2024 Cushing-Gavin Awards Celebration
2024-12-06 19:00 (America/New_York) | IBEW Local 103 Function Hall, 256 Freeport St #1, Dorchester, MA, 02122, United States

Advanced Steward Training
2025-01-07 18:00 - 20:00 | Virtual Event
This course will build on the skills students developed in the Basic Steward Training course by emphasizing Strategic Planning for local unions, members mobilization, and problem-solving techniques and member mobilization skills. To make the course more meaningful, students should bring their own ideas for discussion. It is a prerequisite that students have completed the Basic Steward Training course.
It is a prerequisite that students will have completed the Basic Steward Training course.
Objectives:

Students will enhance their grievance handling and grievance investigation skills.
Students will develop skills around Member Mobilization.
Students will learn skills to assist their union in Strategic Planning.
Students will improve their understanding of the role of the union steward in the union Organizing model.

Instructed By: Tom Breslin, Retired Associate Director of Labor Education, Massachusetts Nurses Association
Format: Online via Zoom

The Union Secretary
2025-01-08 18:00 - 20:00 | Virtual Event
This is a three-week course on how to effectively fulfill the duties of a Union Secretary, including the nuances and expectations of the role.
The Union Secretary, the recording officer whose responsibilities are defined first in the union’s bylaws and then supplemented in Robert’s Rules of Order, is often the most underappreciated position in the union! We’ll look closely at the importance of preparing the official minutes, meeting notices, agenda, and policies of the Union. There will also be templates for the documents we discuss.
Before the first session, be sure to read and have available for reference the section of your bylaws that sets out the secretary’s duties.
Instructed By: Patti Legault Frank, Parliamentarian and Governance Specialist
Format: Online via Zoom

Finding Stress Relief and Connection in Challenging Times
2025-01-16 18:00 - 20:00 | Virtual Event
This session offers participants tools and the space to process anxiety related to current political divisions. Worrying for ourselves, our colleagues and the people we serve can manifest in ways that harm our relationships and undermine our work and life satisfaction. We will provide tools for managing stress and supporting our collective health, with a focus on personal well-being.
RSVP/Registration is required, but the event is free to all, thanks to the generosity of the Feeley Family.
Open to anyone interested in mental health and resilience.
(Offered in English, on Zoom)
Facilitators:

Susan Buchholz – Executive Director of the Heartwell Institute for Mindfulness, Bloomberg Public Health Fellow & Former SEIU member
Amy Ebbeson – Trauma Specialist, Licensed Social Worker & Former SEIU member
Kelsey Hopkins – Joy Coach, BS in Public Health, MA in International Development and Social Change

Learning Outcomes:

Create a space for employees to identify shared values and common experiences.
Introduce mindfulness in a way that feels accessible and nonintimidating.
Provide practical stress reduction techniques grounded in mindfulness.
Use reflection to identify, evaluate, and apply personal strategies for stress management, self-care, and job satisfaction in a diverse setting.

2025 Annual Meeting
2025-01-23 19:00 - 20:00 | The Labor Guild, 66 Brooks Drive, Braintree, MA, 02184, United States
As a member of the Labor Guild Community, you’re invited to join us at our 2025 Annual Membership Meeting.
Keynote: Lisa Field, President, The Labor Guild
Agenda: 2024 Recap, Elections, & What’s New for 2025
The meeting will be followed by light refreshments. Please RSVP below to let us know you are coming.

Charting & Mapping Workshop
2025-01-27 18:00 - 20:00 | The Labor Guild, 66 Brooks Drive, Braintree, MA, 02184, United States
Building power in a workplace requires an effective communication structure. This training will show union leaders who do this effectively. This is called mapping or charting. It is the building block of a powerful local.
Instructed By: Ashley Adams, Organizer, Trainer, Negotiator, Massachusetts Teachers Association (retired)
Format: In Person at the Pastoral Center

Virtual Labor History with Dave Kowalski
2025-02-25 18:00 - 20:00 | Virtual Event
8 Week Virtual Class: Tuesdays 2/25/25 – 4/15/25 6:00PM-8:00PM
Power and Struggle
This class is a staple for every union member. It is the story of Unions and Corporations and how they were formed and grew. A view of how labor struggled for fair wages and social justice from a variety of different lenses: economic, political, judicial and legislative. This class gives a unique perspective of how unions have been molded into what we are today.

The Empowered Negotiator, A Collective Bargaining Workshop
2025-02-26 18:00 - 20:00 | Virtual Event
8 Week Virtual Class: Wednesdays 2/26/25 – 4/16/25 6:00PM-8:00PM
Course Description: In this class, students will learn how to create and combine all of the elements necessary to maximize your advantages at the collective bargaining table. This includes: understanding the perception of power and its importance to successful negotiations, bargaining strategy development, bargaining table protocols, involving the membership, how to go about enhancing your bargaining power, and negotiations simulations.
If you want to understand the real mechanics of the Collective Bargaining process, and develop effective leadership skills, then this workshop is for you.
Instructor Bio: Paul McCarthy is a Union Organizational Specialist who works closely with union leaders to help solve organizational problems and build union power and effectiveness. He is a valued and seasoned bargaining consultant, organizer, and strategist with over 40 years of experience. Paul’s union leadership skills training programs and his trouble-shooting expertise are provided exclusively to organized labor throughout the United States and Canada.

Mock Arbitration with Mike Loconto Esq. and Rebekah J. Smith Esq.
2025-03-22 10:00 - 14:00 | The Labor Guild, 66 Brooks Drive, Braintree, MA, 02184, United States
Please join us for a live, in-person workshop where you will have an opportunity to participate in a mock labor arbitration hearing. Led by two Boston-area labor arbitrators, attendees will have a chance to role-play and observe the typical stages of a hearing. These include: the arbitrator’s introduction; the opening statements from union and management representatives; witness testimony; objections; admitting evidence; presenting facts; and making closing arguments. Attendees will gain practical techniques, advocacy skills, insights, tips, and strategies to prepare for your next labor arbitration hearing. The arbitrators will explain the various stages of the hearing and will offer practical advice for attendees.
Michael Loconto Bio:
Michael Loconto is a Boston-based arbitrator and mediator providing neutral, independent dispute resolution services for the modern workplace.
Arbitrator Loconto has trained with the American Arbitration Association and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service Institute and has apprenticed under two members of the National Academy of Arbitrators in labor, employment and pension fund matters. He has experience in the public and private sectors with education, trades, construction PLAs, public safety, dining services, hospitals, and transportation, among other industries, and has handled a spectrum of discipline and discharge, contract interpretation, discrimination, substance abuse, pay and benefits matters. Arbitrator Loconto has two decades of practical experience, previously serving as an in-house counsel to a small college and a labor and employment relations leader for a large university and a major metropolitan city. He has worked with unions, managers and neutrals as a Labor and Employee Relations Association industry council leader and is the current President of Boston’s LERA Chapter. He has taught legal writing and research at Northeastern University School of Law and courses on contracts and bargaining at The Labor Guild.
Arbitrator Loconto conducts in-person or remote hearings nationally and internationally via the AAA (labor, employment and pension/ERISA matters), the Labor Relations Connection, FMCS, the National Mediation Board, and through more than two dozen state and local agencies. He is also a member of the Roster of Arbitrators with the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (rail disputes) and hears consumer lemon law claims in Massachusetts and contract vendor disputes with the City of New York.
Please visit locontoadr.com or email mtl@locontoadr.com for further information.
Rebekah Smith Bio:
Since 2005, Rebekah Smith has provided arbitration and impartial neutral services in labor and employment matters. She is on the labor arbitration panels of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, the American Arbitration Association, and the Labor Relations Connection; the fact-finding panel of the Maine Labor Relations Board; and multiple permanent panels including those serving the states of Maine and Massachusetts. Ms. Smith was recently reappointed as a neutral Alternate Chair on the Maine Labor Relations Board. She is Past Board President of LERA-Maine and of the Maine Association of Mediators and remains a member of the boards of both organizations.
Ms. Smith’s arbitration practice, which is centered in New England and Washington, D.C., encompasses a wide variety of issues and workplaces. She has received training through AAA, FMCS, and the National Academy of Arbitrators New Arbitrators Salon and DEIB Initiative.
Her neutral practice has also included service as an administrative hearing officer for a variety of administrative agencies involved in the trades and mediation in employment matters. Ms. Smith received her bachelor’s degree, cum laude, from Bowdoin College, and her law degree, magna cum laude, from the University of Maine School of Law. She served as a judicial clerk for the Chief Justice Daniel Wathen of the Maine Supreme Judicial Court and subsequently for Judge Frank M. Coffin of the United States Court of Appeals for the First Circuit before conducting a two-year Skadden Fellowship representing clients in the Maine legislature and through impact litigation prior to her neutral career, the only recipient of the Skadden Fellowship from UMaine Law to date.

Critical Steps to Prepare for Arbitration
2025-04-29 18:00 - 2025-05-27 20:00 | Virtual Event
When a grievance cannot be resolved by direct conversations or through the grievance process, arbitration may be necessary. Before arriving at the arbitration hearing, thorough preparation can make the hearing more efficient, and hence less costly, and ensure that the arbitrator has the record necessary to make a sound decision.
In this class we will cover:
Clarity about what remedy is being sought.
Theory of the case.
Necessary witnesses.
Necessary exhibits.
Past practices or decisions.
Closing arguments, oral or written.
Course Goal: To understand the arbitration process and the ways it is used in labor relations disputes. By the end of the course, participants will know how to use the grievance procedure and work with other representatives and attorneys to prepare an effective presentation before an arbitrator.
Course Style: After laying a foundation of the basic concepts, each week the class will work through the steps leading to the hearing.
Instructor: Sheila Mayberry is a full-time labor-management arbitrator and Chairwoman of the Maine Labor Relations Board. She is on the Board of Governors of the National Academy of Arbitrators (NAA) and Co-Chair of the 2024 NAA Annual Meeting in Boston. She has also been Co-Chair of NAA New England. She organized the first several years of the annual Labor Arbitration Conference in partnership with the University of Rhode Island.
She has also taught several courses at the Labor Guild, the AAA, and the Becoming and a Labor Arbitrator (BALA) course with the FMCS. Prior to her arbitration career, Ms. Mayberry was an attorney for the National Labor Relations Board in Philadelphia, PA. She received her B.A. in Economics from the University of Michigan and her J.D. from Temple Beasley Law School in Philadelphia.
Instructor: Elizabeth Neumeier has been a full-time practitioner in the field of dispute resolution since 1983. Her primary area of practice is the arbitration of labor-management disputes. Ms. Neumeier served for 10 years as an arbitrator for United States Steel Corporation and the United Steelworkers of America in Pittsburgh, PA. She expanded her practice to a wide variety of the private and public sectors after returning to her native Massachusetts in 1993.
Ms. Neumeier was admitted to the National Academy of Arbitrators (NAA) in 1990 and served as a member of the NAA Board of Governors and as Vice President, and she continues to serve on numerous committees, nationally and for the New England region. She currently chairs the Program Committee for the Labor Arbitration Conference, sponsored by the University of Rhode Island Charles T. Schmidt, Jr. Labor Research Center in partnership with the NAA New England Region. In 1991-1992 she served President of the Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution (SPIDR), now the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR).
Ms. Neumeier has a B.A. in Economics from New York University, a J.D. from Boston University School of Law and is a member of the Massachusetts bar. Massachusetts Governor Deval L. Patrick appointed Ms. Neumeier to the Commonwealth Employment Relations Board in 2008, where she served for eight years.

Union Nominations and Elections
2025-05-07 18:00 - 20:00 | Virtual Event
Class Description: We’ll cover the basics of union nominations and elections and what your union needs to be in legal compliance. This workshop will help you assess your union’s process to assure you meet all minimum standards, and provide you with tools like a checklist of considerations and requirements and sample bylaw language, policies, nomination/election notices and ballots.
Instructor Bio: Patti Legault-Frank has been a consulting Parliamentarian and Governance Specialist and an instructor at The Labor Guild since 1981. In addition to local, state, and international labor unions, she has also consulted to credit unions; school committees; professional and social organizations. Her Labor Guild courses have been on Union Meetings with Robert’s Rules of Order; Reviewing and Amending Union Bylaws; and, on Union Elections. Her union consulting on organizational governance has included reviewing and refining governance documents (bylaws and rules, policies, and procedures); Officer, Executive Board, and member training; rendering formal parliamentary opinions when internal governance documents are silent or ambiguous; and, serving as parliamentarian at membership meetings and annual conventions.
As a prelude to consulting, Legault-Frank was with the Massachusetts Teachers Association from 1976 to 1986, where she was both the Governance Specialist and also represented eight local affiliates in contract negotiations and enforcement. While at MTA, Legault-Frank also served as President and Negotiations Chair of MTASO (MTA Staff Organization), the independent union comprised of her fellow staffers.

Premiere of "The Boston Labor Guild Still Stands Strong"
2025-05-19 19:00 - 20:30 | Virtual Event
The Labor Guild will be proudly presenting the Premiere of the newly created video: The Boston Labor Guild Still Stands Strong
We ask that you log in 15 minutes before the event so that we may start on time.

Introduction to Mindfulness
2025-06-03 18:00 - 20:00 | Virtual Event
RSVP/Registration is required, but the event is free to all, thanks to the generosity of the Feeley Family.
Training Description:
Designed to introduce participants to the concept and benefits of mindfulness as a tool for well-being. This program aims to pique interest in mindfulness and encourage further exploration. It assumes that participants have no previous experience with mindfulness practices. Participants will be given tools they can use every day in a variety of settings.
Learning Outcomes:
1. Experience at least two foundational mindfulness practices
2. Identify potential personal benefits of mindfulness, including stress reduction and improved focus
3. Reflect on their initial experiences with mindfulness and articulate one intention for future personal practice
Training Facilitator:
Susan Buchholz, Executive Director, The HeartWell Institute, & Public Health Bloomberg Fellow Susan has spent more than three decades in the nonprofit sector, advocating for health equity and social justice. Since 2010, Susan has co-chaired and coordinated the Joint Coalition on Health, a volunteer-driven community health coalition dedicated to addressing the social determinants of health. She continues to lead this effort, fostering collaboration, advocacy, and action to create healthier, more equitable communities. Susan sees mindfulness as a lifelong journey, embracing imperfection as a path to peace. She has practiced mindfulness for over a decade and believes it has helped her navigate life’s challenges while remaining joyful and healthy.

Cultivating Mental Health in the Workplace
2025-06-10 18:00 - 20:00 | Virtual Event
RSVP/Registration is required, but the event is free to all, thanks to the generosity of the Feeley Family.
Training Description:
Designed to help participants learn about the fundamentals of mental health and trauma, this program integrates current trauma science and provides actionable knowledge on positive steps towards supporting mental health, with a focus on cultivating personal well-being strategies. It is intended to promote understanding of self and others, including those served by our agencies.
Learning Outcomes:
1. Analyze the role social forces such as family, abuse, culture and stigma play in mental health and illness
2. Use reflection to identify, evaluate and apply personal strategies for stress management, self-care and improved mental health
3. Understand the multidimensional and intersectional nature of diverse lived experiences and the ongoing, reciprocal, and transactional nature of the relationship between persons and their environments (knowledge and values).
4. Understand the forms and mechanisms of oppression and power differences as they are manifest in theories and conceptual frameworks that provide ways to understand trauma, abuse and its manifestation in human behavior and group dynamics (knowledge and values)
Training Facilitator:
Amy Ebbeson, Trauma Specialist & Licensed Social Worker
Amy has taught Mental Health content to students at the undergraduate and graduate level. She served as Co-chair for the Worcester County Commission on the Status of Women for eight years and was the 2018 recipient of the YWCA Erskine Award in Education for her work to empower women and eliminate racism. Amy is deeply committed to raising awareness about the effects of childhood trauma, emphasizing the importance of understanding and addressing its long-term impact.

Self Regulation Toolkit
2025-06-17 18:00 - 20:00 | Virtual Event
RSVP/Registration is required, but the event is free to all, thanks to the generosity of the Feeley Family.
Training Description:
In demanding work environments, the ability to manage stress, emotions, and reactions is key to personal well-being and workplace success. Self-regulation is the ability to manage emotions, thoughts, and behaviors in a way that aligns with personal values and goals. In this interactive workshop, participants will explore practical techniques for improving emotional awareness, impulse control, and stress management. Through guided exercises, discussions, and real-life applications, attendees will leave with a toolkit of strategies to reduce stress and manage challenging situations with more ease.
Learning Outcomes:
1. Increase emotional awareness to better recognize and manage your feelings.
2. Develop self-regulation techniques to align thoughts, emotions, and behaviors with personal goals and values.
3. Improve stress management by practicing with tools to stay calm and focused in challenging situations.
Training Facilitator:
Kelsey Hopkins, Joy Coach, Public Health Professional, and International Development and Social Change Scholar
Kelsey is guided by the belief that bridging academic content and real-world problems enriches educational attainment and learning. Kelsey has expertise in supporting individuals with diverse executive function challenges, as well as a deep understanding of the evidence-based and grounded methodology of behavior change.

Basic Steward Training
2025-09-09 18:00 - 2025-10-07 20:00 | Virtual Event
Virtual Tuesdays 9/9/25-10/7/25- Course Description: This course will cover the basic duties and responsibilities of a Shop Steward. Building your skills by emphasizing strategic planning for local unions, member mobilization, recording documentation, and the grievance process. Students will participate in case studies to develop and enhance problem-solving techniques to navigate through daily issues swiftly and professionally. Students will also build more effective skills to communicate between trades as well as with their members, foreman, supervisors, and/or business managers. To make the course more meaningful, students should bring their own ideas for discussion. It is recommended but not a requirement.
Instructor: Tom Breslin has been involved in Labor Education since the mid-1980s while a graduate student at the University of Minnesota where he was an adjunct instructor in the Labor Education Service. In addition, he served as the Labor Studies Coordinator in the St. Paul, MN public schools teaching Labor History and Labor topics to junior and senior high school students. He has been a Labor Educator at both the Minnesota Nurses Association as well as the Massachusetts Nurses Association. Following his retirement from the MNA, he began teaching at the Labor Guild.

Instructed By: Tom Breslin, Retired Associate Director of Labor Education, Massachusetts Nurses Association

Understanding, Reviewing, and Amending Bylaws
2025-09-10 18:00 - 2025-10-08 20:00 | Virtual Event
Virtual Wednesdays- 9/10/2025-10/8/2025- Your Union Bylaws – Do they really say what you think they say on important issues: who is the ultimate authority in the union; who gets to interpret the bylaws when it’s necessary; when does custom or past practice matter; what happens when your bylaws are silent on a potentially-divisive issue, what mandates from Robert’s Rules kick in when your bylaws are silent; what belongs in policies versus bylaws? Refine your bylaws to avoid conflicts or complications because of missing or poorly-framed language. This workshop will teach you to review, evaluate, and amend your bylaws with confidence and ease. The materials provided will be invaluable reference tools for anyone serving in a leadership role and is responsible to membership and to any member interested in the effectiveness of their governance documents.

Union Meetings and Robert’s Rules
2025-10-15 18:00 - 2025-11-12 20:00 | Virtual Event
Whether you want to become a more effective and respected Chair, or a more confident and impactful participant, we’ll put Robert’s Rules Order to work to achieve more effective and democratic union meetings. We’ll review both the basics of Robert’s Rules of Order (making motions, debate, and voting). You will learn how Robert’s Rules of Order interfaces with your union’s bylaws, special rules of order, standing rules, and past practice, as well as labor law. Other issues we will discuss will be special meetings, executive session, electronic meetings, rules for committees and small boards (yes, they are different from membership meetings!), members ex-officio, and more. You will also find the materials distributed in this course invaluable meeting tools as you attend or run your union meetings.

Sold Out-Advanced Steward Training
2025-10-21 18:00 - 2025-11-25 20:00 | Virtual Event
This course will build on the skills students developed in the Basic Steward Training course by emphasizing Strategic Planning for local unions, members mobilization, and problem-solving techniques and member mobilization skills. To make the course more meaningful, students should bring their own ideas for discussion. It is a prerequisite that students have completed the Basic Steward Training course.
It is a prerequisite that students will have completed the Basic Steward Training course.
Objectives:

Students will enhance their grievance handling and grievance investigation skills.
Students will develop skills around Member Mobilization.
Students will learn skills to assist their union in Strategic Planning.
Students will improve their understanding of the role of the union steward in the union Organizing model.

Instructed By: Tom Breslin, Retired Associate Director of Labor Education, Massachusetts Nurses Association

Free Virtual Unemployment Insurance Benefits Workshop
2025-11-06 18:00 - 20:00 | Virtual Event
Unemployment Insurance (UI)
Unemployment insurance (UI) is a critical safety net during periods of joblessness. This vital program allows workers and their families to meet their basic living expenses when they’re out of work, while stabilizing the economy during recessions.
This workshop provides you with the expertise you need to understand the UI system and secure the UI benefits to which you and members of your union are legally entitled. It will guide you through the UI system from eligibility criteria to the appeals process. It will also discuss challenges with DUA’s new online system, how union members should address new questions in the online benefit portal to remain exempt from the work search requirement, and how part-time work during a benefit claim may affect eligibility.
JASON SALGADO is a Staff Attorney in the Workers’ Rights Unit of Greater Boston Legal Services, where he represents workers and advocates for legislative change in unemployment insurance, paid family medical leave, wage and hour, and misclassification matters. Jason previously worked in the Workers’ Rights Unit as an AmeriCorps paralegal, law student intern, and volunteer. Jason graduated from Harvard Law School in 2021 and received his bachelor’s degree from Boston College.

Free Virtual Paid Family and Medical Leave Workshop
2025-11-13 18:00 - 20:00 | Virtual Event
Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML)
As of 2021, Massachusetts has fully implemented its Paid Family and Medical Leave (PFML) program, providing workers wage replacement benefits when they have to remain out of work because of their own serious health condition, to care for a family member, or to bond with a newborn or newly-adopted child. By enabling workers to afford to take time away from work under these circumstances, these critical benefits improve health outcomes for workers and the public as a whole, while also improving early childhood development outcomes for children.
This workshop will provide an overview of the benefits and protections available to workers under the PFML law, tips regarding the application and appeals process, and a discussion of unresolved barriers to accessing these benefits to look out for as you seek to access these benefits for yourself, your family, or other members of your union.
STEPHANIE HERRON RICE is an attorney and Racial Justice Fellow at Greater Boston Legal Services (GBLS) in the Workers’ Rights Unit. Her practice focuses on Paid Family Medical Leave (PFML) and unemployment insurance (UI) individual representation and systemic advocacy. Stephanie serves on the UI Bond Bill Advisory Council, providing input to the Employment Modernization and Transformation Project overhauling the UI online system. Prior to joining GBLS, Stephanie worked in the Massachusetts Law Reform Institute and South Coastal Counties’ Justice Center in Brockton as a housing and benefits attorney. She received her J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law.

2025 Cushing-Gavin Awards Celebration
2025-12-05 19:00 | IBEW Local 103 Function Hall, 256 Freeport St #1, Dorchester, MA, 02122, United States

Labor Guild 2026 Annual Membership Meeting
2026-01-29 19:00 - 20:00 | The Labor Guild, 66 Brooks Drive, Braintree, MA, 02184, United States
As a member of the Labor Guild Community, you’re invited to join us at our
2026 Annual Membership Meeting
January 29, 2026 at 7:00PM
This is to advise you of the upcoming Annual Meeting of the Labor Guild. The details of this meeting are as follows:
Date: Thursday, January 29, 2026
Time: 7:00PM
Location: Pastoral Center, 66 Brooks Drive, Braintree, MA, 02184
We will:

Recap The Labor Guild’s 2025 Program;
Discuss 2026’s Program;
Elect The Slate of Directors for the Board

The meeting will be followed by a light bite and refreshments.

Basic Steward Training with Deb Sullivan
2026-02-10 18:00 - 2026-03-10 20:00 | Virtual Event
This 5-week course is designed to focus on BASIC Stewards training:

Expectations of a steward ~ What is a Steward anyway?
What you need to have ~ Resources necessary to do the job
Organizing vs Servicing ~ Attitude and approach to solution solving
Your rights and obligations as a steward ~ How to deal with management
Weingarten Rights~ How to investigate a grievance ~ dealing with members
Grievances ~ Writing, Investigating, and Presenting
Grievance Case study ~ Role play

Students should expect to actively participate in the discussions each week, bringing experiences, real time problems and ideas for solutions to the issues they face as stewards in their workplace. Copies of the contract the students are currently working with as well as copies of local union bylaws, constitutions, or any other governing documents should be available for students to check and use as a resource.
Instructed by: Deb Sullivan, Retired Associate Director of Labor Education~ Massachusetts Nurses Association

Building Union Strength Through Conflict Resolution with Ed Watt
2026-02-11 18:00 - 2026-03-11 20:00 | Virtual Event
During this training, participants will:

Understand the root causes, types, and effects of workplace conflict.
Learn how awareness and intentional responses can shift conflict outcomes toward collaboration.
Practice communication tools—such as active listening, open-ended questioning, and reflection—to de-escalate tension and strengthen relationships.
Participate in small and large group exercises, culminating in a role-play based on real-life workplace scenarios.

When completing this workshop, the attendees will view conflict as an opportunity to grow the union and actively promote understanding in the workplace.
Instructed by Ed Watt:
At age 16, Ed Watt started his union career as a member of Local 338 RWDSU. Working for the New York City Transit Authority, he became a proud member of Transport Workers Union Local 100. At 30, he became the chief steward of Flatbush depot in Brooklyn, New York, serving over 800 bus operators. In 2001, he was elected Financial Secretary-Treasurer of the 38,000- member local. He would serve three terms and then move on to positions in the Transport Workers Union International and the Amalgamated Transit Union International. He is now the principal of WattADR, an alternative dispute resolution practice. He holds a master’s degree in industrial and labor relations from Baruch/Cornell MSILR and a graduate certificate in Transportation Safety from San Jose State University.

Free Workshop: Runaway Inequality and the Crisis of U.S. Health Care
2026-02-12 18:00 - 2026-03-12 20:00 | Virtual Event
Description:
Our healthcare system isn’t working. It costs too much and covers too few people. And at the bargaining table, year after year, unions and employers face off over who will pay for the ever-escalating costs. This course offers and in-depth examination of the U.S. healthcare system, how we compare to other countries, and who really benefits from it. We’ll consider how healthcare impacts collective bargaining, how insurance companies behave, and how the Canadian healthcare system works. And we’ll look at the possibility of a solution that can deliver high-quality, affordable healthcare for everyone.
Components:

Introduction
Healthcare Benefits and Collective Bargaining
Can We Afford Better Healthcare?
How Do Insurance Companies Make Money?
What’s the Alternative to Employer-Based, For-Profit Health Insurance?
How Would Medicare for All Affect Workers?
Objections and Responses to Medicare for All

Instructors:
Katherine Isaac, Executive Director, Debs-Jones-Douglass Institute
Rose Roach, National Coordinator, Labor Campaign for Single Payer Healthcare

Union Power Tools and Media Skills with Ashley Adams
2026-03-17 18:00 - 2026-04-28 20:00 | Virtual Event
This course will cover the basics of increasing the power of a local union as well as the skills necessary for a positive public union campaign.
Specifically, we will address the following subjects:

Creating a vibrant communications network, and the one-on-one communications necessary for effective outreach and recruitment.
Listening skills
Fighting like a boxer: training, sparring, easy fights, tune up fights, and championship fights.
Leadership identification and recruitment.
Running effective meetings.
Staging events for maximum media impact.
How to talk to the news media. Presentation and interview skills.

The text we will rely on is UNION POWER TOOLS, by Ashley Adams. It’s available in print form from Amazon (all profits donated to Labor Guild and New England Jewish Labor Committee).
Instructed by: Ashley Adams
Organizer, Trainer, Negotiator, Massachusetts Teachers Association (Retired)

Drafting Contract Language to Reduce Grievances with Mike Loconto
2026-03-18 18:00 - 2026-04-15 20:00 | Virtual Event
Purpose of the Course:
The purpose of this course is to prepare contract negotiators to draft effective collective bargaining proposals. Grievances and costly arbitration’s often arise out of unclear contract language. Many locals and employers do not use attorneys to assist with drafting during the collective bargaining process, and sometimes disputes arise from ambiguous provisions.
By the end of this course, students will have tools to create durable outcomes at the table and reduce costs and uncertainty over the life of the contract.
Instructed by: Michael Loconto, Arbitrator and Mediator
Michael Loconto is a Boston-based arbitrator and mediator providing neutral, independent dispute resolution services for the modern workplace.
Arbitrator Loconto has trained with the American Arbitration Association and the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service Institute and has apprenticed under two members of the National Academy of Arbitrators in labor, employment and pension fund matters. He has experience in the public and private sectors with education, trades, construction PLAs, public safety, dining services, hospitals, and transportation, among other industries, and has handled a spectrum of discipline and discharge, contract interpretation, discrimination, substance abuse, pay and benefits matters. Arbitrator Loconto has two decades of practical experience, previously serving as an in-house counsel to a small college and a labor and employment relations leader for a large university and a major metropolitan city. He has worked with unions, managers and neutrals as a Labor and Employee Relations Association industry council leader and is the current President of Boston’s LERA Chapter. He has taught legal writing and research at Northeastern University School of Law and courses on contracts and bargaining at The Labor Guild.
Arbitrator Loconto conducts in-person or remote hearings nationally and internationally via the AAA (labor, employment and pension/ERISA matters), the Labor Relations Connection, FMCS, the National Mediation Board, and through more than two dozen state and local agencies. He is also a member of the Roster of Arbitrators with the U.S. Surface Transportation Board (rail disputes) and hears consumer lemon law claims in Massachusetts and contract vendor disputes with the City of New York.
Please visit locontoadr.com or email mtl@locontoadr.com for further information.

The American Labor Relations System: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow with Dan Fogarty
2026-03-19 18:00 - 2026-04-23 18:00 | Virtual Event
Together, in this 5-week class you will learn about and discuss:

Key historical moments and recurring trends in American labor relations
Major labor legislation and the current legal framework underpinning collective bargaining
Rules and strategy for both bargaining and administering a union contract
The challenges and opportunities facing American labor relations today and into the future

Instructed by: Daniel Fogarty, Partner, Sandulli Grace P.C.
Daniel Fogarty is a partner at Sandulli Grace, P.C., where he has practiced since 2015. Dan is dedicated to representing unions and their members in a wide range of labor and employment matters. Through his hard work, Dan has obtained successful outcomes for his union clients in contract negotiations and interest arbitration, contract administration and grievance arbitration, and unfair labor practices before the Department of Labor Relations. He has also represented workers in matters concerning work-related injuries, disability retirement applications and appeals, professional licensure and certification matters, including matters before the Massachusetts POST Commission and the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education, as well as appeals for unemployment assistance, discrimination claims, and wage and hour issues.
Before joining Sandulli Grace, Dan worked as a Labor Relations Trial Examiner at the New York City Office of Collective Bargaining, where he acted as a neutral decision maker in improper practice and representation cases between the City of New York and various municipal unions. While in law school, Dan also gained valuable experience working at a union-side law firm, Region 2 of the National Labor Relations Board, and the NYC Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association.
Dan graduated cum laude from George Washington University with a B.A. in Philosophy and then went on to receive his J.D. from Brooklyn Law School where he was an active member of the Moot Court Honors Society. He is licensed to practice law in both Massachusetts and New York.
