Restraining order extended at CMU


I woke up very early this morning and traveled to Mt. Pleasant to attend the hearing on the motion for a temporary restraining order against the CMU Faculty Association. Judge Paul H. Chamberlain asked the parties into his chamber where they agreed to extend the restraining order against any collective work stoppage until 20 days after the Michigan Employment Relations Commission fact finding report is issued. Fact finding is scheduled for the second week in September and the report is expected 30 days after it concludes. The administration was ordered to bargain in good faith. Both sides considered this order a win.
To see a copy of the order, check out this page: http://www.cmufaccc.org/
The big wins for the faculty association were an agreement that we could lower our out of pocket health insurance cost by moving to a higher copay for our health insurance, an expedited consideration by the court of an issue relating to pay for individuals who earned promotion last year, and a restoration of our First Amendment Rights. The original order prohibited the FA from mass picketing. In response to that order, students picketed throughout the week and also staged a silent protest at the courthouse this morning. Members of the Ferris State University Faculty Association drove an hour to CMU to picket in front of the administration building on Thursday.
What am I learning from this experience? Well, I'm learning FA jargon. I'm hearing "FA Strong" and "in solidarity" a lot this week. We even chant while picketing, "Contract now!" I've discovered why people are so loyal to the Michigan Education Association. They paid every FA member for the work they did on Monday during the work stoppage and MESSA (our insurance provider) extended our health coverage in case CMU chose to cancel it. Plus they sent in people from all over the state to assist with the job action. I've seen how collective action can bring people together. We've had several closed door meetings where almost all of the 600+ faculty members on campus attended. People came willingly too, not like the annual college-wide meetings where they take attendance and threaten to dock your pay if you don't come in order to encourage attendance. I've seen what a great tool Facebook is for sharing information. Our closed group page for CMU faculty has an enormous amount of information on it. On the downside, it's very clear from numerous comments at the meetings and on Facebook that the faculty's relationship with the University has been severely damaged by this situation. One of the reasons I love working at CMU is the great relationship among employees on campus and the various policies CMU has in place that benefit employees. I'm hoping that today's ruling is a step towards amicably resolving the bargaining issues that remain and in restoring the damaged relationship between the faculty and the administration. I think it we will still have a long road to walk though. I'm sure some of it will be with picket signs!