A union representing instructors at the Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency, which serves schools the Kalamazoo area, says the agency is giving some members raises but not others.
Union representatives raised the issue during Tuesday's KRESA Board of Education meeting.
Tom Greig is with the Michigan Education Association, which has been assisting the union — known as the Kalamazoo Career Technical Education Association — with its ongoing contract negotiations.
He said shortly after the union was founded in March of 2024, certain staff members requested to leave KCTEA.
"Those staff members came to KRESA and said, 'we don't think we should be in this bargaining unit.' And we certainly didn't have a problem with that," Greig explained.
"We did what's called a TA, stands for tentative agreement. It is only legally binding once the entire contract is ratified."
So, while the union agreed to allow these staff to leave, according to Greig, this would only be effective once KCTEA ratified a contract with KRESA, which has yet to happen.
Greig said at first, KRESA seemed to acknowledge this distinction, pushing the union to allow these staff members to take part in a decertification election last May, which would have dissolved the KCTEA.
KRESA's Assistant Superintendent for Human Resources Meredith Lewis referenced this election during a bargaining update presented to the Board of Education on Tuesday:
The union survived the vote, but Greig said during KCTEA's latest bargaining session in October, the union discovered KRESA has seemingly gone back on treating these staff members as a part of the union.
"All along they gave raises and steps and, to the tunes of tens of thousands of dollars to each of these employees, which is in direct conflict to the 29 other members who have not received raises or steps."
KCTEA Vice President Sarah Dickman and Union Chief Negotiator Ben Bierlein brought these concerns to the board meeting.
Dickman said KRESA is using these raises to demoralize the other members the union.
“It speaks to, again, treating those of us who are in the bargaining unit different than other people. It feels like a punishment to us for wanting to unionize.”
Bierlein continued this point, discussing how difficult it is for other union members to go without these wage increases.
“I'm without my last year's raise of 5% and also without this year's raise of 4%. And at a time when eggs aren't cheap and fuel isn't cheap, it's time to have our raises put on our paychecks.”
But KRESA Superintendent Dedrick Martin said that from the agency’s point of view, these employees who received raises already left the union last year.
“At that point, those members are just like any other KRESA employees and we would treat them, again, with the exact same salary and benefits that we have provided for people.”
Martin added that the KCTEA members could have received these raises had they agreed to a contract proposed by KRESA earlier this year.
"This is the exact same salary and benefits that was offered to them that they turned down. So, the irony that they're complaining about it and they turned it down is kind of interesting to me," Martin said.
"We don't feel like that was anything unfair. We were trying to treat all of our employees appropriately. We can't do anything without the union's consent in terms of their salary and benefit."
According to the union, the raise issue will be the subject of its sixth unfair labor practice complaint.
Superintendent Martin said he was unfazed by this decision, adding that the accusations still need to be proven.
"To say that you're going to file an unfair labor practice or to actually file it doesn't imply guilt or innocent. It's just people vocalizing that they want to go through a process using an outside entity to determine if what we have done is fair or not."
The original ULP will be the subject of a Michigan Employment Relations Commission next month, though the union said this may be pushed back if it adds additional charges to the case.
Michael Symonds reports for WMUK through the Report for America national service program.
