2016 In-Region Membership Meeting

This 1.5-day meeting will provide opportunities for networking with labor relations and employee relations leaders from the U.S. and Latin America (including a group dinner on Tuesday evening), as well as featuring panel discussions on pertinent labor relations and employee relations issues. Key agenda items to include:

• Keynote address by Francisco Loiaza, EVP Human Resources for the Panama Canal Authority. Francisco led the organization through a remarkable transformation to ensure the successful execution of the Canal Expansion, and this is a great opportunity to hear how a comprehensive HR/LR strategy set the stage for a remarkable achievement.  While some of the aspects may be familiar (redefining mission/vision/values), others are much less typical (ensuring a national skills strategy to ensure that sufficient numbers of Panamanians had the needed capabilities to supply the contractors who did the actual construction, and a separate labor strategy to ensure zero labor disruptions from Canal Authority employees during the project).  
• Extended country discussions for Costa Rica and Colombia to provide both the overall context of employee and labor relations, as well as company experiences about what the reality is for employers.  We are looking for individuals to participate on both panels.
  
• Discussion from member companies regarding the rapidly changing labor market situation in Mexico.  everal companies have reported much higher rates of employee turnover as well as rapidly increasing wage and salary levels, and we are hoping to hear about your efforts to deal with the situation. We have identified some preliminary panel members who are prepared to discuss the situation, and would welcome additional perspectives.
  
• Updates from companies regarding:
  
• • eSocial implementation in Brazil
  • Chile’s revised labor law and the impact on your business and planning.  Certain aspects were blocked by the high Court, but some of the most difficult provisions are still intact.
  • The evolving labor relations environment in Argentina with the clear tension between President Macri and the labor organizations.
• Panel discussion about the actions which you are taking in preparation for the TPP becoming effective.  The obvious topic is what is happening in Chile, Mexico and Peru regarding the ILO conventions and your activities to ensure compliance with local laws.  Panelists are welcome for this topic, as well.
  

Also planned is discussion about how we can better bring the local networks and training programs to life.  There was much initial enthusiasm in Miami, and we want to translate that into action for the members of our network.