Providence, R.I.--The challenges facing labor and management as they work jointly to lead the economy forward will be the focus of the annual John H. Fanning Conference on Labor-Management Relations at Providence College on June 4.

Sponsored by PC's Quirk Institute of Industrial Relations, the conference will be held in Raymond Hall on campus from 9:15 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Eighty to 100 representatives from the labor and management fields are expected to attend.

The conference will be highlighted by two morning presentations, a keynote address, and an awards presentation.

The first morning program, "Needed: Leadership from the Labor and Management Communities," will be led by Dr. Thomas A. Kochan, the George M. Bunker Professor of Management in the Institute for Work and Employment Research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Respondents will be James P. Riley, secretary-treasurer of UFCW, Local 328, and Anthony Sapienza, technical vice president for Riverside Manufacturing Company, based in Moultrie, Ga. The presentation will be moderated by Christine Newhall, senior vice president of the American Arbitration Association.

The second presentation will feature a panel discussion on "Regionalization: Has Its Time Come?" Panelists will be The Honorable Frank T. Caprio, general treasurer of the State of Rhode Island; J. Michael Downey, president of AFSCME, Council 94; The Honorable Alan Fung, mayor of Cranston, R.I.; and James Parisi, field representative for the Rhode Island Federation of Teachers.

The panel will be moderated by Joseph D. Whalen, Esq., a partner with Hinckley, Allen & Snyder LLP of Providence.

The luncheon speaker will be Michael A. Tranghese '09Hon., commissioner of the BIG EAST Conference, who will discuss "The Negotiating Environment." Tranghese, who will be retiring on June 30, has served the BIG EAST for 30 years. Under his leadership, the conference has expanded into the largest Division I-A conference in the country.

Two individuals will be honored with the Quirk Award for their exemplary contributions to the cause of industrial peace: arbitrator, mediator, and facilitator Joan Dolan and Bruce Wilde, chief human resource officer for the Rhode Island Airport Corporation.

The $90 registration fee for the conference includes lunch and materials. Registration deadline is June 1. For more information or to register, call Francis T. O'Brien, director of the Quirk Institute, at 401-865-2194, or e-mail Maureen Medeiros, administrative assistant in the Quirk Institute.

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