Bargaining Update 6/15/22

As we mentioned in our last update, the EMU-AAUP negotiating team previously requested EMU meet with our team via Zoom to bargain a new collective bargaining agreement. Unfortunately, EMU refused to meet with us via Zoom and demanded in-person meetings.  After EMU failed to appear at our Zoom session. our attorneys immediately filed an Unfair Labor Practice with the Michigan Employment Relations Commission alleging that the University had failed to meet with us and bargain in good faith.

EMU’s attorneys then moved to dismiss our Unfair Labor Practice Charge prior to a hearing, arguing that in-person bargaining is required for public employers. Bizarrely, EMU’s Motion to Dismiss never once addressed the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, the use of Zoom here on campus, or the explosion of Zoom in labor relations.

After our attorneys filed a response to this motion, the Administrative Law Judge assigned to our case denied the University’s Motion in its entirety and ordered a hearing on the matter. The Judge ruled that a hearing must be held to determine whether EMU’s refusal to meet via Zoom was in fact in bad faith, including “whether [EMU] has set forth a valid reason for its proposed method of bargaining and whether [EMU] was acting in bad faith for the purpose of delaying or avoiding negotiations.” We view the opinion as a total win for our position at this stage of the proceedings.

The Judge has set a hearing for July 15, 2022, at 10am. At that hearing, we will be able to present evidence regarding our unfair labor practice charge, and our attorneys will be able to cross-examine the relevant administrators regarding their refusal to bargain with us via Zoom. Our team is confident that after a full and fair presentation of the evidence, MERC will agree EMU’s last-minute refusal to meet with us via Zoom was not done in good faith.

The hearing will be via Zoom and is open to the public. We invite all members to view the proceedings and hear EMU’s explanations for its refusal to bargain with our team.

The link for the hearing is

https://us06web.zoom.us/j/86539298783?pwd=NTlUeVJtdTNXemsxV0ZKZmVKcjM0QT09

The Zoom password: 955167. Please be advised that MERC requires that all members of the general public who are not participants “disable their video connection and mute their audio for the entire hearing.”

Finally, our team would like to say that although we are pleased with how the proceedings have gone at MERC thus far, our singular focus is on negotiating a great contract for our members. To that end, we have repeatedly invited EMU to begin bargaining immediately so that we can discuss the real areas of dispute. Our team remains ready and willing to meet with the administration via Zoom at any time to begin bargaining this contract.