A friend of mine from years back in graduate school is now a dean at a college on the west coast. Not long ago, while catching up with her over the phone, she told me about the negative workplace culture surrounding her. “We have dozens of grievances in active play,” she said. “And we have faculty filing complaints against any students who file complaints against them. It’s pretty toxic.” Now, here’s what happens: Anti-union groups and the politicians they sponsor latch onto a school like that and hold it up as an example of unions gone wild. Evidence that unions have to be stopped. Proof that unions must be crushed. Here in Michigan last week, Republicans (no Democrats supported it) in our state Senate approved SB 279 and 280, legislation that would prohibit school districts from negotiating release time for union officers unless locals reimburse the district, and would eliminate MPSERS retirement credit for the release-time portion of work for school employees with release time. "Union release time is negotiated between local unions and local school boards. School administrators and release time union members work together on school improvement committees, teacher mentoring programs, school budgets, and curriculum development as well as labor relations issues,” says Steve Cook, MEA president. “School boards that negotiate with local associations for release time do so because they believe it is necessary for the efficient operation of their school district.” Cook is absolutely right. Around the state, local union officers assist their districts, K-12 schools, and colleges/universities in decision-making at a number of levels that require meeting regularly with principals, presidents, vice presidents, HR managers, clerical employees, deans, facilities managers, campus safety officers, and school/district foundations, and parent groups. Just as Steve Cook explains, there’s often more school promotion and representation involved than there is union work.
Consider how much “union” communication you receive at MCC that’s about fundraising drives, student/faculty safety, millage proposals, seminars on healthcare and retirement, blood drives, vaccination clinics, grade and absence reporting, and a wide range of similar topics. None of these communications are about unions. All of them are about the workplace and your part in daily operations as we serve students and the community.
The EA vice president co-chairs CPSC with the college vice-president of academic affairs, and works closely with the VPAA to shepherd curriculum changes and policies through the shared governance process. That’s got no connection with unions. It’s connected with offering students a top-quality education.
Similarly, as a key player in the collaboration process, the MCCEA grievance officer works closely with the college vice presidents, deans, HR managers, committee chairs, and faculty members to steer challenges of any kind to positive outcomes, from curricular to procedural. Often, the “GO” can seem more a fixture of the HR office than the union office. And that’s a good thing. Since 2010 we've focused on collaborative problem solving with the college and a “rolling” approach to bargaining to address issues and changes as they arise. Unlike the dozens of active grievances flying at my friend’s college, we keep the number as low as possible—with zero often being that number in a given month. That’s not because we lay down and play dead as the college drives over us on its way to smash through union barriers. It’s because we get up and walk toward the college to meet it on the road, and then help figure out how to move a mutual barrier out of the way. Doing that efficiently, as Steve Cook emphasizes, requires time. Politicians who know nothing about how any of this works, and who latch on to anecdotal evidence for proof of unions gone wild, will draft laws to block release time because it’s an "abuse of taxpayer money.” But what they’re actually blocking is an essential component in creating and maintaining a positive workplace culture—also known as good schools. Once again, I ask all of our members to be informed, so that you can enlighten family and friends who complain about the “ridiculous” practice of release time, and explain how it really works.