Upper Peninsula Labor-Management Council, Inc.
MISSION
*Promote Labor and Management cooperation within the public and private sector through education.
* Recognize the rights of both Labor and Management to co-exist and prosper.
* Promote a greater understanding to the public through examples of effective Labor-Management cooperation.
* Enhance the growth and stability of quality jobs in the Upper Peninsula by cooperation with others that are promoting and working towards this goal.
W577County Road 400, Bark River, MI 49807 906-466-0155
Organized in 1971, the Upper Peninsula Labor-Management Council, Inc. is established to serve as a representative group from both labor and management in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. The Council was formed with the belief by both labor and management that the goals of each side are harmonious in most cases, and that there should be a separate and distinct organization that both sides can participate in to further their mutual goal.
Spring 2014 Collective Bargaining Workshops Scheduled
This spring the U.P. Labor-Management Council will again partner with local Intermediate School Districts to teach collective bargaining workshops to high school students. The workshops give students the experience of being an employee or a manager in a union workplace by engaging them in the negotiation of a mock-collective bargaining agreement. Each student plays the role of "labor" or "management" using the facts of a fictional company and, during the course of one day, must reach a "contract" that is acceptable to both sides. Professionals from both labor and management who work in the collective bargaining arena volunteer to act as "coaches" to guide the students through the process. The exercise introduces students to concepts in economics, politics, history, and labor law, and provides a glimpse into real issues that arise in the world of work.
Approximately 7000 high school students have attended the Council's collective bargaining workshops since the project began in 1988. Many of the students who have participated in the workshop, as well as their teaches and parents, have sent letters of thanks to the Council for the workshop, some stating that it was one of the best days of the student's high school education.
The workshops, which are attended by high school juniors and seniors, are the Council's way of acquainting young people with the idea of labor-management cooperation. The Council was formed in the 1970s and is still going strong with a membership of labor and management professionals from around the U.P. The goal of the Council is to encourage labor-management cooperation through education and fellowship as a means to foster a strong economy in the Upper Peninsula.
Students who participate in the Council's high school collective bargaining workshop during high school are also eligible to apply for a $500 scholarship offered by the Council, in honor of past Council member Gerry Kendziorski.
The Spring 2014 workshop dates are as follows: March 18th (Iron Mountain), April 24th (Hancock), and April 25th (Escanaba).
For further information and photos of past workshops, please call the Council office at 906-466-0155, email dbower@uplmc.com.