July 2007

City of Detroit
-and- Service Employees International Union, 517M

Unfair Labor Practice Not Found – Charge is Untimely; Six-Month Statute of Limitations is Jurisdictional and Cannot be Waived; Limitations Period Commences When Charging Party Knows of Act Which Caused the Injury and Has Good Reason to Know Act was Improper or Done in an Improper Manner; Isolated Breach of Contract is Insufficient to Establish PERA Claim, but is a Contractual Dispute That Should be Resolved Through Grievance-Arbitration Procedure.

C06 E-118

South Lyon Community School
-and- Charlotte Fulkerson

Unfair Labor Practice Found – Employer’s Termination of Employee While on Leave Because she Refused to Accept Grievance Settlement Offer Constitutes Unlawful Discrimination Based on Union Activity; Where Evidence Does Not Support Showing That Employee Suffered Economic Harm as Result of Termination, Remedy that Includes Back Pay or Benefits is Not Appropriate.

Wayne County Airport Authority
- and - Wayne County Law Enforcement Supervisory, Local 3317, AFSCME
-and- SEIU Local 503

Motion for Reconsideration Denied – Charging Parties’ Motion for Reconsideration Restated Arguments Presented in Their Response to Exceptions; Arguments Presented in Motion Were Thoroughly Considered by Commission Prior to Issuing Its Decision; Charging Parties Did Not Set Forth Grounds for Reconsideration.

Unfair Labor Practices Found and Not Found – Commission does not Consider Late Exceptions Arriving After Extension Period and Adopts Recommended Order of ALJ; Employer Violated PERA by Failing to Supply Union with Requested Information and Records in a Timely Fashion; FMLA Records for Nonunit Employees were Relevant to Performance of Union’s Statutory Duties and Employer Waived Right to Assert that Request was Unduly Burdensome by Failing to Timely Raise Issue and Offer an Alternative; Employer had no Obligation to Provide Attendance Records for Nonunit Employees, as Charging Party Failed to Show Relevance of Those Documents.

City of Detroit (Finance Department)
-and- Michigan AFSCME Council 25  

Unfair Labor Practice Found – Request for Information Made Expressly Pursuant to Collective Bargaining Agreement Provision is Sufficient to Establish Relevance; Employer was Required to Provide Information to Union Regarding Employment of Contract Employees as Established in Agreement; Employer’s Failure to do so Constitutes an Unfair Labor Practice.

Unit Clarification Granted – Petition timely – Unit Clarification is Appropriate When the Position at Issue is Newly Created or has Undergone Recent Substantial Changes; Disputed Positions are not Historically Excluded Positions; Disputed Positions have Significantly Different Responsibilities and Degrees of Authority from Positions Excluded by Collective Bargaining Agreement; The Fact that Disputed Positions have Historically Excluded Job Title is Not Determinative.  Substantial Changes made to Job Description assigned to Historically Excluded Job Title Almost Two Years Before Petition was Filed; Duties of Disputed Positions Differ Significantly from those in Job Description, such that Employer’s Application of Job Description to Disputed Positions Was Misleading and Failed to Put Union on Notice that Disputed Positions Shared a Community of Interest with Bargaining Unit; Duties Assigned to Disputed Positions were the Subject of Ongoing Controversy; Petition was filed Promptly Upon Union’s Realization that Disputed Positions Were Performing Bargaining Unit Duties.  Bargaining Unit is Nonsupervisory; Although Some Bargaining Unit Members have Authority to Make Work Assignments of a Routine Nature, They Lack Effective Authority in Personnel Matters and, therefore, are Not Supervisors; Disputed Positions without Supervisory Authority have a Community of Interest with Bargaining Unit Positions and are Included in Bargaining Unit; Disputed Positions having Supervisory Authority are Excluded from Bargaining Unit.

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

This page last updated 08/21/07