On Wednesday, April 21, 2010, from noon until 1:30PM, I’ll be presenting the labor & employment law primer at the Business Connections Luncheon – Best Practices Part 1 for the Lake Zurich Chamber of Commerce & SCORE (Service Core of Retired Executives; www.scorechicago.org).  The presentation format will be largely Q & A with handouts provided.  It’s at Vehe Barn, 23570 Cuba Rd., Deer Park, IL.  For more information visit http://www.lzacc.com/events_calendar.html; to register contact Dale Perrin at 847.438.5572.

On Tuesday, April 27, 2010, from 6PM to 8PM, I’ll be presenting a labor & employment law seminar for the Lake/McHenry Chapter of the National Association of Women in Construction (NAWIC), http://nawic368.org/.  It’s at the Cubby Bear North in Lincolnshire at 21661 Milwaukee Ave.  This presentation is co-sponsored by NAWIC & SCORE.  Registration information is available via Evite here.

On Wednesday, May 12th, from 8:30AM until 11AM, I’ll be part of a panel presentation for Business Network Chicago’s Entrepreneur’s Committee concerning hiring issues for startups and small businesses.  For more information, please contact Susan Barahia at sbarahia@bnchicago.org or 312-371-3786, or check out BNC’s website at http://www.bnchicago.org/index.php.  It’s at Wells Fargo Advisors, 222 S. Riverside Plaza (Adams & Canal), Chicago, 3rd Floor.

On Friday, May 14th at 9:30am, at Chicago’s City Hall, #805, 121 N. LaSalle St., I’ll be presenting a free labor & employment law seminar. Thanks to the City of Chicago’s Department of Business Affairs for setting this up.  This will be largely Q&A & open discussion along with handouts.  If you would like to attend, please contact Alfredo Camarena at 312-744-5344 or alfredo.camarena@cityofchicago.org.

In March, I was elected to the Lakeside Community Committee’s Board of Directors.  For the past 44 years, Chicago’s Lakeside Community Committee, has been committed to facilitating quality foster care and related services for needy children; reuniting biological parents and their children;  and strengthening the social and economic base of Chicago’s Grand Crossing neighborhood and surrounding communities.  Currently, the LCC has about 60 staff members servicing more than 250 children and families.  I remain Vice Chair of the Board and Chair of the Government Affairs Team for the Greater O’Hare Association, one of Chicagoland’s largest business associations; board member for the The Chicago Bar Foundation’s Young Professionals Board; Board Chair for the YMCA Alliance, the adult education and workforce development arm of the YMCAs of Chicago; and Board Member for ChildServ, a 115 year old child advocacy and children’s group home organization.

Starting in March, I became a regular contributor to Slate.com’s small business blog BizBox.  Slate’s BizBox, is sponsored by OPEN from American Express, and serves as a clearinghouse for the latest news, analysis and advice for entrepreneurs and small business people.  Obviously, my contributions relate to labor & employment law & HR management.  I’m part of a panel of four professionals writing on issues affecting small businesses.  Thank to Jerry Kalish of National Benefit Services Inc. for setting this up.  The panel includes Jerry, who works with business owners who want to put more money away for retirement, and companies who want a state-of-the-art retirement program; Chris Cooper, a Program Coordinator at the Small Business Succession Planning Program and The Ohio Employee Ownership Center at Kent State University; and Susan A. Berson, a partner in The Banking & Tax Law Group LLP, www.banktaxlaw.com.

On August 5, 2009, I did my 2nd live interview on the Recruiting Animal show on Blog Talk Radio. The interview lasted about an hour & covered such topics as legal issues in recruiting & ruse calling (i.e., using a fake identity to get past a company gatekeeper). You can listen to the interview on the player below, at RA’s page on BTR, or the MP3 here.

The editorial I co-authored and published on Huliq.com and in my prior post (6/10/09) has also been published on Labor Union Report.com.

Huliq.com, an international online citizen journalism outlet has published a letter co-written by the President of the Greater O’Hare Association (GOA), Shirlanne Lemm, and I in opposition to the Employee Free Choice Act (AKA “card check bill”). Also, I’m on the Board of Directors for the GOA, and Shirlanne and I are on the GOA’s Government Affairs Team.

The letter can be read at Huliq here and below.

Employee Free Choice Act Raises Concerns

As one of Chicago’s largest business associations, representing over 80 communities and 700-plus business members, the Greater O’Hare Association, www.greaterohare.com, recognizes the need to address business concerns such as the proposed Employee Free Choice Act (EFCA), AKA the “card check bill.”

Essentially, the bill will make it much easier for unions to organize businesses of all sizes and antagonize business owners and operators. This is why the bill is so controversial, and why so many business associations and chambers across the U.S. are against it.

We are solidly against this bill because in our global economy the assertion that a third party entity such as labor unions actually help businesses maintain global competitiveness is diminished when you consider that the EFCA does away with one of the our most sacred democratic tenets—the secret ballot election. Just as importantly, the EFCA can lead to a business’ unionization when it’s too late for that company to do anything about it.

Our members’ businesses require the freedom and flexibility to work with their own employees to decide the best course of action to take regarding the generally accepted subjects of labor negotiations—wages, hours and conditions of employment. Without this freedom and flexibility, smaller businesses, which generally don’t have the resources or wherewithal to effectively deal with labor unions, and that don’t have the luxury of being “too big to fail” or buffered by government stimulus funds, are likely to be reduced to 3rd party participants in their own businesses.

Moreover, our members could lose the ability to quickly and cost effectively deal with and resolve workplace related issues. They’ll have to rely on the costly and time consuming intervention of other 3rd party regulators such as mediators and arbitrators, which is some of the baggage that comes with labor unions. Moreover, it’s commonly understood that once a union is legally in the workplace, it’s extremely difficult to decertify it (get rid of it) while still maintaining the business’ core operations.

There are many reasons why the percentage of the private sector unionized workforce has been in decline for years (recent estimates put this at 7%-8% of the overall private sector U.S. workforce). Some of these reasons include the fact that since the 1960′s came the passage of many of our toughest civil rights and employment laws covering almost all employers in the U.S. Today, due to these same laws, plus greater safety and child labor law enforcement, there is greater equality in the workplace relative to race, gender, age and other protected classes. Many of these same civil rights and employment laws were passed subsequent to our era of major labor law legislation. Additionally, pay equality (which generally doesn’t exist in union workplaces because poor performers are protected) has improved. In other words, workplace relations, safety and child labor standards have improved, while union popularity, efficacy and integrity have declined.

Should this legislation pass in any form, even in a watered down version, we’re extremely concerned of the detrimental impact it could have on the economy, Illinois and our member businesses.

Shirlanne Lemm, President, Greater O’Hare Association, 630-773-2941, slemm@greater-ohare.com; & Charles Krugel, Labor & Employment Lawyer & Member, Board of Directors, GOA; Both Are Members of GOA’s Government Affairs Team.

Today, May 2, 2009, I’ll be interviewed live on Chicago’s Kennedy King College’s radio station, WKKC 89.3 FM.  During this 50-minute long interview, hosts Derek McNeal and Charles Young will question me about general labor and employment law issues from management and employee perspectives.  This will be my 3rd appearance on the show since June 2007.  My April 13, 2008 interview is here.  Thanks to Derek, Charles, Stephen Anderson and everyone at WKKC for the opportunity.  This Saturday’s interview will also soon be available online.

Also, on Saturday, May 2, 2009, I’ll be speaking at the Woodlawn Community Service Corporation’s annual “Law Day” at Chicago’s Bessie Coleman Public Library, 731 E. 63rd Street, Chicago (Woodlawn Community obviously).   “Law Day” runs from 1PM-3PM and is free to attend.  I’ll be presenting on and discussing labor and employment law.  Other presenters will be discussing streetlaw, expungement, real estate/landlord tenant and family law.  For more information contact Gail Mercherson (773) 684-2944 or gailmercherson@sbcglobal.net, or check out this PDF flier.  The event is sponsored by WLCSC, the Chicago Bar Association and the Cook County Bar Association.

My blog (this website) received a really cool honor recently.  On April 3, 2009, The Delaware Employment Law Blog published by the law firm of Young, Conway, Stargatt & Taylor, published their Top 100 Employment Law Blogs.  This blog is on it!  Thanks YCST!