitration representative of the workforce.
Your chosen field -- what makes it interesting, year after year?
The fascinating side of arbitration is the wide array of issues that we confront on a weekly basis. We're in many different places while parties strive to acquaint us with the nuances of their workplace.
I've been taken into the wheel wells of airplanes, I've been on tours of sterile environments where pharmaceuticals are manufactured. I've stood on street corners while accidents were re-enacted. This is the variety that keeps my job fascinating.
What are some of the factors which make your work challenging?
The unseen work of an arbitrator includes the sleepless nights as we contemplate a record -- all of the evidence and argument that come with a case -- to struggle to find the right result.
What do you consider your most gratifying career achievements?
My most gratifying career achievements are probably the ones that receive little or no notoriety.
For example, the contract impasse that gets resolved through mediation, or the employee with the sick child who gets reinstated because she should have been given family and medical leave, or the nuclear physicist seeking out-of-title pay who just wanted to know that someone appreciated the work that he did and recognized that he existed.
I am tremendously gratified to see the arbitrators I have mentored become successful.
With each arbitration, do you have a goal in mind?
My concern is about the fairness of the process, that all parties who come to arbitration will leave with the sense that they have been heard, that someone has been interested in what they had to say and paid close attention to the details of their case.
Your work ethic what role has that played?
I come from a family of very hard workers. My father was a lithographer in the printing industry. My mother was a homemaker during my childhood years. Then, when she was widowed at a very young age, she went back to work, first in a supervisory office position and then as a budget analyst in a hospital.
Appreciating the value of hard work was an essential part of my upbringing, and respecting those who work hard is very much a part of who I am.
What are your thoughts for others as they consider the value -- to themselves, students and others -- of service and support for ILR?
You only need one motivation to give back to ILR: a) a professor inspired you; b) you made dear friends there; c) the generosity of others helped fund your education; (d) the sting of prelims has faded, and e) you are happy in life. For me, it's all of those things.
What does being honored with the Groat Award mean to you?
It is humbling beyond words to be recognized with this honor, and it is especially meaningful that my family is able to be with me.