Summit Law Blog

On May 8-10, 2024, members of Summit Law Group’s Labor and Employment team attended and presented at another successful Labor Relations Institute (“LRI”) in Yakima, WA, organized by the Association of Washington Cities (“AWC”). LRI is has established itself as a premier training event for public sector human resources and labor relations professionals in Washington State, and we were thrilled to continue contributing to the event’s success. Summit attorneys and staff presented on various topics alongside other presenters from across the state. It was wonderful to see so many clients in attendance and to learn from colleagues, peers, and clients alike.

John Henry kicked Wednesday’s program off with a comprehensive presentation on the basics of collective bargaining. The entire team of 14 Summit attorneys in attendance at the conference ended the day’s programming with a presentation on emerging legal issues impacting labor relations. There was also a lengthy question-and-answer period with all LRI attendees, which we affectionately refer to as “Stump The Chumps.”

On Thursday morning, Kristin Anger and Evan Chinn gave attendees an excellent overview of the complex web of labor laws applicable to public sector employees. This was followed by tips from a litigator’s playbook to arbitration and unfair labor practice hearing preparation, presented by Summiteers John Lee, Doug Morrill, and Britaney Garrett. Sofia Mabee, Jessica Goldman, and Otto Klein also presented on the myriad impacts of public sector strikes. The afternoon continued with an interactive collective bargaining simulation presented by six Summit attorneys to demonstrate how to address common but complex issues in bargaining. This was followed by Bonnie Gail, John Henry, and John Lee educating conference attendees on the complicated and important world of compensation analysis in collective bargaining to end the day.

On Friday morning Kristin Anger and Tim Reynolds had the pleasure of updating attendees on recent trends in and best practices regarding accommodating employees pursuant to the Americans with Disabilities Act. Friday’s programming ended with an always highly anticipated presentation by Rod Younker summarizing the highlights of decisions by the Public Employment Relations Commission made during the preceding year.

Thank you to the AWC staff for all your effort in LRI for this year’s program. LRI somehow continues to improve every year despite the excellence of past events. Your hard work resulted in the event being a resounding success, as always!

And, of course, thank you to everyone who joined us in Yakima for this year’s LRI. Check out the photos from the 2024 Labor Relations Institute. We hope to see you again next year!