Grievance arbitration

David Tanzman Papers

kschmeling — Thu, 11 Apr 2019 11:18:15 -0400

David S. Tanzman, originally from Corona, New York, was born in 1919 and received a BA in Liberal Arts from Wayne State University. According to the Detroit Jewish News, Tanzman fought in the European Theatre in World War II and when the war ended he worked as a government messenger in Washington. Later he became a mediator for the National Defense Mediation Board and then the National Wage Stabilization Board. In September 1948, he relocated to Detroit and joined the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service where he helped prevent labor disputes through mediation and arbitration until 1979. After his work with the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, he kept his hand in labor mediation and arbitration, and also became an instructor in the field of labor management relations in both public and private sectors.

Additionally, Tanzman was a former program Director of the Wayne State University and University of Michigan Institute of Labor and Industrial affairs. Other professional activities include: being founder and past president of the Society of Professionals in Dispute Resolution, appointment to the Michigan Employment Relations Commission in 1983, a member of the National Academy of Arbitrators, and Chairman of the Michigan Employment Relations Commission from 1986-1992.

Kenneth Forbes Papers

kschmeling — Tue, 05 Dec 2017 14:21:45 -0500

The collection consists of the papers of Kenneth Forbes, a UAW leader in the Saginaw area. Forbes held different offices in the union including the president of UAW Local 455 and was also active politically. The papers cover his active years in the union and his retirement, and gives a glimpse into the life of the politics and challenges of an elected official in the UAW.

Shlomo Sperka Papers

kschmeling — Mon, 21 Mar 2016 13:40:10 -0400

Shlomo “Sol” Sperka (1933-2015) was a Detroit lawyer and arbitrator. He was educated at Wayne State University (1952-1954) and Brooklyn Law School (1958). Upon obtaining his degree Sperka returned to the Detroit area, first working for the National Labor Relations Board and then moving on to the Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC), where he served first as an Administrative Law Judge and then as director. After retiring from state employment in 1998, Sperka spent several years in academia, teaching at the Wayne State University Law School and serving as the interim Director of the Master of Arts Program in Industrial Relations. Sperka also served as an arbitrator from 1998 until 2011. Throughout his career, he published a number of works on labor law and public sector labor relations, and he was an active member of a number of professional organizations, including the American Arbitration Association. In addition to his legal career, Sperka was an active member of the Detroit Jewish community and had a particular interest in and expertise in Talmudic Law.

The bulk of the material in this collection is from the 1980s forward and relates to Sperka’s work at the MERC, as a Professor at Wayne State, and as an arbitrator. Types of materials include correspondence, case notes, lectures and speeches, continuing education materials, and information from various professional organizations in which Sperka was involved. Also included is a small quantity of material from Sperka’s personal files, which primarily reflect his involvement in Detroit’s Jewish community.

SEIU Executive Office: John Sweeney Records

ljones — Tue, 21 Dec 2010 12:52:45 -0500

For many, John Sweeney is known as the now former head of the AFL-CIO, a position from which he retired in 2009 after 14 years of service. For most of the previous 35 years, though, he was a member turned officer of the Service Employees International Union, having served 15 of those years as its President. The SEIU Executive Office: John Sweeney Records document his tenure during these 15 years, although portions of these records predate his tenure in that office.

The records contain files documenting the activities of SEIU local unions, joint councils and other SEIU affiliates. In addition, the files of SEIU executive board members, vice presidents, divisions, departments and staff members are also found within the collection, often within series identified in this manner. Researchers can also review records documenting the meetings, hearings, conventions and conferences Sweeney attended and at which he often spoke or testified. Records documenting SEIU's conventions from its inception in 1921 until 1992 are also found within these records. The records of the conventions reveal the major policy shifts of the union. Sweeney's interest in healthcare are also found within these records in addition to the union's external relationships with labor organizations and others.

SEIU Local 32B-32J Records

ljones — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 15:15:25 -0500

Local 32B, located in New York, NY, was founded on April 19, 1934 and within months the young union was on strike in the garment district; within days the union won rights to a closed shop and gained a substantial number of new members. Local 32J had been charted in 1936 and was composed largely of women building service workers. The two unions merged in 1977, and the new 32B-32J had over 46,000 members. Part I of this collection is comprised entirely of correspondence from the members of the Local to Union officers, and the Union reply. The subjects include benefits, grievance and arbitration matters, requests for employment, and a large number of letters from retired members on a variety of issues.

Former Local 32B-32J President John J. Sweeney was elected SEIU International President in 1980, and was thus succeeded as President of Local 32B-32J in 1981 by Gus Bevona. It was the Bevona administration that generated the majority of the records in Part II. Part II primarily consists of video recordings (both U-matic and VHS) of union meetings, interviews, and events. Additionally included are materials on 32B-32J’s history and administrative publications, as well as a bound volume of materials related to the 1976 Apartment Building Agreement and proceedings between the union and Realty Advisory Board on Labor Relations, Inc.