The potential loss of collective bargaining rights for unions in Wisconsin and Ohio has caused worry to spread to other unions around the nation including Eastern Michigan University’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors.
EMU-AAUP President Susan Moeller, also a finance professor, said some union members are wary of the future.
“Yes, they’re very worried,” Moeller said. “At EMU, we have a very good contract. In our contract, it talks about how people get tenure and promotions. People are worried that if we don’t have a contract, it will be arbitrary—they wouldn’t have to negotiate health care.”
Moeller said unions are a necessity for workers.
EMU’s AAUP chapter was created to prevent unfair practices from occurring, according to Moeller.
“In 1974, we did not have a union,” she said. “Faculty members were being fired without due process. It was an arbitrary process. There were no standards when it came to tenure. They were not treated fairly.”
Moeller said the union protects its workers by negotiating rights for them such as compensation, benefits, working conditions and tenure rights.
A key component of unions is collective bargaining rights and it helps out in more ways than one might think, according to Moeller.
“It ensures we have shared governance and makes sure we have input into the curriculums, so programs can’t just be cancelled or eliminated without our input,” she said.
Moeller said the union also has an input when it comes to financial decisions made by the University.
According to Moeller, professors would be taken advantage of if there were no unions.
“What can happen is, some professors would teach bigger loads and some smaller,” she said. “Some would get tenure and some wouldn’t. They wouldn’t get treated fairly by administrators. We’ve seen that happen. That’s why there’s a grievance procedure.”
When a dispute happens between the faculty and administration, binding arbitration occurs. This allows for a third party to come in and settle the dispute.
History and philosophy professor Mark Higbee shared the sentiments of Moeller.
“I think in the long run, if there were no faculty union at Eastern, it would be bad for the faculty and the students,” Higbee said.
Although Ohio Governor John Kasich and Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker are pushing legislation to strip unions of collective bargaining rights, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder said he has no plans to do so. Even so, Snyder said he expects the state’s various unions to participate in shared sacrifice to put the state on the right economic tract.
Moeller said she’s not sure what he wants union members to do.
“We don’t know yet,” she said. “In Michigan, it’s different from other states. In our situation, each university does their own budgets. He probably would like us to take wage cuts, but that’s usually discussed with the university. If the university talks to us, we’ll talk.”
Moeller said unlike other states, Michigan professors’ pensions are not controlled by the state and university places money into it.
“We’re not causing more bills to be charged to Lansing,” she said. “So, it’s a little different than Ohio and Wisconsin.”
Moeller said she hopes proposals to take away the majority of collective bargaining rights doesn’t spread to other states.
“It’s caused so much disruption in those states,” she said. “In Wisconsin, they’re going to lay people off. It might spread, I hope not. I think what unions have to do is work with the problems of the budget. There are a lot of faculty members involved in helping with the budget. Unfortunately, they’re talking about a 7 percent tuition increase.”
Higbee said some Republicans in Michigan might push this agenda, but according to polls he’s looked at he said the majority of Americans believe workers should be able to bargain.
“I don’t think Governor Snyder is looking for a fight,” Higbee said. “I believe he is a practical leader. Why have a big fight when it can be avoided? I think Governor Snyder is very diplomatic and trying to distance himself from what other governors are trying to do. It’s a very American principle that people should be able to negotiate and come to a compromise between an employer and employees.”
Moeller believes governors are proposing policy changes for a number of reasons.
“The thing is, people lost their jobs and the states aren’t getting any tax revenues,” she said. “Public employees have these contracts. We think those governors want to get rid of collective bargaining because you don’t have to have decent wages.”
Moeller said states that have already implemented policies taking away rights are suffering—mainly the students.
“ACT scores in northern states are much higher than those in the southern states,” she said. “Wisconsin had the second highest. It benefits students to have teachers paid well. That’s the advantage of having decent wages. I have friends in the south and they make a lot less. It’s become sort of a north-south issue.”
State Senator John Proos, R-St. Joseph, introduced legislation Feb. 9 that would allow counties and municipalities to create right-to-work zones. The bill has eight Republican co-sponsors. Nineteen votes are needed to pass the bill, according to the Michigan Legislature website.
State Representative Marty Knollenberg, R-Troy, has also introduced a right-to-work zone bill in the Michigan House.
Moeller strongly disagrees with the idea of making Michigan a right-to-work state.
“If you’re a right to work state, you cannot collect dues,” she said. “We have a nice middle class because people were able to make decent wages. Unions gave us the eight hour day and sick days. When they negotiated that, everyone got that. If you don’t have them, you have no rights. If we go back to a right-to-work state, we only have federal and state work laws to fall back on.”
Moeller said the main thing she is focused on is working with the administration, so students can continue to receive an excellent education at EMU.
“The education that has been provided is superior to states without collective bargaining,” she said. “Just the ACT scores alone is an example. We need more educated people in Michigan, so more businesses can come in. We need more people with college degrees.”
EMU junior Ciara Williams said she believes unions are necessary and certain personal events formulated her opinion.
“My aunt has been a teacher for 20 years in Detroit Public Schools,” she said. “They’re already underpaid in my opinion, so why take away more from them? I don’t understand the people that are against them, they’re the ones teaching their kids.”
Ypsilanti resident Devin Schueler said there are more important issues at hand and unions should also feel the sting of budget cuts.
“I really do understand their anguish and worry, but we need to tackle these budget issues,” Schueler said. “Everyone else is being targeted for some type of sacrifice, including students. They should go through this right along with the rest of us.”
