The 2nd day of the Mid-America Labor/Management Conference found more using Twitter to follow the speakers and workshops, concluding a full day of content with a lively dinner and the announcement that the 2012 conference would run July 15-18, as July 4 falls on a Wednesday. Highlights included:
•The importance of Missouri's non-partisan court plan to the rule of law and fair treatment for companies and workers was explained by Phil Hess, president of the Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys (and a Rockhurst University grad) and John Boyd, Boyd Kenter law firm and counsel to the Missouri AFL-CIO. They cited examples of expensive judicial elections where the perception, and sometimes reality, is that court decisions go to the highest bidder.
•Richard Fairfax, OSHA deputy assistant director, previewed key agency activities including new and revised standards, requests for information for possible new standards, the direction of emphasis areas, the latest statistics on inspections and fines, the impact of increased fines and other measures in the serious violator program.
•The new National Labor Relations Board website makes filing and especially research far easier than ever, as Mary Taves and Trecia Moore (also a Rockhurst University grad) demonstrated.
•Arbitration guidance was provided by Judy Ancel, Institute for Labor Studies at UMKC.
•Canadian General Counsel Georges Rioux explored the close economic ties between the US and Canada and the tremendous US job-creating potential of accessing Canadian oil particularly if the proposed Keystone Excel pipeline is developed.
•Firefighters and the department in Pattonville, Mo. and emergency workers and the St. Charles Couny Ambulance District have developed strong working relationships that have improved efficiency, helped address budget cuts and enhance service to the public. A new collective bargaining contract between the city of St. Louis provides potential for improvements there especially if the city takes over the police from state control as pending legislation seeks.
•Kansas workers' compensation law now more closely follows that of Missouri, though court decisions are just now addressing what many of the changes in MIssouri's 2005 law really mean.
The conference also noted it sponsors who make it possible including Westar Energy, Integrated Solutions Group, Hewlett Packard, Brotherhood Bank, Missouri AFL-CIO, Illinois AFL-CIO, IBEW Local 304, March of Dimes, Heavy Constructors Association, Kansas Gas Service, Missouri Association of Trial Attorneys, Missouri Petroleum Council, Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations, National Labor Relations Board, Summit Lake Winery, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, Labor-Management Council of Greater Kansas City, Scout Invesment Advisors, Missouri State Council of Fire Fighters, United Labor Credit Union/Custom Specialties.