Each year, the Greater Rhode Island Chapter holds three breakfast meetings. All categories of LERA membership—labor, management, neutral, and academic—are well-represented. During this past year, LERA President Kris Rondeau spoke about her experiences organizing workers, particularly at Harvard University, and the creative use of interest-based bargaining and mediation in the local unions that she now represents. Timothy Duffy, Executive Director of Rhode Island Association of School Committees and Frank Flynn, President of the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers engaged in a lively debate concerning legislation (since adopted) that mandates the continuation of certain existing provisions in teacher contracts until a successor agreement is reached, essentially preventing the unilateral implementation of compensation changes. GRI LERA’s spring meeting featured federal mediator Paul Chabot and private mediator Bruce Kogan, Professor Emeritus at Roger Williams Law School, who spoke about alternatives to traditional labor arbitration. The chapter also conducted its election of officers for two-year terms. Robyn Golden, Administrator of the Rhode Island State Labor Relations Board, was elected president succeeding Carly Iafrate, a labor-side attorney in private practice, who will remain on the Chapter’s executive board as past-president.