News

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. - The School of LER's virtual Labor and Employment Relations Association chapter is presenting a webinar on Wednesday, February 17, from 8:00 p.m. to 9:15 p.m. EST. The title of the webinar is: “Achieving Diversity and Inclusion in Arbitrator Selection.”

Registration is $5 for the seminar and can be completed here.

Anyone who joins VLERA for the annual fee of $25.00 will have access to all VLERA webinars, past and present, for that price. 

For members, the Zoom link will be distributed to registrants after completing the booking process. For nonmembers, the Zoom link will be distributed to registrants after payment. 

Ms. Sandra Smith Gangle will provide participants with a presentation on the need for improvement in racial and gender diversity among the cohort of arbitrators who provide dispute resolution services across our country. She will consider the reasons why the goal of improving diversity is worthwhile.  She will recommend practical ways of accomplishing the goal, always ensuring that the approved arbitrators are fully qualified and acceptable to the labor and management communities

SHRM/HRCI Recertification Credits

1.5 credits 

Agenda

1. Should the pool of active labor arbitrators better reflect the diversity of the American workforce, in terms of gender and race? Why or why not?
2. What are the barriers to accomplishing that goal?
3. What is the role of mentors and sponsors?
4. What steps can be taken by roster-providers and advocates for unions and management to help advance the goal of diversification?
5. Will labor relations be enhanced if the pool of acceptable arbitrators is more diverse and inclusive?

Presenter Biography

As a young child, Sandra Smith Gangle, J.D. observed union members picketing for fair wages and working conditions. At age 8, she observed court proceedings in her parents’ marital dispute. At 15, she was a plaintiff in a jury trial. These experiences persuaded Sandra to become a lawyer. When she graduated high school in 1960, however, a legal career was not a reasonable option.

Sandra earned a B.A. at the College of New Rochelle (1964), then an M.A. in Romance Languages at the University of Oregon (1968). She taught French Language and Literature at Oregon State University and Willamette University.  In 1977, she entered Willamette University College of Law, to pursue her dream of becoming a lawyer.  Professor and Labor Arbitrator Carlton J. Snow became Sandra’s mentor.  After passing the Oregon Bar in 1980, Sandra opened her own law office, emphasizing employment discrimination matters.  Following Arbitrator Snow’s roadmap, she taught labor and employment courses at Portland State University and Western Oregon State College and honed neutral skills as a land-use hearings officer.

Sandra became the first Oregon woman to qualify for the arbitrator rosters of the Oregon Employment Relations Board, the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, and the American Arbitration Association.  She served two terms on the expedited arbitrator roster of the USPS and its three employee unions throughout the Pacific Northwest.  She decided hundreds of labor grievances in the public, private and federal sectors between 1995 and 2017 when she retired.

Sandra earned the Arbitrator Emerita Award from Oregon LERA in 2018 and the Ursula Laurus Distinguished Alumna Award from the College of New Rochelle in 2019.  She is married to Eugene Gangle and has two adult children and two grandchildren. She published a memoir of her life and career, “Madam Arbitrator,” in 2020.  Her website is www.madamarbitratorgangle.com.

February 10, 2021