News

March 18, 2020

THE PRESIDENT’S NEWSLETTER
Detroit LERA Chapter

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By Marick F. Masters
Interim Chair, Dept. of Finance
Professor of Business
Wayne State University
387 MISB
2771 Woodward Ave.
Detroit, MI 48201
313-577-5358
marickm@wayne.edu

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Dear LERA Chapter Members and Friends:

Dear Detroit Area LERA Chapter Members and Friends,

We have had several active months between September 2019 and February 2020, during which we held five breakfasts and one evening program, each of which was well attended and informative:

1. September 26, 2019. “Legal Updates from the NLRB,” with presenter Terry Morgan.
2. October 24, 2019. “Legal Updates from MERC,’ with presenter Sidney McBride.
3. October 30, 2019 [evening program] “Independent Contractor or Employee?” with presenter Brad Raymond.
4. December 12, 2019. “An Overview of Michigan Wage and Hour Laws and Investigations,” with presenters Sylvester Jackson and Randall Harrison of the Michigan Wage and Hour Division.
5. January 23, 2020. “OK. It Is About You,” with presenter Brain Shulent
6. February 20, 2020. “Employment Mediation and Arbitration as Career Choices,” with presenter Jan Holdinski.

We thank each of the presenters and Robert Chiaravalli and Ruthanne Okun for helping to coordinate the breakfasts.  As always, we appreciate the support of the members and our guests.

Two Announcements:

1. WE HAVE DECIDED TO CANCEL THE MARCH BREAKFAST MEETING AND TO POSTPONE THE SPRING EVENING PROGRAM DUE TO THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC.
   * We will be in touch later about the Spring/Summer program once we are through the current situation.
   * We have invited Mr. Sam Bagenstos of MERC to present at our evening program when we are able to schedule it.
2. I am pleased to announce that Ms. Raya Danielle York has volunteered to be our Chapter’s Communications Director.  She will be working with us and Emily Smith (of the national LERA office at the University of Illinois) on updating the web site and other matters relating to communications.  We welcome Raya and look forward to working with her.

Please stay tuned for more updates as we move things forward.  We are going to get a lot of electronic functionalities and communications channels going in the next several weeks before we select leaders for next year.

I thank everyone for their support over the past few years while serving as your president.  These have been challenging and interesting times, and I been very fortunate to have had such a great group of colleagues to work with during this period.

Best regards,
Marick
marickm@wayne.edu
313-577-5431
cell: 412-427-1465

The Detroit LERA May 19 Breakfast Event has been cancelled. It will be rescheduled for a future date.

 

October 30, 2019

THE PRESIDENT’S NEWSLETTER
Detroit LERA Chapter

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By Marick F. Masters
Director, Labor@Wayne
Professor of Business
Wayne State University
255 Reuther Library
5401 Cass Avenue
Detroit, MI 48202
313-577-5358
marickm@wayne.edu

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Dear LERA Chapter Members and Friends:

We have had a busy couple months.  We kicked off our program year on September 11, 2019, at UAW Local 155 in Warren.  We thank the Local VP, Chris Robson, and the UAW for their hospitality. We had Marty Mulloy, former national LERA president and retired VP of Global Labor Affairs of Ford Motor Company, speak on the UAW-Detroit 3 talks. We also had a team from the national LERA office in Champaign-Urbana, including Emily Smith, who is the executive director of the national organization, talk about national services to local chapters.Through their efforts, we have made significant improvements in our website, including adding the capacity to pay for events and renew membership online. We will be adding more functionalities soon.

In addition to the kickoff event, which was attended by more than 30 people (each of whom receives a one-year Detroit LERA membership free of charge), we have had two breakfast meetings, each attended by 15 people. We thank the speakers and attendees. A calendar of our events appears below:

Topic	Date and Time	Charge	Location
Ms. Terry Morgan National Labor Relations Broad (NLRB) – Legal update and selected topics of the General Counsel	September 26, 2019 8:00 to 9:00 am	No charge	Kerby’s Koney Island 25050 Northwestern Hwy Southfield, MI 48075
Mr. Sidney McBride Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC) – Legal updates and selected topics	October 24, 2019 8:00 to 9:00 am	No charge	Kerby’s Koney Island 25050 Northwestern Hwy Southfield, MI 48075
Mr. Brad Raymond, GC, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, “Independent Contractor or Employee”	October 30, 2019 5:30 to 7:30 pm	$35 members $40 non-members $10 students	Westin Hotel Town Center Southfield, MI 48075
Wage and Hour – Current topics	December 12, 2019 8:00 to 9:00 am	No charge	TBD
Organizational Effective & Engagement for Millennials the Quicken Way	January 23, 2020 8:00 to 9:00 am	No charge	TBD
Employment Mediator or Arbitrator as a Career Choice – Jan Holdinski, AAA	February 20, 2020 8:00 to 9:00 am	No charge	TBD
Life in the Gig Economy as a Free Lancer – Carl Camden, IPSE	March 19, 2020 8:00 to 9:00 am	No charge	TBD
Detroit Mayor’s Office	April TBD, 2020 5:30 to 7:30 pm	TBD	Westin Hotel Town Center Southfield, MI 48075
Arab-Americans in the Work place – A different perspective	May 21, 2020 8:00 to 9:00 am	No charge	TBD
Mr. Steve Schwartz	June 25, 2020 8:00 to 9:00 am	No charge	TBD

Searching for Communications Director for Detroit LERA Chapter

We are looking for someone to volunteer to be the Communications Director of our LERA chapter. We want someone to manage the electronic mailing list and handle announcements about forthcoming events. The person (or team) would work with Mark Cousens, Secretary Treasurer, and the national LERA office to make all the appropriate arrangements for digitalizing these operations so that there is a minimal amount of work involved in maintaining, updating, and upgrading. Please contact me at marickm@wayne.edu or Mark Cousens at cousens@cousenslaw.com if you are interested in volunteering.

Tomorrow’s Event

The link to register for tomorrow’s event, featuring Mr. Brad Raymond, General Counsel, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, at the Westin Hotel in Southfield is below. He is speaking on the topic of “Independent Contractor or Employee.”

http://lerachapter.org/detroit/events/independent-contractors-or-employees-defining-new-employment-relationships

I hope to see you at our upcoming events.

Best regards,
Marick
marickm@wayne.edu
313-577-5431
cell: 412-427-1465

The Detroit Chapter of LERA has held several events in this program year, including an evening program last fall on wage suppression, featuring Larry Mishel of EPI. They have also conducted three breakfast meetings on topics such as Michigan’s new minimum wage and paid sick leave policies, the future of worker, and the role of labor relations in peacemaking. Detroit LERA held a major evening event in June featuring a major public figure, Congresswoman Dingell, as the keynote speaker. In addition, the chapter has created a process improvement team to improve their interface with current and prospective members.