A series of training sessions for Local 802 staff, supervisors, and rank-and-file committee members began in April. The first session was limited to 802’s Organizing Department, plus some additional staff. On April 26, an all-day program was held for committee members from the freelance orchestras.

The sessions are conducted by 802 General Counsel Len Leibowitz and his wife Peggy. Both are lawyers and both have considerable teaching experience.

Len and Peg co-teach a course about labor relations in the arts at Columbia University, and Len has lectured on the topic at Harvard, Yale, and SUNY-Binghamton.

The training includes labor law, grievance handling, arbitration and bargaining techniques.

Dates and times for future sessions will be announced shortly.