About jalmc.org

History of JALMC
In the early 1970s, the city of Jamestown, New York, was experiencing a period of economic down time, a number of key manufacturers closed down and the area was seen as an area of difficult labor relations. Stan Lundine, Mayor of Jamestown, convened a series of meetings with labor and management leaders to try a different approach to the area's problems. Issues and concerns were addressed head-on, and the Jamestown Area Labor-Management Committee was formed to become an organization that fostered cooperation and problem solving and to assist in improving the economic situation in the community.

Experience of JALMC
The JALMC assisted the labor and management leadership to look at new ways and processes to improve their communication and ability to mutually solve problems. This led to the development of numerous work-site labor-management committees, a focused approach to industrial skills training throughout the community, and the development of internal facilitations for these workplace labor-management committees. Most importantly, the JALMC showed the need for constant and open communication and sharing of information as the best method to present problems between labor and management.

Expansion of JALMC
Over the next thirty years, JALMC increased its programs and services to include: training of dislocated workers, peer mediation programs in local public schools, a community approach to health care delivery, and expanding the ability to communicate information through the publication of high-quality newsletters.

Affordable Help
JALMC started publishing newsletters as a way to bring its knowledge and expertise to the thousands of organizations that need it, at a price level that everyone could afford.

Valuable Assistance
The concept proved a success, and the newsletters serve a combined audience of over 5,000 organizations and companies. "That's what makes the newsletters so valuable" says Ralph Letersky, executive editor. "These small organizations really need the awareness of what is happening in the world of human resource management and governmental regulations, but they don't have the time and the staff to dedicate to finding and disseminating the information. So they turn to the newsletter each month to find reports on current issues and what they need to be aware of, prepared for, and reacting to. It really helps make their jobs easier; something that seems to be getting harder everyday."

Hugh Tranum, Executive Director of JALMC
The JALMC is led by Hugh Tranum, executive director. Hugh has worked with numerous companies and organizations helping them improve their labor-management relations. Hugh has a Masters Degree in Labor-Relations from West Virginia University and has worked with various organizations including Alstom, Valeo, and N.Y.S.D.O.L. He had also been an adjunct faculty member at SUNY Fredonia where he taught collective bargaining, labor history, and compensation benefits management.

Kristan Fox, Executive Editor of JALMC
Kristan Fox, executive editor of the publication division of JALMC, has been supervising the production of three newsletters for JALMC. She has been involved with human resource publications for the past 5 years and has developed a human resource software catalog and website, hr-computing.com.

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