All:
Last Friday, the AAUP sent a note to faculty regarding the current status
of the faculty union, mediation, the pending ULP, and negotiations. There
are two sections, in particular, where the note may lead the reader to
mistaken perceptions. I'm sending you this note so that you may be
prepared to answer questions if your faculty approach you on these issues.
If you have additional questions, please let me know and we'll try to get
the answers for you.
First, the union states: "The Administration unilaterally called a halt to
negotiations when the decertification petition was filed despite the fact
that the mere filing of a petition does not change the status of the AAUP
as the elected representatives of the MTU tenured and tenure-track
faculty. This action casts doubt on the veracity of the administration’s
oft-repeated claim (Daily Mining Gazette, February 24) that "We are
committed to negotiating in good faith …" "
It is true that we halted negotiations after the decertification petition
was filed. The Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC) required
all parties to cease negotiations at that point. MERC personnel
communicated this to Michigan Tech first, and Ellen Horsch asked that MERC
call AAUP (Bruce Barna) and their counsel to tell them the same thing,
which MERC did. Thus, both sides were told by MERC in the October time
frame that negotiations must cease. It is very misleading to imply that
the University 'unilaterally called a halt to negotiations', as AAUP is
well aware of what transpired.
Secondly, the following statement was also included: "The Director of
MERC has stated that “…the alleged conduct of the Employer, if proven,
might affect employee’s free choice in the election. Accordingly, any
election is blocked until further notice.” Michigan law requires
outstanding ULPs to be resolved before a decertification election can
occur. The AAUP thus cannot choose to “unblock” the decertification
election, unless we decide to drop the ULP, which we cannot do in fairness
to the faculty we represent."
In this case, the Director of MERC blocked the election at the request of
the AAUP. The AAUP can file a 'request to proceed' which would remove the
blocking charge, in which case the election to decide representation could
occur while the ULP is still pending. AAUP counsel is perhaps the most
experienced labor lawyer in Michigan and well aware of this option. Again,
to imply that AAUP cannot remove the blocking charge is very misleading.
Dave R