North Star LERA was founded in 2024 to provide a non-partisan forum in Minnesota that uniquely brings together representatives of labor and management along with interested neutrals, policymakers, and academics to learn from each other about labor and employment relations topics that are of mutual interest. We seek to promote ongoing dialogue in an atmosphere of respect and understanding where conflicting ideas and ideologies coexist.

Membership

Membership is open to anyone interested in industrial relations and human resources who supports learning from diverse perspectives. Professionals from labor, management, government, academia, the legal profession, the community of arbitrators and mediators, students preparing to become professionals, and those interested in understanding the workplace are all welcome to join. The chapter is centered in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area, but is open to anyone in Minnesota and adjoining areas.

Please join us if the North Star LERA chapter’s goals align with yours. Simply click here to go to our online membership page. Regular memberships dues are only $25 for the year. Apprenticeship, student, and organizational memberships are also available (see the membership page). Thank you to our organizational members: Bureau of Mediation Services, the Center for Human Resources and Labor Studies (University of Minnesota), and North Star Policy Action.

Programming

The chapter holds 3-4 afternoon meetings per year in the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area, each with featured speakers or panelists as well as networking opportunities. The goal of each meeting is to provide useful information on relevant topics in a relaxed forum for labor, management, and neutrals to discuss issues, exchange ideas, build understanding, and develop relationships. Meetings are free for members, and visitors are welcome.

Our 2025-26 programming featured four events:

Check back in summer 2026 for 2026-27 programming details. Past programming includes:

  • Building a New Labor-Management Relationship Between Ziegler CAT and IUOE Local 49.
  • Emerging Issues As Seen By Neutrals.
  • Increase Your Communication Skills with Improv Techniques.

About LERA

The Labor and Employment Relations Association is a singular organization of professionals interested in industrial relations, human resources, labor-management committees, and labor-management partnerships. If you are a professional or an academic in the field of industrial relations and human resources, we invite you to join the National LERA. The National LERA organization provides a network of IR and HR practitioners and academics who share their knowledge and insight through regular LERA publications and at LERA meetings twice a year. LERA was founded in 1947 as the IRRA (Industrial Relations Research Association) and today encompasses more than 5,000 members.