Director, Labor Relations

The Director of Labor Relations is a key partner to management, acting as a strategist for labor relations and the primary coordinator of all labor activity across BGMP. The successful candidate has a demonstrated ability to collaborate with senior leaders and managers to assess their needs and define priorities on an ongoing basis and, as importantly, can help hold leaders accountable by ensuring compliance with the spirit and the intent of collective bargaining agreements. The Director of Labor Relations will work in partnership with human resources to promote an environment of positive labor and employee relations through the development of fair and consistent application of Labor Relations strategies.

Responsibilities:

• Provides oversight of all (9) CBAs covering our 5 unions - can answer any and all questions about the terms of the contracts and can serve as a resource to both business leaders and HR business partners when contract terms need to be well understood
• Manages all of the external relationships with heads of unions, pulling in the appropriate stakeholders as needed
• May draft proposals and generate creative solutions to complex problems/issues as identified by either management or the union
• Tracks labor relations cases and issues in order to identify trends over time and coaches managers on how to improve labor relations in their respective departments
• Identify labor relations and employment law training needs throughout the community in addition to tracking key legal/regulatory issues to be mindful of
• Develop and/or deliver training to address these needs as appropriate
• Serves as lead negotiator at bargaining tables where appropriate
• Provides coordination of and leadership for labor management and any other CBA mandated committee meetings, including setting the agenda with union leadership and coordinating all action items coming out of them 
• May hear all grievances and arbitrations (including representing the company at these hearings) with strategy input from HR and legal
• Provides guidance to managers when they are managing through a difficult issue related to a CBA 
• Trains people on contract provisions where needed and can provide all new managers with labor training at hire
• Ability to present labor considerations and contract negotiations strategy to the highest level executives
• Maintain the Labor Relations portion of the intranet site including posting labor updates.

Qualifications:

• 5-8 years of demonstrated experience with all aspects of labor relations
• Must be a creative, collaborative partner to BOTH management and union leadership
• Ability to manage multiple priorities at once and translate the needs of many stakeholders at once
• Must be a systems-thinker who can understand how singular details affect the big picture
• Successful candidate will have proven ability to consider multiple perspectives and use those insight to formulate alternatives/options
• Candidate must be mission driven and have a commitment to the work we do at BGMP
• J.D. a plus but not a requirement
• Bachelor’s degree required
• A willingness to adapt and be audience focused, with a curious mindset and a commitment to creating an inclusive work environment 

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Vaccination Statement:

We require that all BGMP employees (including temporary employees, co-ops, interns, and independent contractors) be vaccinated from COVID-19, unless an exemption from this policy has been granted as an accommodation or otherwise. All BGMP employees, regardless of vaccination status or work location, must provide proof of vaccination status as instructed by the employee's designated Human Resources contact. Employees may request a reasonable accommodation or other exemption from this policy by contacting their designated Human Resources contact. Failure to comply with or enforce any part of this policy, or misrepresentation of compliance with this policy, may result in discipline, up to and including termination of employment, subject to reasonable accommodation and other requirements of applicable federal, state, and local law.

EEO Statement:

Boston Globe Media Partners is an equal employment opportunity employer, and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, disability, national origin, ancestry, genetic information, military or veteran status, pregnancy or pregnancy-related condition or any other protected characteristic. Boston Globe Media Partners is committed to diversity in its most inclusive sense.