June 2017

City of Detroit (Department of Water & Sewerage) -and- Sanitary Chemists and Technicians Association -and- Association of Detroit Engineers

Unfair Labor Practice Charge Dismissed:  Charge Alleging that Respondent Violated § 10(1)(c) by Implementing a Ten Percent Wage Reduction Following Expiration of the Parties’ Collective Bargaining Agreement Filed Four Years After Occurrence; Commission Has Strict Six Month Statute of Limitations Period; Unnecessary to Consider if Respondent Violated PERA Because Duty to Bargain Over Wages was Suspended by Federal Judge Cox’s 2011 Order; Commission Enjoined From Finding that Respondent Committed Unfair Labor Practices Per Terms of Order of the Federal Court; Although Proceedings Involving the City of Detroit Were Placed on Hold as a Result of Bankruptcy Stay, the Commission Continued to Accept and Docket New Charges During that Period.

C16 F-068 &   C16 F-070

Withdrawal of Exceptions; Statute of Limitations; City of Detroit Bankruptcy 

Petition for Unit Clarification Granted: Position of Student/Intern Excluded from Bargaining Unit: Commission does not Certify Mixed Units where a Party Objects; To Determine if the Student/Interns Were Eligible for Act 312 Arbitration, the Position Would Have to Pass the Test Set Forth in Oakland County Prosecutor (1980); Student/Interns Not Subject to the Hazards of Firefighting, Nor Would it Pose a Threat to Community Safety if They Were to Strike; Position Should Not be Accreted into IAFF’s Bargaining Unit.  

Unfair Labor Practice Not Found: Respondent Exercised its Discretion in Deciding Not to Pursue Charging Party’s Grievance Over the Employer’s Failure to Pay Him for a Denied Personal Day; Union’s Good Faith Decision Not to Pursue a Grievance Does Not Violate its Duty of Fair Representation; Respondent’s Decision that the Employer Had the Right to Impose the 24 Hour Notice Requirement on Some Employees and Not Others Does Not Amount to Discrimination in This Case. 

CU17 A-004  

(no exceptions)
 

Detroit Metro Wayne County Airport -and- AFSCME Council 25, Local 953 -and- Michael Tierney

Unfair Labor Practice Not Found: Charging Party Failed to Allege that the Employer Acted Unlawfully or Violated His Rights as Guaranteed Under PERA; Charging Party Failed to State Facts Alleging that the Union Membership’s Vote to Settle His Grievance was Arbitrary, Discriminatory or in Bad Faith; Charges Against Employer and Union Occurred in 2014 and 2016; Commission Has Strict Six Month Statute of Limitations Period.

C16 J-108 & CU16 J-056

(no exceptions)
 

City of Detroit -and- Shanesha Pugh

Unfair Labor Practice Not Found: Charging Party Failed to State a Valid PERA Claim; Denial of Charging Party’s Compensatory Time Does Not Fall Within Commission’s Jurisdiction; Charging Party’s Claim that She was Denied Leave Time Occurred in June 2016; Commission Has Strict Six Month Statute of Limitations Period; Failure to Respond to Show Cause Order May Warrant Dismissal of Charge.

C17 B-010

(no exceptions)
 

Order on Remand: Court of Appeals Reversed MERC’s Findings and Held That MERC Erred in its Interpretation of § 5 of PA 152 and Nullified an Otherwise Enforceable Provision in the Parties’ Contract That Had Not Yet Expired. 

Wayne State University -and- Service Employees International Union, Local 517M

Unfair Labor Practice Not Found: Charging Party Did Not Meet Burden of Establishing a Prima Facie Case that Chief Steward’s Suspension Constituted Unlawful Discrimination in Violation of 10(1)(c); No Evidence that Director of Custodial Grounds viewed the Requirement that Respondent Establish Just Cause for Disciplining Employees with Animosity; Delay in Resolving Errors on the Chief Steward’s Paycheck Not Deliberate Action Designed to Intimidate Him from Performing His Duties as Union Steward; No Explanation in Record as to Director’s Decision to Conduct an Investigatory Interview of Charging Party Immediately After They Had Met to Discuss a Grievance; Suspicious Timing, by Itself, is Not Normally Sufficient to Establish that the Employee’s Union Activity was a Motivating Factor in the Employer’s Decision; Respondent had at Least an Arguable Basis for Discipling the Chief Steward.  

C16 L-129

(no exceptions)
 

10(1)(c); Antiunion Animus

City of Detroit (Water and Sewerage Dept) -and- AFSMCE Council 25, Local 2920 -and- Joseph Twiggs

Unfair Labor Practice Not Found: Charging Party Failed to Establish that the Union Breached its Duty of Fair Representation; AFSCME Was Not Charging Party’s Bargaining Representative at the Time He was Terminated, as Teamsters Local 214 Took Over, and AFSCME Could No Longer Negotiate on Charging Party’s Behalf; Charging Party Failed to Allege Sufficient Facts to Establish that the Employer Violated His Right to Union Representation, as He Did Not Request the Presence of a Union Representative at Meeting; Employer Has Obligation to Provide Union Representation at Investigatory Meeting Only When Employee Requests Union Representation; No Legitimate Issues of Material Fact and Decision on Summary Disposition Appropriate.

C17 A-004,

C17 A-007 &

CU17 A-002

(no exceptions)