AGENDA SET FOR KENTUCKY

LABOR-MANAGEMENT CONFERENCE

Annual Event Helps Foster Cooperative Labor-Management Relations

Frankfort, Ky. (Sept. 2, 2008) - Business leaders, labor representatives and government officials will be attending the 31st Annual Kentucky Labor-Management Conference Sept. 9-11, 2008, at Kentucky Dam Village State Resort Park in Gilbertsville. The event is hosted by the Labor-Management Conference Board of Directors, the Kentucky Labor Cabinet and the Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development.

"The Labor-Management Conference is as important today, if not more so, than when it was first created in 1977," says Don Mitchell, Retired Business Representative for the Indiana/Kentucky Regional Council of Carpenters and co-chair of the Kentucky Labor-Management Conference Board of Directors.

"The concept of cooperation is especially vital to all employers and employees, especially those who face downsizing or restructuring. I encourage everyone who has participated in this event to spread the word to others and to join us in enhancing the foundation of cooperation we have built in the last 31 years," he added.

This year's agenda provides numerous opportunities for labor and management officials to come together to discuss current issues, explore new ideas, and foster positive business relationships. This conference was conceived on the notion that labor and management working together strengthens the commonwealth's workforce as well as its economic competitiveness.

"From preliminary figures, it appears that this year's conference, our 31st, will be one of the best attended," said David A. Gooch, president of Coal Operators and Associates Inc. and co-chair of the Kentucky Labor-Management Conference Board of Directors. "I believe the interest in the conference this year reinforces the belief held by our board of directors that when labor and management work together, everyone wins and more importantly, Kentucky wins."

Governor Steve Beshear will honor winners of the annual Labor and Management awards during the Wednesday night banquet. Mark Scherrens, District Manager UPS Worldport Expansion, of Louisville, and Bill Meeks, American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, Local 1683, also of Louisville, are the recipients.

New this year is the Julian Carroll Young Labor and Business Leader Awards. The first recipients are Kyle T. Henderson, business manager, Plumbers and Steamfitters, Local 184, of Paducah, and Phillip R. "Phil" Tolliver, line crew supervisor, Kentucky Power Company, Ashland Service Center of Ashland.

Featured seminars during the week include:

· Dr. Thomas J. Schneider, president of Restructuring Associates, Inc. will be the opening session's keynote speaker. Dr. Schneider will discuss "Does Labor-Management Cooperation Make a Difference?"

· Kenneth Broadbent, business manager, Steamfitters, Local 449, Pittsburg, Pa., will present "Leveraging the Workforce Investment Act (WIA) Funds to Meet the Workforce Demands of the 21st Century."

· Secretary J.R. Gray, Kentucky Labor Cabinet, Secretary John Hindman, Kentucky Cabinet for Economic Development and panel will provide a "Commonwealth of Kentucky, Government Update."

· The Interim Joint Committee on Labor and Industry will hold a meeting.

· Linda TuBach, a collective bargaining education project director and teacher from Los Angeles, Calif., will present "Taking Labor-Management Relations to the High School."

· Curtis Cooper, director of Employee Benefits and Amanda Ayres, wellness coordinator for American Electric Power/Kentucky Power will discuss their company's "Health and Wellness Initiative."

· University of Louisville 2008 Labor-Management Award Winners, UPS Worldport Expansion Team lead by Joe Wise, business manager at the Greater Louisville Building and Construction Trades Council and Mark Scherrens, district manager of UPS Worldport Expansion will present this Best Practice Seminar.

· "A Diagnostic Approach to Improving Labor-Management Relations" will be discussed by John Popular, labor arbitrator and retired federal mediation and conciliation services mediator.

Those interested in attending this year's Labor-Management Conference can register on-site at the conference. Registration is $275 per person.