Tagged: right to work

On a 4-3 party-line vote, a Michigan House Appropriations subcommittee voted to punish universities the Republicans believe are trying to avoid the state's new right-to-work law.

That law goes into effect on March 28th.

Wayne State University and the University of Michigan have struck contracts with their unions ahead of that deadline.

Public universities that signed new contracts or contract extensions that did not achieve at least a 10 percent savings would face a 15 percent cut in state funding under a budget bill approved this morning.

The Lansing School District has reached a tentative contract agreement with its teachers union.

No details have been released. So it’s unclear whether the deal includes a provision to get around Michigan’s new Right to Work law. 

Lansing teachers’ tentative agreement comes at a time when other unions are racing to put contract extensions into place before Michigan’s new Right to Work law takes effect.

A handful of school districts and Wayne State University have signed extended contracts that would allow the unions to continue to enforce mandatory dues collection. 

This week in Michigan politics, Jack Lessenberry and Christina Shockley discuss the trial of former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, the debate between the Detroit City Council and Governor Snyder over an impending emergency manager appointment in Detroit, and how unions are trying to get new contracts in place before the new right to work law takes affect later this month.

To hear their discussion, click on the audio above.

Unions are rushing to sign contracts before Michigan's right to work law takes effect this month.

But one county is worried Republicans might retaliate.

In Saginaw County, the biggest public union wants to get a 10-year contract signed ASAP.

If that happens before March 28th, it can still require workers to pay for union dues – which will be illegal under the new law.

But county officials say they’re afraid Republicans will yank state dollars from the county as retribution.

County commissioner Michael Hanley says that’s a risk they just can’t take

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - The president of Wayne State University is urging lawmakers not to limit the university's state aid for approving an eight-yearlong contract with the faculty union.

Allan Gilmour asked the House Higher Education Appropriations Subcommittee on Tuesday to "think beyond this contract and consider the whole university" when making appropriations.

Some Republican lawmakers have questioned the lengthy contract agreement made just before the contentious right-to-work law goes into effect March 28.

Republican Rep. Al Pscholka of Stevensville has proposed that that no university get a funding increase in the next budget if it signs a contract extension or renewal before March 28 - unless the contract guarantees at least 10 percent savings in labor costs.

Gilmour says longer contracts "provide a sense of stability for planning, for budgets and personnel."

A Republican state lawmaker wants school officials to justify employee contracts that could be used to skirt Michigan’s new right-to-work law.

The right-to-work law takes effect March 28. It allows workers to opt out of paying union dues and fees, but it cannot supersede existing contracts.

School officials in some Michigan districts have negotiated concessions with unions in exchange for dues arrangements that last as long as 10 years.

Schools have used the negotiations to get concessions on salaries and work rules.

State Representative Tom McMillin (R-Rochester Hills) is calling school officials before his oversight committee.

He says he wants them to prove taxpayers are getting their money’s worth out of the contracts.

He just called officials from Warren Consolidated Schools before his committee for a hearing in two weeks, but he cannot compel anyone to show up.

Earlier Taylor school officials declined to appear.

Wayne State University has yet to answer his request to have officials come before his committee to explain its employee contracts.

LANSING, Mich. (AP) - Some unions in Michigan are working to get new contracts approved before the state's right-to-work law takes effect next month to delay when they'll be affected by changes.

The Detroit News reports some see it as an effort to keep collecting dues from members until after a new contract expires. Union leaders representing teachers in Utica, Plymouth-Canton, Dearborn and Detroit school districts all are working toward new agreements.

The Lansing State Journal reports unions at Michigan State University and Lansing Community College are exploring the possibility of extending their labor contracts to delay the law's impact on them.

The law, passed last year, takes effect March 27. It prohibits requiring workers to pay union dues or fees, but contracts in place before that date are immune from the new rules.