By Ed White
Associated Press
DETROIT (AP) - The Michigan appeals court affirmed a decision that struck down a 10-year agreement between a Detroit-area school district and teachers - a deal that was widely viewed as a way to lock in union membership and dues and avoid the state's right-to-work law.
The court upheld a ruling by the Republican-controlled Michigan Employment Relations Commission, known as MERC, which said the contract between the Taylor district and Taylor Federation of Teachers was "arbitrary" and "reckless."
The decade-long side deal was signed just weeks before Michigan's right-to-work law took effect in 2013. The law says workers can't be forced to financially support a union to keep their job.
"We conclude that it was indeed reasonable for MERC to conclude that the union took deliberative action ... that would essentially subvert and undermine the plain language and intent of state law," said appeals court Judges Jane Markey and Mark Boonstra.
The 2-1 decision was dated Tuesday but released Wednesday.
Unions and more than 100 school districts scrambled to write new contracts before the right-to-work law kicked in because it wouldn't apply until a contract expired. Wayne State University in Detroit approved an eight-year contract with faculty.
In dissent, Judge Donald Owens said the unusual length of Taylor's deal doesn't matter. What's important, he said, was that the pact was in place before right-to-work took effect and satisfactory to both sides.
Mark Cousens, an attorney who represented the district and the union, said Owens got it right. An appeal to the Michigan Supreme Court is being considered.
"This case is being watched around the state ... MERC and the appeals court have done something that belies logic," Cousens said.
The district and the union have said the agreement was made to maintain labor peace. The union got a 10-year deal, and the district got a 10 percent pay cut and other concessions from teachers.
Published: Fri, Dec 16, 2016
