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Without a regularly required recertification process, public employees displeased with the services they get from their unions have two options: leave the union entirely or work to decertify it. Decertification is extremely difficult, but some workers have managed to do it, saving money and impoving services.
In 2012, teachers in Roscommon voted overwhelmingly to decertify their union, an affiliate of the Michigan Education Association and National Education Association. This vote allowed Roscommon teachers to form their own union: the Roscommon Teachers Association. Instead of sending money to a “bureaucratic machine” — as the new union’s president put it — dues money is kept and spent locally. The group hired its own attorneys, set up a scholarship fund and still cut employees’ dues by $400 each per year.
In Dexter, a group of bus drivers banded together to decertify the International Union of Operating Engineers union and form their own local: the West Washtenaw Bus Drivers and Monitors Association. Union members said that local-only representation was better than a large conglomerate union, located far away from local concerns.
By a nearly eight-to-one margin, the clerical and technical staff at Grand Valley State University voted to break away from the Michigan Education Association and form its own union in 2014. Nearly 90 percent of the unit’s members voted in favor of an independent union, known as the Alliance of Professional Support Staff. “Over time, the value that the MEA brought to our local wasn’t worth the cost of being affiliated with them,” said Alliance spokesperson Coreen Bedford. The move by clerical and technical workers to form an independent union saved money, allowed them to hire their own attorney, retain members and disassociate themselves from the partisan political positions supported by the MEA.
Clerical workers at Grand Rapids Community College voted to leave the Michigan Education Association, with the leader of the effort declaring, “We are free.” Dues had increased from about $200 per year in the 1990s to around $850, including a surcharge to cover the MEA’s underfunded pension system. The new local believes it will save money and avoid focusing so much time on partisan politics.
