Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service

When Every Day Is Partnership Day

Submitted by Laureen Lazarovici on Sun, 10/02/2016 - 13:55
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Wouldn't it be great if every organization and every union had a labor management partnership like ours? It could happen. The Federal Mediation and Conciliation Services hosted Partnership Day to explore the possibilities. 

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Robert Reich, Chancellor's Professor of Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley, and former Secretary of Labor, made the economic case for worker engagement during his keynote address
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In addition to Kaiser Permanente and the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions, the labor management partnerships presenting at the Partnership Day conference included:  

  • United Auto Workers (UAW) and Ford Motor Co.
  • International Paper Co. and United Steelworkers
  • SEIU Local 721 and Los Angeles County Health System
  • Berea City (Ohio) School District and the Ohio Federation of Teachers  
  • Energy Northwest Natural Gas and OPEIU Local 11

The following day, commenting on the success of the event, Alison Beck thanked KP for leading the way.

“They’re the gold standard of labor management partnerships,” she told attendees in her kickoff speech.

Check out more photos and insights from leaders of these organizations and unions on our Storify and on the FMCS Facebook page.

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When Every Day Is Partnership Day
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Organizations, unions from across the nation explore a more collaborative future
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Laureen Lazarovici
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What if every organization and every union had a labor management partnership like ours?

It’s not as far-fetched as it sounds. On Aug. 16, more than 250 union, business and government leaders from all over the United States gathered in Chicago for Partnership Day, a meeting hosted by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service at its biennial conference—and offered a realistic look at the ups and downs that occur in partnerships and what it takes to launch and sustain them.

“We know partnership can make a difference,” Allison Beck, FMCS director, told the gathering. “This is not some fantasy that happens in a make-believe world.” She should know. As leader of the FMCS, the federal agency that mediates labor disputes across the United States, she’s seen firsthand how acrimonious relationships can ruin companies and unions—and how more open and respectful ones can help them both succeed.

The partnership between Kaiser Permanente and the Coalition of Kaiser Permanente Unions is the longest-lasting and strongest one in the nation, so conference participants asked many questions about how it operates.

A race to the top

Dennis Dabney, KP's senior vice president of National Labor Relations and Office of Labor Management Partnership, told the packed room he spends a lot of time on the phone with leaders from other companies interested in starting and strengthening partnerships.

“I've seen so many companies engaged in a race to the bottom,” Dabney said. “I'd like to see more engaged in a race to the top.” If he has any regrets about Kaiser Permanente’s partnership, he said, it's that we didn’t create unit-based teams sooner.

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