All:

At 10 AM yesterday morning, we had the conference call with MERC, the University, AAUP, and the petitioning parties to discuss the decertification election.  During the call, AAUP legal counsel reiterated that they are labeling the unfair labor practice (ULP) charge that they have filed as a 'blocking charge', which would delay a decertification election until the ULP is resolved.  The petitioning faculty member requested that the AAUP officers allow the election to go forward as soon as possible to allow faculty to decide the issue, but AAUP did not respond to the request.

All parties have agreed to hold a hearing on the ULP in Lansing on November 22.  Following the hearing, there will be a period of time (1-2 months) for all sides to file briefs with the administrative law judge (ALJ) hearing the case, the ALJ will take time after that to issue a recommendation (3-4 months usually), then the Commission will take time to issue a decision (2-6 months), and then there can be appeals after that.  All told, this will delay an election for up to a year or more if AAUP continues to maintain the blocking charge designation; if they remove the blocking charge, the election could be scheduled soon, perhaps in the next few months.

As you also know, we have stopped negotiations with AAUP at this time because of legal concerns related to the requirement that we not favor one faculty group or another while this question concerning representation is pending.

Dave R