Human Resources Management

Stephen S. Erdmann

Labor & Employment Law Attorney and Certified Employee Benefit Specialist

Lake Oswego, Oregon (Portland, Oregon Area)

Overview

Director of Labor Relations, Portland Division at Safeway Inc.

Attorney at Law Office of Stephen S. Erdmann

Associate Attorney at Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt

Director at Food Employers, Inc.

Summary

● Steve is a seasoned labor relations advocate with 35 years experience representing

Management in labor law matters including collective bargaining, union organizing campaigns,

contract grievances and arbitrations, and National Labor Relations Board proceedings.

● Steve has personally negotiated over 600 single employer and multi-employer labor

agreements, for clients ranging from small, family-owned businesses with fewer than ten

employees to Fortune 100 Companies with thousands of covered employees.

● Steve is a Certified Employee Benefit Specialist (CEBS) and has many years of experience

serving as a trustee on Taft-Hartley health and welfare and pension trusts.

Education

● University of Utah S.J. Quinney College of Law

Doctor of Law (JD), Law

1972 – 1975

● University of Utah

Bachelor of Science (BS), Political Science and Government

1968 – 1972

Grade: Cum Laude

Activities and Societies: Intramural Athletics, Sigma Phi Epsilon

Fraternity

Certifications

● Admitted to Practice Law

Oregon State Courts

Federal District Court for Oregon

Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals

● Certified Employee Benefit Specialist (CEBS) by the Wharton School at the

University of Pennsylvania and the International Foundation of

Employee Benefit Plans

Stephen S. Erdmann

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Experience

Director of Labor Relations, Portland Division

Safeway Inc.

Public Company; 10,001+ employees; SWY; Food & Beverages industry

1997 – 2012 (15 years) Clackamas, OR (for Oregon and Southwest Washington)

Provided Labor Relations and Human Resources guidance and legal solutions for retail,

wholesale, supply and distribution operations of the Portland Division of Fortune 100 Company;

partnered with operations professionals to administer and negotiate on a recurring basis 60+

collective bargaining agreements with eleven labor unions.

Key Responsibilities included:

● Working closely with the Vice President of Labor Relations, Division President and other

members of the management team in the development and implementation of bargaining and

labor relations strategies and procedures in accordance with corporate policies and objectives.

● Acting as the Division’s primary negotiator, working with financial and empirical industrial

engineering data to successfully bargain the Portland Division's labor agreements.

● Serving as a strong management advocate while maintaining professional and productive

relationships with union leadership and negotiating partners.

● Helping to train Division management in the prevention and resolution of labor relations

issues.

● Administering the Division's labor contracts, advising Management on labor relations and

human resources matters, including contract interpretation and application; counseling and

assisting HR on training and discipline/discharge issues, discrimination claims and wage and

hour issues.

● Managing all aspects of the grievance and arbitration processes under the Division’s

collective bargaining agreements, resolving contractual grievances for regional distribution

center, production bakery and milk processing plants, and 90+ union-represented retail stores.

● Handling any unfair labor practices filed with the NLRB, including the investigation,

response and resolution of such charges.

● Serving as a trustee on four health and welfare and pension trusts providing benefits to

participants, monitoring contributions to and performance of the trust funds and working to

contain trust fund costs.

Stephen S. Erdmann

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Attorney

Law Office of Stephen S. Erdmann

1993 – 1997 (4 years) West Linn, OR (Oregon and Southwest Washington)

Specialized in Labor and Employment Law, providing advice and guidance on employment law

and other legal issues; collective bargaining and grievance handling; wage and hour; unfair labor

practice charges; and discrimination matters. Representative clients included Alpenrose Dairy,

Arrow Transportation, Darigold, Inc., Fred Meyer, Inc., Keystone Contracting, Lamb's

Thriftway, Ocean Spray, P & G Thriftway, Rudie Wilhelm Warehouse Company, Safeway Inc.,

and Thrifty-Payless.

Associate Attorney

Schwabe Williamson & Wyatt

Privately Held; 201-500 employees; Law Practice industry

1991 – 1993 (2 years) Portland, OR

Primary focus was on Labor and Employment Law from a Management perspective, collective

bargaining and grievance handling, and providing advice and guidance on employment, wage

and hour, and other legal issues to firm clients.

Director

Food Employers, Inc.

1977 – 1991 (14 years) Tigard, OR (for Oregon and Southwest Washington)

First as a staff attorney, and from 1980 on as Director, was responsible for collectively

bargaining on a recurring basis over 100 labor agreements throughout Oregon and Southwest

Washington with ten Retail Clerk and Retail Meat Cutter/Butcher (now UFCW) locals, two

BCT&GM Locals, nine Teamster locals, the IUOE Operating Engineers, IAM Machinists, and

the IATSE (Stagehands) for Association members. Negotiations were on either a multi-employer

or individual employer basis, with both single and multi-union labor groups. Led negotiations

and was the primary employer spokesman in more than 300 separate sets of negotiations on

behalf of more than 100 different Association members, covering employees at retail store level,

dairy and bakery production facilities, warehousing and distribution operations.

In role as Association’s Chief Executive, successfully developed and met annual budgets,

negotiated property and equipment leases, hired, trained and supervised Association staff, and led

the Association’s member recruitment efforts.

In administering labor agreements, counseled Association members on labor relations and human

resources issues (including training and performance/discipline) and handled contractual

grievances through binding arbitration; unfair labor practices filed with the NLRB; dealt with

wage and hour issues and discrimination claims through state and federal administrative agencies

(NLRB, Wage & Hour and BOLI). In addition to negotiating labor agreements and handling

grievances, also served as a trustee on eight health and welfare and three pension trusts, and

served as the elected chairman for seven of those trusts.

Stephen S. Erdmann

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Organizations

● Oregon State Bar

● Multnomah County Bar Association

● International Foundation of Employee Benefit Plans

Board of Directors (four terms), Trustee, CEBS and Educational Program Planning

Committees

● Oregon Teamster Employers Trust

Trustee, Trust Chairman, Employer Chairman

Skills & Expertise

● Labor Relations

● Collective Bargaining

● Employee Benefits

● Traditional Labor Law

● Employment Law

● Employee Relations

● Grievance Arbitrations

● Taft-Hartley Health & Welfare, Pension Plan Trusteeship

● Unfair Labor Practice Charges

Other Interests

Grandchildren, Golf, Books/Reading

Contact Information

See my LinkedIn Profile at www.LinkedIn.com/in/steveerdmann

E-Mail Address: *****@************.***

Telephone: 503-***-****

Mailing Address:

Stephen S. Erdmann

P.O. Box 1056

Lake Oswego, OR 97034

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