Scheinman Institute Well Represented at Viriginia LERA Conference
Photo: Jacia Falcon, John Coverdale, Cheryl Teare, and Shakiya Wright-McDuffie
The Virginia Chapter of the Labor and Employment Relations Association (Virginia LERA) held its fourth annual conference recently.
Cheryl Teare, Virginia LERA board member and Scheinman Institute Senior Extension Associate, organized and moderated a panel entitled “Local Impact of Federal Changes.” Sarah Miller Espinosa, a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators (NAA) and Scheinman Institute Senior Extension Associate, was a panelist for the “Best Practices for Labor Negotiations in the Virginia Public Sector” session. John Coverdale, Labor Arbitrator and Mediator, and a graduate of the third cohort of the Scheinman Institute’s Labor Arbitrator Development Program (LADP), served as a panelist for the “Arbitration for Non-Lawyers” session. Also in attendance at the conference were two of Coverdale’s fellow cohort members and graduates of the LADP, Jacia Falcon and Shakiya Wright-McDuffie. Cornellians Mark Pearce, NAA member, and Rosemary Pye, NAA member, were among the arbitrators on the “How Will the Arbitrators Decide?” panel. The final session of the conference, “What’s Next in Virginia Labor Relations?”, featured a lively discussion on the possibility of the enactment of a statewide collective bargaining law in Virginia.
Virginia LERA was founded in 2021 after the passage of legislation repealing the prohibition against public sector collective bargaining in the Commonwealth of Virginia and enabling local counties, cities, and school boards to enact collective bargaining ordinances and resolutions. Several jurisdictions in Northern Viriginia, as well as the cities of Richmond and Charlottesville, have established collective bargaining frameworks, conducted elections, and negotiated first contracts.
