XV. IRRA ANNUAL REPORTS

IRRA Executive Board Meeting
Saturday, June 14, 2003
Radisson Hotel, Superior Room, Rosemont, IL

     President Voos called the meeting to order at 12:17 p.m. Board members present included: past president John Burton, president elect Marlene Heyser, secretary-treasurer Peter Feuille, and members Nancy Biagini, Jackie Blanchard, Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Ann Frost, Cindy Gramm, Andy Levin, Wilma Liebman, Tia Schneider Denenberg, and Art Schwartz. Also present were, Paula Wells and Suzi Millas of the national office. Past President Don O'Brien was an invited guest. Absent were board members Ronald E. Blackwell, Daniel Cornfield, Sanford Jacoby, Dennis W. Rocheleau, John C. Truesdale, Adrienne Eaton, Editor in Chief, and Lavonne Ritter, National Chapter Advisory Chair.

     Approval of Minutes --The minutes from the Washington, D.C., meeting, January 2, 2003 were reviewed. Marlene Heyser moved to approve the minutes, Cindy Gramm seconded the motion, and the motion was unanimously approved.

Committee and Officer Reports

     Report of Finance & Membership Committee --Don O'Brien, member of the Finance and Membership Committee member, Special Strategic Membership Committee, and Past IRRA President, addressed the board on behalf of Greg Woodhead, chair of the Finance & Membership Committee. O'Brien reported receiving news of $10,000 in sponsorship monies soon to come from the General Electric Fund (Foundation) to support the publication of Perspectives on Work . He also reported that Tom Kochan spoke with FMCS Director Peter Hurtgen who verbally approved $25,000 in grant funding in both 2003 and 2004, as requested by the IRRA. O'Brien thanked Lavonne Ritter for her efforts to get the support of FMCS and Tom Kochan for his contact with Director Hurtgen. O'Brien also thanked Dennis Rocheleau for his support in obtaining the GE grant support.
     In order to secure continuing grant funding for IRRA operations, a new Foundations Relations committee has been established. It is being chaired by Hoyt Wheeler. O'Brien also pointed out that dues revenue was again projected to fall below the budgeted amount for this year, indicating a need to work harder to increase national membership or to raise funds in other ways. He discussed there was not much room for reduction of expenses in the current budget and that board should be concerned with this matter.

     Report of the Secretary-Treasurer & Executive Director --Paula Wells reported on current and recent promotional efforts, including:

• a new IRRA Library subscription brochure, revised 2003 membership and 2004 organizational brochures, and increased number and frequency of mailings and email contacts since last fall. She reported the association gained library subscriptions and revenues partly due to the promotion of library online access to IRRA publications.
• half-priced memberships have not provided any significant incentive for new members to join; the volume of new IRRA members has continued to decline and only 6% of half price members renewed the following year. She recommended half-priced membership promotions be discontinued as a regular offering for new members except for limited times or events.
• with the advice and direction of finance and membership committee chair Greg Woodhead, the board members would be contacted soon by the national office to help recruit new members in a one-on-one capacity.
• The possible creation of a new membership type called "Dual Membership" allowing the option for members to pay for and join a local chapter the same time they joined the national. Chapters would have the option to participate; it would not be mandatory. Wells recommended the board turn it over to National Chapter Advisory Committee (NCAC) for consideration. A report on interest from the chapters was requested in January 2004. A pilot program involving a few of the more organized chapters was suggested.
• the national office will begin a program of contacting new members to encourage them to participate in Association activities by sending short emails in conjunction with new member materials.

     Wells discussed the proposed membership dues structure for 2004. The Board had voted in January to increase Regular Member dues to $95 and had asked Wells to recommend changes to the remaining membership types. Wells proposed raising contributing members to $200, Emeritus to $55, and Institutional subscribers to $175. Student and Additional Family member dues would remain unchanged. She also recommended discontinuing half-price new membership offers except for special limited time frames. The Board voted to accept those changes to the 2004 dues structure.
     Other ideas to be considered in the future included developing a labor-management partnership rate for dues with a discounted rate for joint membership, and targeting top management and administrators as potential members. The issue of declining student membership was discussed, and ideas such as focusing on Masters or undergraduate students, law, labor and economics students, developing a conversion dues structure for recent graduates or holding collective bargaining training, were all put forward for consideration.

     Report of the Special Strategic Membership Committee --President Voos asked for clarification regarding action items that would require a vote or approval by the board. Past President John Burton provided a set of recommendations and background information, including recommendations made by Hoyt Wheeler and Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld on changing the name of the organization and adding industry and occupational sections. Member Andy Levin stated that he and other labor colleagues not present preferred an initial draft of one recommendation made to the committee, which suggested revising the association's current stated focus away from human resources management. Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld noted that the IRRA exists at the intersection of interests in labor, management, neutral, and academic fields, and suggested that the language in the Association's mission should continue to reflect the existence of this union.
     After further discussion the it was determined the association would continue to remain broadly representative across the industrial relations field when describing its focus without amending the wording of the current constitution.
     The issue of the possible name change for the association was discussed. Burton described the process whereby eight names were developed and then ranked by the committee, with the top two choices listed for the Board. Burton acknowledged that Ron Blackwell suggested the name Work and Employment Association, which was amended to Work and Employment Relations Association and was the first choice of the SSMC members. The second choice of the SSMC was the Labor and Employment Research Association. The history of the association's name was discussed and the two names were considered. The second name, Labor and Employment Research Association, was amended to Labor and Employment Relations Association. A straw poll was taken by the board and there was general agreement that LERA would be recommended to the members as the new name of the association.
     Wells pointed out that the process of changing the constitution, in which the name of the association is included, requires board approval and a follow-up vote of the membership for amendment. It was determined there was a need for background information, to be presented to the membership before any vote could be taken. A committee made up of Burton, Cutcher-Gershenfeld, Levine and Schwartz would develop the wording for the reason behind the name change. The Executive Board endorsed the following procedure with respect to the proposed name change: First, the proposed change would be announced in the September 2003 IRRA Newsletter (which we are doing with this article), with comments solicited (please send them to the national office). Second, the local chapters of the IRRA would be asked to consider the proposal during the Fall of 2003 and transmit their views to Lavonne Ritter, Chair of the Chapter Advisory Committee. Local chapters would not need to change their own names--or may change their names at a later time. Third, The proposed name and the comments would be discussed at the January 2004 meetings of the Executive Board and the General Membership Meeting. Finally, The proposed change in the name would then be submitted to the membership for a mail vote in Spring 2004.
     The basic structure of the association, with local chapters and interest sections, was discussed, but with increased emphasis on the sections and possibly adding industry or occupations councils (at the suggestion of Joel Cutcher-Gershenfeld). Joel described the basics of the plan as adding a 3rd structural dimension to the association including persons within a specific industry or occupational group. Advantages included 1) annual meeting benefit-if a panel existed at the meeting, it would draw those persons to the association 2) Sloan has funded 19 industry centers (aerospace, airline, trucking, etc) and a partnership between those industries, Sloan, and the IRRA could be investigated (with possible funding from Sloan).
     A core group and defined leadership for each council would be determined and given an industry designation upon meeting certain criteria. Concern for the IRRA administration and the need for funding for the project was emphasized. Joel supported this need and described his interaction with Sloan regarding the matter. The issue of exercising caution regarding the promising of slots at the annual meeting to specific groups was mentioned, and the use of pre or post conference days for such sessions was discussed, as well as dues structure for the industry councils.
     The forming of alliances with other organizations was mentioned and briefly discussed. The importance of the uniqueness of the association and the ramifications of alliances with other groups (possibly taking away from our autonomy) was mentioned.
     The recommendation to continue producing the current IRRA publications was discussed. Funding for the Perspectives on Work from the FMCS was mentioned. The IRRA News was discussed, and the brief online survey administered in early June was mentioned. Based on board approval, if the IRRA News service was to continue, external funding would be pursued in order to support Bill Canak and the service. This was considered in relationship to other publications, for example the Perspectives on Work, edited by Charles Whalen who would perform a comparable amount of work but who has only received a modest reimbursement for some travel expenses.
     The association dues structure was discussed, and possibilities such as salary based tiers, solicitation of funds for lifetime members, the development and undertaking of a fundraising event among members, past officers, etc, and the restructuring of dues to a 12-month membership were explored (possibly starting in January 2004).
     It was also suggested that the membership be surveyed every other year regarding the relative value of benefits. The recommendation to establish five committees to undertake the before mentioned strategies was discussed. These included the Foundations Committee (exists), Sections Coordination Committee, Organizational Alliance Committee, Development (Fundraising) Committee, and National Policy and Practitioners Forum Committee. It was recommended that board members should serve on these committees. The structure of these committees as Ad Hoc was emphasized, as well strongly linking the Finance & Membership Committee to these committees. It was recommended that non-elected executive board candidates would be excellent members for these committees, broadening the reach of the association.
     The need for transparency in the association's structure and presentation, and the need to be open to all types of members within our committees and subcommittees was mentioned, as well as the idea of systematically engaging poster session participants to serve on a committee in order to bring others into the association, especially younger people. The suggestion was also made that board members could serve as "receptionists" for the individual sessions at the annual meeting, greeting attendees, tracking time, and even promoting IRRA membership among attendees, and President Voos indicated she would follow-up on the idea.

     Report of the Fund Raising Committee --John Burton indicated that this committee's name had been revised to the IRRA Foundations Relations Committee, via Hoyt Wheeler's suggestions. The focus of the committee was to build sustaining contacts with foundations and secure long-term funding in order to stabilize the association.

     Report of the 56th Annual Meeting Program Committee --President Voos briefly discussed the program and thanked the program committee for their work. She asked that members review Attachment B describing the theme of the meeting, events, and listing sessions and their tracks, titles, and chairs.

     Report of Editorial Committee --President Voos reported in behalf of Chair Adrienne Eaton that the committee had received the revisions to the proposal and had approved the 2005 volume proposal from John Budd. The volume's topic was on Ethics in Employment.

New Business

No new business was discussed.

Old Business

     National Policy Forum (NPF) --President Elect Marlene Heyser reported she and Don O'Brien had received a preliminary positive response from a few people inside FMCS regarding the idea of holding an IRRA Policy Forum or Spring meeting inside or adjacent to the FMCS labor conference in Chicago this next spring, June 2-4, 2004. The FMCS meeting is held every other year. Heyser cautioned that this was a preliminary response only and added a committee needed to be formed to further look into the willingness of FMCS to hold a joint conference, to develop a format for these meetings, and determine a program. Heyser suggested on alternate years, the association could hold its own meeting in D.C., similar to the National Policy Forum format. Heyser planned to work with Don O'Brien, Paula Voos, and John Burton on the idea.
     The board reviewed the NPF history and proposed budget, and discussed past problems and future issues. The implications for the national staff, i.e. the need to add back one half time staff member in order to undertake adding this meeting to the workload, was discussed. Other ideas mentioned included:

• holding the meeting on Saturday to allow for lower airfares for participants
• holding off-year meetings in Washington, D.C., to keep the focus of the NPF on policy issues
• including research panels and industry focused sessions to demonstrate the association's involvement in these areas
• honoring someone of esteem at the meeting to draw attendees.
• holding the meeting in the early fall was mentioned so as not to conflict with the annual meeting preparation and the timing of major membership promotions undertaken by the national staff.
• President Voos stated that holding the meeting with FMCS would need to be fully explored, and a business plan and program would need to be developed and approved by the board this fall if the association would be holding a meeting in the spring of 2004.

     Adjournment --President Voos adjourned the meeting at 3:12 pm. The next IRRA Executive Board meeting is scheduled to convene on January 2, 2004, at the Holiday Inn On The Bay, San Diego, CA.