New York City LERA
invites you to a LIVE-ONLY event
NYC LERA 14 Penn-Pyett 10 Years Later: It’s Impact on Collective Bargaining and Labor Arbitration
Date and Time
May 11, 2026, 5:30 – 7:30 PM
Location
1199 SEIU, 498 7th Ave., NYC NY
Moderator
Edward Kennedy Esq.
Speakers
Melissa Chan, Esq. Director, Contract Enforcement and Asst.
General Counsel, SEIU Local 32BJ
Melissa Chan is the Director of Contract Enforcement at SEIU Local 32BJ. Local 32BJ represents over 185,000 building service workers on the East Coast, in sectors including residential, commercial, schools, security, and airports. Melissa oversees the Union’s grievance and arbitration operations. The Union takes in and processes about 15,000 complaints per year.
Before working for SEIU Local 32BJ, Melissa worked at Cary Kane LLP, where she represented local unions in all matters, and individual employees in wage and hour and discrimination claims.
Edward Kennedy, Esq. Arbitrator and Mediator
Edward J. Kennedy, JD, MA, is an experienced Labor Arbitrator and Hearing Officer. Before becoming an Arbitrator, Mediator, and Administrative Law Judge, Ed practiced Labor and Employment law for fifteen years on behalf of businesses, non-profits, employees, and unions. As a litigator, Ed resolved labor and employment cases through negotiation and mediation, at arbitration, before administrative tribunals, and in Federal Courts. For ten years, Ed practiced public and private sector labor law as in-house counsel for AFT, Local 2, I.B.T., Local 456, and TWU, Local 100.
Ed holds an MA in Labor Studies from the City University of New York and a JD with a concentration in Labor and Employment Law from Hofstra University. He has undergone additional training and study with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, Cornell ILR, and as an apprentice to an NAA arbitrator. Ed offers Labor Arbitration and Employment Mediation services through a number of rosters and panels including the USPS & NRLCA Atlantic/Central Regional Arbitration Panel, The Port Authority Employment Relations Panel, The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS), The National Mediation Board (NMB), The JAMS Panel of Independent Labor Arbitrators, The Labor Relations Connection Roster of Labor Arbitrators, NJ PERC, NJ BoM, PA BoM, DC PERB, Alaska Labor Relations Agency Roster of Arbitrators and Mediators, Montana Board of Personnel Appeals Roster of Labor Arbitrators and the New York State Bar Association Roster of Mediators. Ed also serves as an Administrative Law Judge with the City of New York.
Troy Kessler, Esq., Partner, Kessler Matura
Troy L. Kessler is a co-founder of Kessler Matura P.C. Mr. Kessler has extensive experience representing employees who have been the victims of discrimination, harassment, wrongful termination, retaliation, overtime and minimum wage violations. He handles claims under Title VII, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Age Discrimination in Employment Act, the Family Medical Leave Act, the New York State Human Rights Law, the New York City Human Rights Law, the Fair Labor Standards Act, the National Labor Relations Act, and the New York Labor Law.
Mr. Kessler received his law degree from the Loyola University School of Law – Chicago, and his bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin. He is a member of the National Employment Lawyers Association, National Employment Lawyers Association/New York, the American Bar Association – Labor & Employment Section, New York State Bar Association, the Federal Bar Association, and the Suffolk County Bar Association. Presently, Mr. Kessler serves as the President-Elect of the Federal Bar Association’s Eastern District of New York Chapter, and as a member of the advisory board of the Center for Labor & Employment Law at the New York University School of Law. Mr. Kessler is also a Fellow in the College of Labor and Employment.
Outside of the office, Mr. Kessler enjoys running, listening to music (everything from jazz to punk), going to concerts, watching soccer, cooking, and spending time with family.
Paul Salvatore, Esq., Partner, Proskauer
Paul Salvatore provides strategic labor and employment law advice to companies, boards of directors/trustees, senior executives and general counsel in such areas as labor-management relations, litigation, alternative dispute resolution, international labor and employment issues, and corporate transactions. He negotiates major collective bargaining agreements in several industries, including real estate and construction. Paul represents the NYC real estate industry’s multi-employer organization, the Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations (RAB), and its principal trade organization, the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY). In 2023, he helped the RAB reach a new collective bargaining agreement with SEIU Local 32BJ, covering 20,000 commercial building employees, enabling the industry to adapt its labor practices to tenants’ post-COVID utilization of office space, including that caused by remote/hybrid work.
An active speaker and writer on labor and employment law issues, Paul’s publications include “One Dozen Years of Pyett: A Win for Unionized Workplace Dispute Resolution” in the American Bar Association Labor & Employment Law Journal (“ABA Journal”), Volume 36, Number 2 at 257, and “The PLA Alternative in an Increasingly Open Shop New York City Construction Market: The REBNY-BCTC Statement of Principles,” Volume 37 ABA Journal, Number 3 at 415. He is an Adjunct Professor at Cornell Law School, teaching a course in collective bargaining.
Robert Schwartz, Esq., Executive Vice President, Realty
Advisory Board on Labor Relations, Inc.
Robert S. Schwartz is Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at the Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations, Inc. (“RAB”). Robert is admitted to practice in New York and New Jersey. Robert’s practice focuses on the representation of employers and management in all areas of labor and employment relations.
He has represented employers in state and federal court employment litigation, arbitrations, and administrative proceedings, including claims of unlawful discrimination, harassment, breach of contract, wage and hour violations, and tort claims. Robert also has experience representing clients in disputes arising from collective bargaining relationships and in advising clients on compliance with applicable labor laws. In addition, Robert has represented clients in matters involving violations of the securities laws, derivative actions, and fiduciary responsibilities.
Robert received his Bachelor of Arts, with Honors in the Liberal Arts, from The Ohio State University in 2000. He received his law degree from Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in 2003, where he served as an Articles Editor for the Cardozo Journal of International and Comparative Law. Robert was also selected to Super Lawyers’ 2014 and 2015 New Jersey Rising Star list. Prior to joining the RAB, Robert was an associate in the Labor and Employment Law Department of Proskauer Rose LLP.
Andrew Strom, Legal and Policy Director for the American Guild of Musical Artists
Andrew Strom is Legal and Policy Director for the American Guild of Musical Artists and an Adjunct Professor at Brooklyn Law School. For over twenty years, he was an Associate General Counsel for Service Employees International Union, Local 32BJ, and before that he was a Los Angeles-based Associate General Counsel for SEIU. He is also a Senior Contributor for the OnLabor blog, where he has written over 150 posts on labor and employment law issues.
Harry Weinberg
Harry Weinberg is admitted to practice in New York, New Jersey and California. He has represented employers in the building service industry since 1985 and handles grievances and arbitrations as well as administrative matters and defense of employment discrimination claims.
He was President of the Service Employers Association and the Window Cleaning Employers Association, multi-employer bargaining associations consisting of building service and window cleaning employers until those groups were dissolved and merged into the RAB in 1999.
Registration and Cost
$10
Please book your seat below.
Contact email for attendee questions:
DLBurrell1@gmail.com, President, NYC LERA
Event Materials
14 Penn Plaza v. Pytett Full Case
Membership in NYC LERA
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Bookings
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