MERC Decisions Pending Before the Michigan Court of Appeals

Wayne Professional Fire Fighters Union, Local 1620, International Association of Fire Fighters
-and- City of Wayne

Unfair Labor Practice Found: The City Violated its Duty to Bargain in Good Faith By Seeking Injunctive Relief in Circuit Court to Stay an Act 312 Proceeding; Act 312 Arbitrator Authorized to Consider the Union’s Non-Modifiable Healthcare Stipend Proposal; Collective Bargaining Agreements May Vest Unalterable Lifetime Retirement Healthcare Benefits For Employees Retiring During the Term of That Agreement, Provided That the Agreement is Explicit and Unambiguous; 2011 Amendments To Act 312 Do Not Preclude An Act 312 Panel From Issuing An Award Obligating an Employer to Provide Lifetime Retiree Health Benefits.

20-L-1801-CE, issued 5/10/2022

Van Buren Education Association MEA/NEA -and- Van Buren Public Schools

Unfair Labor Practice Not Found: The Union’s Attempt to Arbitrate Grievance for “Overage” Compensation Allegedly Due to a Teacher Under the Parties’ Agreement Did Not Involve or Implicate a Prohibited Subject of Bargaining or Violate Section 10(2)(d); Parties’ Arguments Related to Contract Interpretation Are Not Relevant to Whether Grievance Implicated a Prohibited Subject and Should Properly Be Resolved Through Arbitration; Section 15(3)(h) Prohibits Bargaining Over a Public School Employer’s Decision to Use Technology or Implement a Pilot Program, as Well as Over the “Impact” of Such Decision; The Employer Failed to Produce Evidence That the Grievance Over Which the Union Demanded Arbitration Involved Either the Employer’s Decision to Use Technology or Implement a Pilot Program or the Impact of Such Decision.

Kalamazoo Education Association, MEA/NEA -and- Kalamazoo Public Schools

Unfair Labor Practice Not Found: Union’s Advancement to Arbitration of a Grievance Challenging the Transfer of a Guidance Counselor From the Non-Instructional Position She Held to a Teaching Position Did Not Violate Section 10(2)(d); Commission Found that the Term “Teacher” Within the Phrase “Teacher Placement” Under Section 15(3)(j) meant a Certificated Individual Employed as a Teacher; Consequently, the Bargaining Prohibitions of Section 15(3)(j) Were Not Violated By the Union’s Advancement of the Grievance to Arbitration.