CLOSE-UP
Looking At
Six Sides
Mediators David Tanzman
and Shlomo Sperka
have deep roots
in resolving conflicts
SUSAN WEINGARDEN
Special to The Jewish. News
n the list of ethics David
Tanzman gives to the
class he teaches in labor-
management relations,
the following is included:
It's not who's right that
counts, but what's right.
"My source is the
Bible," he explains.
Tanzman, chairman of
the Michigan Employment Relations
Commission, adds, "The biggest prob-
lem I see between labor and manage-
ment is the lack of proper communica-
tion. The Torah is replete with so
many instructions that evidence the
positive effect of proper communica-
tions. It is an endless manual."
"The Mishnah is full of
guidelines," adds Tanzman's friend
and associate, Shlomo Sperka, direc-
tor of the Bureau of Employment
Relations of the Michigan Depart-
ment of Labor. "It tells us to be
evenhanded, not favor one side or
another, and to respect all parties."
As colleagues in the field of labor
relations, Tanzman and Sperka work
together on the general conduct of the
Bureau of Employment Relations.
Both hold prominent positions. But
labor disputes do not interfere with
the Sabbath and holy days. Their Or-
thodox Jewish beliefs play an in-
tricate role in their daily lives and in
their respective careers. Familiar
24
FRIDAY,
MARCH 18,1988,
with controversy, both men lean on
their religious training in their at-
tempts for compromise and
communication.
"There is a strong favoring in the
Halacha (Jewish Law) of compromise
and looking for solutions which are
mutually acceptable, rather than the
winner or loser approach;' Sperka
says.
Before becoming the director of
the Bureau of Employment Relations,
Sperka served as an administrative
law judge, resolving labor relations
and public employees' bases.
"The BER is a multi-function
agency," he explains. "We are involv-
ed in labor laws. The bureau employs
a staff of labor mediators to assist in
collective bargaining both in the
public and private sector. We conduct
elections by which public employees
select unions to represent themselves.
During the recent Detroit teachers
strike, the BER assigned a mediator
to help settle the differences in the
negotiations between the Detroit
Board of Education and the Detroit
Federation of Teachers.
"We administer laws involving
the arbitration of disputes. We have
a panel of 200 arbitrators who we ap-
point to specific cases."
Tanzman plays a similar role. As
an arbitrator and mediator he is in-
volved in helping parties solve their
disputes. "You work things out by
talking, not by fighting;' he explains.
"Talk leads to the resolution of prob-
lems; you narrow down the area of the
problem to find the solution."
Retired from the Federal Media-
tion and Conciliation Service, Tanz-
man became a member of the
Michigan Employment Relations
Commission in 1983, and was ap-
pointed to a three-year term as chair-
man in 1986. Explaining the role of
the commission, Tanzman says, "The
commission has a legal function. We
act as an appellate body for the deci-
sions and recommendations of the ad-
ministrative law judge, who is part of
the BER.
"The judge renders decisions on
whether a group can organize, and ad-
dresses charges of unfair labor prac-
tices. If either party challenges the
judge's decision, they challenge it
before this commission.
"The commission assigns ar-
bitrators and factfinders. Public
employees have the right to organize
under the Public Employee Relations
Act. When they are involved in con-
tract negotiations with the agency
they're employed by and do not reach
an agreement, either alone or with a
mediator, either side makes a petition
to the agency to submit to factfinding.
We also act as an arbitration referral
agency!'
As a freelance arbitrator, Tanz-
man gets calls from both labor and
management. "If someone brings me
a problem, I do one of two things. If
I act as a mediator, I assist them with
their efforts to resolve their dif-
ferences. I offer suggestions from a
different vantage point. As an ar-
bitrator, I call the shots and render a
decision which is final and binding."
While 99 percent of Tanzman's
time is involved in labor and manage-
ment, he occasionally handles other
disputes. "Recently, a couple hired me
to help resolve a financial matter.
They were fighting over money."
Tanzman believes the best set of
shop rules are the Ten Command-
ments. "A person is a human being as
well as an employee. The Ten Com-
mandments offer a set of rules as to
how a community should live. There
are five man-to-God rules and five
man-to-man rules. Which one is more
important? I believe the good Lord
would be very pleased if we see to it
that the man-to-man rules are observ-
ed religiously."
Tanzman is often asked by organi-
zations to share his expertise in the
form of classes for both labor and
management. "In my labor-relations
management classes, I teach people
the yardstick of day-to-day relations.
I teach them how to handle a prob-
lem, how to talk out a problem, and