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A state administrative law judge for the Michigan Office of Administrative Hearings & Rules, David Peltz, released a ruling Monday that the ongoing Graduate Employees’ Organization strike violates the union’s current contract with the University of Michigan. The judge ruled that Article III of GEO’s contract prohibits the union from going on strike because of the work stoppage’s interference with the University’s academic mission.
“The undisputed facts establish that the GEO engaged in conduct wholly inconsistent with its obligations under the contract,” Peltz wrote. “By agreeing to Article III, the GEO is contractually obligated to refrain from causing, instigating, supporting or encouraging any ‘concerted interference with the operation of the University’ including the ‘failure, in whole or part, to fully, faithfully, and properly perform the duties of employment.’ ”
Peltz’s decision is based on an unfair labor practice charge that the University filed against GEO the day the strike started. The decision is a recommendation that the Michigan Employment Relations Commission order GEO members to return to work. MERC will make the final decision on whether they will support that recommendation to end the strike.
In an email to The Michigan Daily, Amir Fleischmann, chair of the Contracts Committee for GEO, wrote that the union plans to appeal Peltz’s recommendation.
“We will appeal the (administrative law judge’s) recommended decision to the entire commission, until which time the order is not final,” Fleischmann wrote. “We hope that MERC recognizes that no law or policy can restrict a person’s fundamental right to strike … Furthermore, no court can decide to suspend our strike as the decision to strike (or not) is up to the rank-and-file members of our union.”
In a press release shared with The Daily, University spokesperson Rick Fitzgerald said the University believes GEO members should have been well aware that striking constitutes a breach of contract when they chose to stop working on March 29.
“Despite knowing that this strike violates its own contractual promise not to strike, striking GEO members walked out on their students and have declined to return to work,” Fitzgerald said. “This has left our students’ exams and final grades in jeopardy at a crucial time near the end of the semester. While the University has worked diligently to ensure that the negative impact felt by students is minimized, it is in the best interest of the entire campus community, especially our undergraduate students, for GEO to stop its strike and return to the classroom.”
The Michigan Daily’s news staff can be reached at news@michigandaily.com.