Labor Relations Crash Course

Attendees will have the opportunity to widen their skill set enough to be able to hit the ground running to meet the challenges of most labor-management environments. Among the areas to be explored will be the groundwork and guidelines for positive labor-management relationships along with an examination of the roles of the Union and its representatives/Stewards as well as the management side of the equation/relationship and what is permitted and forbidden by each.
This will be supplemented with understanding the application of the "Reserved Rights Doctrine" more commonly referred to as management rights and how this impacts the concepts and applications of "past practice and precedent" in all of their many forms including how to reverse them and seniority in the day-to-day application of the CBA.  Attendees will also delve into the meaning of "work now, grieve later" and it's opposite of "self-help remedy". Attendees will also be exposed to the meaning and application of the concepts of just cause and due process, along with the standards to establish the various levels of proof for disciplinary matters. Additionally, the many and varied forms of seniority and their applications will be explored.
 

• Positive Labor Management Relationship Guidelines.
• Resources
• How to Read a Collective Bargaining Agreement
• Management Rights and Obligations
• Reserved Rights Doctrine.
• Past Practice and Precedent.
• “Work now, grieve later” v Self-Help Remedy.
• Union Steward’s and Supervisor’s Role.
• Jurisdictional Issues. 
• Seniority (including different types/forms of Seniority)
• Dispute Resolution: Grievance Processing, Just Cause, Due Process, good faith, etc.

• Positive Labor Management Relationship Guidelines
• Resources
• How to Read a Collective Bargaining Agreement
• Management Rights and Obligations
• Reserved Rights Doctrine
• Past Practice and Precedent
• "Work now, grieve later" v Self-Help Remedy
• Union Steward’s and Supervisor's Role 
• Jurisdictional Issues
• Seniority (including different types/forms of Seniority)
• Dispute Resolution
• Grievance Processing
• Just Cause and Due Process
• Good faith, etc

• All Level Managers
• Supervisors
• Human Resources
• Employee Relations
• Labor Relations Attorney's and Union Officers/Representatives/Stewards
• All Levels of Law Enforcement or Security staff

Bob Oberstein's career in Human Resources and Labor Relations spans over 48 years. Bob is uniquely qualified in this area having started out as a third-generation Union member who has represented both sides of the labor management table in both the public and private sectors in both the non-union and union workplace.

As an Interest Based facilitator he trained and coached parties on how to constructively process their negotiations to a successful conclusion thereby promoting and enhancing their relationship. Bob has also served the labor management community as a neutral fact finder, mediator and arbitrator for multiple organizations and agencies such as the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, American Arbitration Association, Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Tucson Unified School District, Phoenix Employment Relations Board, Arizona Department of Education, United States Postal Service, and being a Special Master mediating and arbitrating disputes between, Fry's Food Stores & UFCW, Local 99. Several of his arbitration awards have been published by the Bureau of National Affairs as well as Commerce Clearing House and are referenced in How Arbitration Works by Elkouri & Elkouri, often considered the consummate reference in the field of arbitration. Bob was recognized in 1991 by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service's "Director's Lifetime Achievement Award" for promoting positive labor management relations.

Also significant in his background are the positions of Labor Relations Administrator for EBASCO Services (nuclear power plant construction for both Florida and Louisiana Power & Light); Senior Labor Relations Administrator for the Salt River Project, the local water and power utility in Phoenix, Arizona; Executive Human Resources Director for the Washington Elementary School District (largest elementary school district in Arizona); Labor Relations Administrator and chief spokesperson for the City of Phoenix, Arizona; and most recently Labor Relations Manager in the northwest United States. Bob is also a member of the Society for Human Resource Management, International Public Management Association and the National Public Employers Labor Relations Association and has been recognized by these organizations as achieving certified professional and senior certified professional status.