Michigan's Public Employee Relations Act
The Public Employment Relations Act is legislation passed by the state government of Michigan in 1947. The state government has updated the act in the intervening years and the amended act is still currently in effect. The act sets out the rights and responsibilities of employees working for state and local government agencies as well as the rights and responsibilities of their employers.
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Strikes
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Public employees are not allowed to take strike action against their employers as a means of settling a dispute, according to section 423.202 of the act. A public school, acting as an employer, may not engage in a lockout of its employees, as public schools have a legal responsibility to provide education services. No one in a supervisory or management position in public employment may authorize or consent to employees taking strike action, but public employment managers and supervisors must not fire an employee for submitting a grievance with the Michigan employment relations commission.
Employment Relations Commission
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The Michigan employment relations commission is responsible for investigating the circumstances leading to labor disputes that arise in both the private and public sector. In the public sector, the commission is responsible for investigating allegations of strike action made by a public school employer. If the commission finds that the allegations are correct, and that one or more persons employed by the public school are engaged in strike action in violation of the act, the commission can fine each employee involved an amount equal to one day's pay for each day that the employee engages in strike action. The commission may also fine the employees' bargaining representative, typically a union representative, $5,000 for each day that the employees are on strike. The commission also investigates allegations concerning employer lockouts made by employees, and if the commission finds that the public school employer has locked out its employees, the commission may fine the public school employer $5,000 for each day of the lockout, and each individual member of the school board $250 for each day of the lockout.
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Labor Organizations
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Public employees are allowed to join or form labor organizations, such as unions, and representatives of these organizations may bargain with public employers on behalf of all their members. Employers are not allowed to discourage employees from joining a labor organization, and employers cannot insist that employees do not join a labor organization as a condition of employment. Employers must recognize the employees' representative and must negotiate with that representative with regard to pay, hours and conditions of employment. The employer must still allow an individual employee to present a grievance without involving the employee's bargaining representative, although the employer must allow the representative to be present when making a settlement of the employee's grievance. The representative can then see that the settlement offered to the individual employee does not disadvantage the other employees and remains consistent with any collective bargaining agreements applying to all employees.
Labor Organization Elections
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Where a group of employees has organized or joined a labor organization, the bargaining representive who negotiates on behalf of those employees is chosen by an election. The employment relations commission decides on which employees are eligible to vote and is responsible for setting the rules that govern the election. A representative must receive a majority of all eligible votes. If more than two people contest the election, and no one person gets a majority of the votes, the two candidates who received the highest number of votes take part in a second election, and the candidate winning this second election becomes the employee representative.
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