DDDennis Dabney
Dennis Dabney speaking into a microphone on stage

Labor relations & leadership

Prepare for high-stakes negotiations. Make the agreement work afterward.

Dennis Dabney helps executives and labor leaders prepare for major negotiations, align management teams, and build productive labor-management relationships through keynotes, private advisory, and workshops.

  • Former SVP, Kaiser Permanente
  • Past President, LERA
  • 30+ years of experience
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Speaking

Keynotes for leaders at the bargaining table and beyond.

Each keynote is shaped around the audience in the room, from executive teams to union leaders to joint labor-management groups.

Dennis Dabney at the podium beside a panel on a stage with purple curtains
From the podium to the panel.
Dennis Dabney seated on stage, speaking into a microphone
In conversation.
Dennis Dabney in discussion with a fellow panelist on stage
On stage with fellow panelists.
01

A Better Way to Work

The case for partnershipThe value of working genuinely with employees and their unions, and what it does for service, quality, innovation, and competitiveness.

For: Executives, boards, union leaders, joint groups
02

Getting Management Aligned Before Bargaining

Internal clarity firstHow management builds a shared direction among its own leaders before the first session begins.

For: CEOs, COOs, CHROs, bargaining teams
03

Leading Large-Scale Labor Negotiations

Preparing for the biggest tablesPreparing for and leading complex, high-stakes bargaining when many stakeholders and voices are involved.

For: Senior labor-relations leaders, public-sector teams
04

Negotiating Beyond the Contract

After the signatureCarrying a signed agreement into effective, day-to-day practice once bargaining is over.

For: Joint committees, supervisors, HR leaders
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Private advisory

Confidential counsel for leaders facing a defining negotiation.

Dennis Dabney seated at a table with two colleagues

Dennis takes on a limited number of confidential advisory engagements with leaders preparing for major negotiations or rebuilding a working relationship with a union.

Unlike a keynote or workshop, advisory is individualized counsel, shaped around your specific leadership challenge.

  • Negotiation preparationStrategy and readiness ahead of major bargaining.
  • Management-team alignmentA shared position inside management before the table.
  • Leadership coachingConfidential counsel for executives and labor leaders.
  • Partnership strategyA path to a productive labor-management relationship.

Dennis does not provide legal representation or legal advice.

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Workshops & education

Practical education for the people closest to the work.

Workshops give supervisors, bargaining teams, executives, and joint committees practical education, designed around the group in the room.

Dennis Dabney leading a workshop in a conference room
Dennis Dabney talking with workshop participants

Session topics

  • The supervisor’s role
  • Union communication
  • Grievances & discipline
  • Just cause
  • Arbitration
  • Case discussion

Topics draw on the 2023 course “Labor Relations in the Workplace,” which Dennis co-taught with Dick Schmidt.

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Portrait of Dennis Dabney in a navy suit with arms crossed

About & experience

A career inside complex labor relationships.

Dennis approaches labor relations with clarity, respect, and a conviction that partnership is practical, not abstract. His work stresses preparing management thoroughly before bargaining, listening to union and frontline voices, and carrying agreements into everyday practice.

Former executive role

Senior Vice President

National Labor Relations & the Office of Labor Management Partnership

Kaiser Permanente

Retired in 2021 after serving in this role.

  1. 2015

    Published in Negotiation Journal

    Article on management alignment, interest-based bargaining, and the value of direct union and frontline input.

  2. 2024

    Concluded term as LERA president

    Delivered the outgoing-president address, “A Better Way to Work,” for the Labor and Employment Relations Association.

Organizations & industries

  • Kaiser PermanenteHealthcare
  • FirstEnergyUtilities
  • DTE EnergyUtilities
  • ThyssenKrupp Budd / Budd CompanyManufacturing

Education

JDUniversity of Detroit Mercy
BBA & MPAEastern Michigan University
Dennis Dabney with a large group of colleagues in a hotel ballroom
Dennis Dabney smiling in a white polo shirt
Dennis Dabney standing with colleagues beside a stage staircase
Dennis Dabney with two attendees at an event

Contact

Start a conversation.

Tell us about your organization, your audience or challenge, and the kind of engagement you have in mind.