Peter J. Hurtgen

Senior Counsel

Peter J. Hurtgen is senior counsel in Morgan Lewis's Labor and Employment Practice. Mr. Hurtgen's practice focuses on representing senior management in labor matters, particularly with respect to complex issues involving collective bargaining and the National Labor Relations Act.

From 2002 until December 31, 2004, Mr. Hurtgen served as the director of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS) and, from 1997 to 2002, as both a member and chair of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). In his role as FMCS director, Mr. Hurtgen was involved in the mediating of settlements in many nationally significant negotiations, including the highly publicized West Coast ports labor-management dispute of 2002, which put approximately $300 billion worth of economic activity at risk. Mr. Hurtgen also led the negotiations in February 2004 between the United Food and Commercial Workers and representatives of Southern California's supermarket chains, returning 60,000 workers to their jobs after 141 days, ending the nation's longest strike in the retail grocery industry history. In 2004, he successfully supervised telecommunications industry mediations between SBC Communications Inc., and the CWA, affecting 100,000 workers nationally. In 2003, Mr. Hurtgen oversaw negotiations involving Verizon Communications, Inc., the Communications Workers of America (CWA) and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW), which affected more than 78,000 workers in the Northeast and MidAtlantic regions. He has also assisted with mediations between hotels and unions in the San Francisco and Los Angeles areas.

Prior to his presidential appointments to the FMCS and NLRB, Mr. Hurtgen represented employers in labor and employment matters as a partner in the firm's Miami office.

Mr. Hurtgen received his J.D. in 1966 and his B.S. in 1963 from Georgetown University. He has written several publications on specialized subjects within the general field of labor law and labor-management relations.

Mr. Hurtgen is admitted to practice in California, the District of Columbia, Illinois, and Florida.