Agenda

March 21, 2011

9 a.m. to Noon

Welcome from NEA/NSO/NCSEA and introductions (Who’s in the room?) 
Chuck Agerstrand, NSO President and Barby Halstead-Worrell, NEA

“Setting the Context”                                                                                                  
Pat Dolan, Consultant

“The External Changing Environment”                                               
Susan J. Schurman, Rutgers’s School of Management and Labor Relations

Q&A

Break

Facilitated Dialogue:  “Reflection/Reaction”                                                                    
Pat Dolan and participants

LUNCH (1 hour)

1 p.m.-.4:30 p.m.

“Setting the Context,” continued                                                                     
Pat Dolan

“Aligning our Labor/Management Thinking and Actions with the External Environment”
Susan Schurman, Rutgers School of Management and Labor Relations

Q & A

Break

Facilitated Dialogue: “Impact of the Changing External/Internal Realities—What We Know, Anticipate and/or Fear—Sharing Information and Perspectives “
Pat Dolan and participants

“Internal Fiscal State of the Union”
Bill Thompson, NEA Financial and Membership Services

“Systems and the Current Environment”
Pat Dolan

March 22, 2011, 9 a.m. to Noon

Facilitated Dialogue:  “Building on What’s Been Heard:  Journeys to a Common Reality for Sustainability”
Pat Dolan

Long-time union advocate to address Labor/Management Summit

Sue Schurman, currently the Dean of the Rutgers University College Community, will be a guest speaker at the two-day Labor/Management Summit scheduled for March 21-22 in Chicago. The Summit is being organized by NEA, NSO and NCSEA Schurman’s father was an NEA local president and has been a long-time friend and supporter of NEA’s management and staff unions.

“I believe that she has deep knowledge and understanding about the external environment that is threatening the survival of public education, labor, and unions across the board. She will bring a balanced approach and understanding for both labor and management. She believes strongly in unions,” Deb Swoboda, representing NEA on the planning committee.

Schurman’s passions for lifelong learning and unions can be traced back to her Michigan roots. While bartending in Ann Arbor, MI and moonlighting as a union organizer, she was hired as one of the first women bus drivers for the city. Eventually, she became president of the union.

Since then, her career has been devoted to the dual goals of labor and adult education and workplace enlightenment.

From 1992-97, she served as the founding president of the National Labor College, an independent degree-completion college in Maryland supported by the AFL-CIO.

In 2001, Maryland’s governor appointed her to serve on the newly-created State Higher Education Labor Relations Board, which oversees collective bargaining in the state’s public higher education system.

She was also a lead facilitator of the last major round of merger discussions between the AFT and NEA.

Labor/Management Summit update

The agenda for the two-day, joint Labor/Management Summit organized by NEA, NSO and representatives has been finalized. The Summit will be held on March 21-22, 2011 in Chicago, IL at the InterContinental Hotel O’Hare.

On March 21, teams will be working together in small groups to frame the direction for the Summit. Discussions will center on answering the question, “What’s important to us?” given the shift in the environment in which we work. From there groups will also determine what changes inside the organization are needed so that we can all work together.

NEA will be providing speakers who’ll provide information to help the group discussions. There will also be a panel of representatives from states where labor and management are successfully working together will share their strategies.

March 22 will be devoted to determining the direction the organization should take. The discussion will focus on our respective and mutual responsibilities.

On Day 1, March 21, teams will be meeting from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. On Day 2, March 22, discussions will begin at 8:30 a.m., with the Summit concluding at noon.

Management and staff teams from each state are encouraged to attend.

“We believe this will be a valuable Summit for both labor and management as we shape our future together and work to preserve it,” said Summit planners.