About

Senior Human Resource Professional with 40+ Years of Manufacturing Industry Experience

Hi, I am Michael Brock, a neutral labor arbitrator and mediator with over 30 years of experience in HR, labor relations, bargaining, and arbitration in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries. I am a senior human resource professional with the highest level of HR certifications. In 2019, I became Treasurer for the Greater Houston chapter of LERA (Labor and Employment Relations Association).

My Educational Background

In 1970, I earned my Bachelor of Science Degree in Chemical Engineering from the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. This was a five-year cooperative engineering program in which I worked intermittently at DuPont’s Memphis plant in Memphis, Tennessee.

Career Overview

After college, I continued working for DuPont, completing a 40-year career that included two tenures at DuPont’s LaPorte, Texas chemical plant, and five locations at DuPont Company Headquarters in Wilmington, Delaware. While in Wilmington, this also included five years working for a DuPont joint venture startup, DuPont–Merck Pharmaceuticals. After retiring from DuPont in 2008, I continued to work part-time and as a contractor intermittently for DuPont for an additional eight years.

Professional Experience

During my career, I fulfilled many assignments, including:

HR Manager
HR Planning Manager
HR Program Manager
HR Team Leader
Senior HR Specialist
Primary Bargainer
Industrial Relations Specialist
HR Specialist
Production/Area Supervisor
Engineer/Area Engineer

For over seven years, I served at DuPont’s LaPorte, Texas chemical plant as Primary Bargainer with the International Chemical Workers Union Council of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union. My varied experiences have enabled me to understand and appreciate both Union and Company perspectives in labor relations issues.

Mediator & FMCS Training

In 2018, I successfully completed a 40-hour mediator training course at the University of Houston. Later in the year, I successfully completed the week-long FMCS Becoming a Labor Arbitrator course.

IN 2019, I worked as a volunteer for the Greater Houston Better Business Bureau, where I successfully concluded two mediations and arbitrated one case, all related to home renovations.

In 2019, I successfully completed the FMCS course, Arbitrating in the Federal Sector.

FMCS Arbitrator Roster

In 2019, I started an apprenticeship with a Mentor who is an NAA (National Academy of Arbitrators) member, who critiqued and counseled me in writing arbitration awards on a number of cases.

On January 27, 2020, I was added to the FMCS Arbitrator Roster and have self-certified to conduct virtual arbitrations.

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