The Michigan Employment Relations Commission is set to hear complaints filed by a union for instructors at an agency that serves Kalamazoo-area school districts.
The union, called the Kalamazoo Career Technical Education Association, or KCTEA, originally filed six unfair labor practice complaints against the Kalamazoo Regional Educational Service Agency.
Meredith Lewis is the assistant superintendent of human resources at KRESA.
She said the agency already triumphed over one of these complaints during an earlier hearing in February.
“The judge threw out one of them without even having to hear testimony. So, the charge related to communication with directly with our staff the judge found in KRESA’s favor.”
Five complaints still remain, but Lewis said KRESA is confident they will prevail against the remaining ULPs.
"Most of these charges are the union claiming that KRESA is not bargaining in good faith. And I'm here to make sure that the public knows that that is simply not true," Lewis said.
"Our strategy is to rely on the facts and to make sure that the judge understands our side and can agree that we have been coming to the table in good faith consistently."
Tom Greig is with the Michigan Education Association, which has been union helping the KCTEA with ongoing negotiations.
He said the ULP dismissed last February was their “weakest," adding that he was still confident in the other five complaints.
“That really doesn't affect our strategy. We didn't go into this saying, ‘We're going to win all six.’ Court cases are tricky, but certainly we feel confident in the five that we have remaining.”
However, Greig said even if the state sides with the union, the consequences for KRESA would not be severe.
“The only thing that they do is they force the employer to post a notice on the door where they hold their monthly board meetings that says ‘Hey, we've been found guilty of this violation and we promise not to do it again,’” Greig said.
But he added that a finding favorable to the union could still boost community support for KCTEA, as it continues to negotiate with KRESA on its first contract.
The hearing next week is scheduled for Wednesday, May 27.
Michael Symonds reports for WMUK through the Report for America national service program.
