May 2006

Charter Township of Chesterfield –and- Michigan AFSCME Council 25, Local 1917 (Unit 2)

Unit Clarification Petition Granted- Police Chief and Fire Chief Excluded From Collective Bargaining as Executives; Since Police Chief and Fire Chief are the Highest-Ranking Officials of Quasi-Military Departments, Because of the Need for Immediate Authority, and Due to Lack of Interchangeability of These Positions with Other Officials, Police Chief and Fire Chief are Executives; Executives Should Not Have Bargaining Rights Under PERA for Public Policy Reasons.

Unfair Labor Practice Not Found - No Unilateral Modification of Collective Bargaining Agreement During its Term; Board Resolution was Mandatory Subject of Bargaining to Extent it Affected Future Health Insurance Benefits of Active Employees; Parties Had a Bona Fide Dispute Over Interpretation of Contract Language Dealing With Retiree Health Care, Dispute Should be Resolved Through Grievance Procedure Ending in Binding Arbitration; Employer Did Not Refuse to Arbitrate Grievance, Nor Preclude Union From Moving Grievance to Next Step.

Ann Arbor Transportation Authority -and- Transport Workers Union, Local 171

Unfair Labor Practice Not Found – Union Claim that Respondent Violated PERA by Not Processing Grievances Lacks Merit; A Breach of Contract is Not an Unfair Labor Practice Unless a Repudiation is Found, Failure to Process a Grievance Does Not Rise to Level of Repudiation; Respondent’s Action Did Not Frustrate the Grievance Process Nor Did it Completely Disregard the Contract as Written by Refusing to Process a Grievance That it Contended was Not Timely Filed.

Unfair Labor Practice Not Found- Union’s Decision to Not File a Grievance Was Based on Its Interpretation of the Collective Bargaining Agreement; Union’s Decision Was Not so Far Outside the Range of Reasonableness as to be Found Arbitrary; Union’s Deliberate Decision Did Not Violate Its Duty of Fair Representation

Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART) –and- Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 1564
–and- Cornelius Irby

Unfair Labor Practice Not Found- Union Did Not Breach Its Duty of Fair Representation By Refusing to Arbitrate As Union Made Reasoned Determination that Petitioner Did Not Have Rights Under Its Contract; Union’s Failure to Communicate is Not in Itself a Breach of Its Duty of Fair Representation; Claims Against Employer For Discrimination and Breach of Contract Were Not Timely and Did Not State a Claim Upon Which Relief Could be Granted.

Bureau of Employment Relations
Department of Energy, Labor & Economic Growth
Michigan State Government

This page last updated 07/19/06