BNA and the Labor and Employment Relations Association Announce a Webinar on 'New...

BNA and the Labor and Employment Relations Association Announce a Webinar on
'New Frontiers in Labor & Employment Policy,' April 8, 2009

Webinar to Kick Off Year of Dialogue Among Stakeholders in National Labor &
Employment Policy Debates

ARLINGTON, Va., March 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The deep economic crisis
poses fundamental challenges to public understanding of nearly all aspects of
labor and employment relations policy. A lasting economic recovery will
require labor and management to rethink many of the labor and human resource
paradigms that have existed for decades.
(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20090105/56509LOGO )

Specialized news and information publisher BNA, in collaboration with the
Labor and Employment Relations Association (LERA), will present a 2-hour
Webinar on the topic "New Frontiers in Labor and Employment Policy: Ensuring
Good Jobs, Fair Treatment, and High Performance in a Turbulent Economy" April
8 from 2:00 to 4:00 p.m. EDT.

This Webinar is being held in advance of a National Policy Forum on the topic,
planned for June 11-12, 2009 in Washington, D.C. Both events are in prelude to
the LERA 2010 Annual Meeting in Atlanta, January 3-5, 2010. They will kick off
a year of dialogue on "Work in America," planned by LERA, in which managers,
union leaders, neutrals, academics, and others are being encouraged to bring
their voices and experience into these critical policy debates.

Forum co-chairs Thomas Kochan, Professor at the MIT Sloan School of
Management, Richard Trumka, Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO, and Bonnie
Summers, Executive Director of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association's
National Labor Office, will also lead the April 8 Webinar. BNA's Surveys and
Research Director Matthew Sottong will moderate the discussion.

"This event will enable HR and labor professionals to hear from some of
today's most distinguished voices in the area of labor relations, at a
critical time in our nation's business and industrial history," said Sottong.
"BNA is pleased to be able to help facilitate this event with LERA, by
providing a forum for this dialog to take place."

The co-chairs will introduce the broad topics and questions to be addressed at
the Forum and invite comments from Webinar participants. Topics and questions
to be discussed include:

-- Health Care: Will the rising ranks of displaced workers get health
care
coverage?
-- Infrastructure Investments: How do we ensure that infrastructure
investments advance sustainability, produce good jobs, and achieve
high
performance?
-- Auto Industry Revitalization: How will the government's investments
help the industry and labor get through the crisis and transform the
industry to produce and market green, energy-efficient products?
-- Training and Development: What are the respective roles of the public
and private sectors in building a competitive 21st century workforce?
-- Union Organizing and Collective Bargaining: Will labor law be
reformed
and, if so, how?
-- Public Sector: Can the federal sector once again become a model for
labor relations, partnership, and innovation?
-- Executive Compensation: How will the process and outcomes for
executive
compensation be changed in light of recent developments?

-- Restoring the American Dream: What is the new American Dream and what
will it take to make it possible for people to realize it?

"Public debate on labor and employment relations is emerging and accelerating
as a new Administration and Congress tackle these issues. Avoiding past
polarization on employment matters and ensuring constructive dialog is
essential. We are conducting this webinar and the June Forum to bring
thoughtful experts from the labor, management, neutral, and scholarly
communities into the process," said LERA President Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld,
dean of the School of Labor and Employment Relations at the University of
Illinois. "The challenge to society is not based on any one issue, but on the
overall way we as a society address all of these issues," he added.

In parallel to the Webinar, local chapters of LERA and other organizations are
invited to conduct their own dialogue sessions on "Work in America." At these
sessions, brief (2-3 minute) comments that reflect personal experiences and
can serve as helpful, constructive inputs to policy discussions may be
captured on video, audio, or in writing and forwarded to the LERA office. Some
of these comments will be featured in the workshops at the National Policy
Forums in June. In advance of the June Forum, the Webinar is designed to help
motivate these comments.

BNA (www.bna.com) is the leading independent publisher of print and electronic
news, analysis, and reference services for professionals. Delivering
specialized information to business, legal, and government professionals at
every level of expertise, BNA analysts produce more than 300 news and
information services, including the highly respected Daily Labor Report, U.S.
Law Week, and Daily Report for Executives.

The LERA is a 501(c)3 association founded in 1947, bringing together
professionals in business, labor, government and academia to share and discuss
policies, issues, research, ideas and developments impacting today's
workforce.

Available Topic Expert(s): For information on the listed expert(s), click
appropriate link.
Matthew Sottong
http://profnet.prnewswire.com/Subscriber/ExpertProfile.aspx?ei=73872

SOURCE BNA

Paula Wells of LERA, +1-217-333-1485, LERAoffice@illinois.edu; or Karen James
Cody of BNA, +1-703-341-3476, presscontact@bna.com