1974-09-09; Central Michigan Life

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Volume 55 No. 6
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Central Michigan University, Mt, Pleasant, Michigan 48859
Monday, Sept. 9, 1974
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Trustees decide in emergency meeting
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by STEVE MORSE
LIFE Managing Editor
President   William    B. Boyd's
ithority to sign the faculty contract
iq
e vote at a special meeting of the
oard of Trustees Saturday.
The meeting was called Friday
fter a letter received by the board
quested the trustees withdraw
oyd's authority to sign the contract
tified by Faculty Association (FA)
[embers two weeks ago.
The letter, signed by John C.
epler, professor of English, George
Stengren, professor and chairman
If the Philosophy Department, and
aul S. Spece, professor and
bairman of the Accounting
epartment, expressed concern
oyd's signature might create a
technical prohibition" barring
certification,
A move to decertify the FA as
he faculty's bargaining agent began
ecause of faculty discontent with
he contract, specifically the agency
hop clause, according to those who
pear-headed the move.
In a petition drive last Wed-
Ieadimr' ffiesi]ay an(* T^urso"ay» Stengren and
.no<J.nj.t7M,l»epier collected 306 signatures from
culty members requesting there be
vote on whether the FA should
emain the faculty's bargaining
gent. The petition, which had to be
led before the contract signing, was
ubmitted to the National Labor
elations Board's Lansing office
hursday.
Stengren, Spece and Hepler
id in the letter they thought the
oard "should do all in its pow'er" to
ssure an election takes place,
nsidering the number of faculty
embers expressing an interest in a
ote.
The board, which met for 45
RRENT
anued,. I outy
bgram can i
ose studeaU
ruly challej
onors proj
vide," she si
minutes in .public session before
recessing for one hour in executive
,session, decided Boyd's signature
would not. prevent an election.
Trustee Leo Farhat, who presented
the resolution, said'the preliminary
legal opinion of University Attorney
J„ David Kerr satisfied the board.
But Farhat noted there would
be additional legal research "to
assure the vote of the faculty".
The open meeting drew' approximately 40 people, the largest
crowd at a board meeting in recent
years, according to an Information
Services spokesman. And several of
those in attendance, including FA
President Robert Clason, voiced
their opinions.
Stengren defended the request
Boyd not be authorized to sign the
contract saying, "I don't,know what
the intricacies of the law are, but I
am concerned the majority of faculty
Opinion not be ignored."
"This faculty wants a vote,"
Hepler added later in the meeting.
"There's no doubt about it."
Although no one argued the fact
the netitions  were  filed, and  the
President William B. Boyd told the Board of Trustees
{Saturday that, after receiving* legal counsel, his signing the
faculty contract "would not be a bar to an election and that
the anxieties expressed by this letter are not necessary
anxieties.*'
-, , . , f—
majority of the faculty wianted a
vote, the question of whether all who
signed those petitions wanted
decertification of the union arose.
, Elaine P. Daniels, assistant
professor of business and administration, said the petition
doesn't prove all 300 faculty
members are unhappy with the
contract.
Sherman L. Ricards, professor
of sociology and anthropology, added,
"I know many faculty members who
signed petitions plan to vote for the
union." v
Boyd believes he should keep
the authority granted him at the
August board meeting to sign the
contract today as" it was originally
agreed upon by the President and
officers of the FA.
"It is a contract which we
negotiated in good faith and they
negotiated with us in good faith," he
said. "The reason these, petitioners
are asking the authorization be withdrawn, it seems to me, is hanging on
their last sentence where they say:
'We are concerned that nothing
prevent the faculty from having an
opportunity to vote on this." "
Boyd continued saying he
received legal counsel on the matter
which assured him signing the contract "would not be a bar to an
election and that the anxieties
expressed by this letter are not
necessary anxieties,"
Clason also was of the opinion
Boyd should still have the authority
to sign the agreement. "From our
standpoint," Clason said, "We
negotiated the contract in good faith
and with much difficulty."
"We had ratified the contract by
the procedures we indicated we
would ratify, that is, we announced
the vote and we've worked with
officers of the University arranging
a. time when the signing could take
place,"
' I feel the trustees, at- least inv
some sense, are obligated to the
procedure already arranged and
that's an act of good faith," he
continued. "From our standpoint,,
we'll be easier to deal with if we
continue to receive evidence that the
board acts in good faith."
President
signs tonight
President William B. Boyd
will sign the faculty contract
today at 6 p.m. in the President's
Conference Room in the
University  Center.
Faculty Association calls
meeting to inform members
Leo Farhat
A membership meeting of the
Faculty Association (FA) has been
called for Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. in
Rooms 3D and E of the University
Center (UC).
* -F-A.President Robert GjuClason
obtained executive board
authorization for such a meeting
Saturday in the UC during a recess
of the B,oard of Trustees emergency
meeting (see related story).
According to the FA constitution, Clason must get authority
from the FA executive board and
give the membership at least two
days notice of a meeting.
CLASON SAID the meeting is
designed to keep members abreast
of the situation involving faculty
contract, which has been the cause of
controversy since it was-ratified two
week ago.
The contract, which was okayed
by a 127 to 17 vote by*FA members
only, has been under fire for a
number of reasons. At an open
question and comment forum called
by President William B. Boyd, Aug.
30, complaints were made about the
contract's agency shop provision and
the fact the contract was voted on by
only one-third of the faculty.
Agency shop means non-union
facultymentbers are required to pay
approximately $150 in service fees,
the equivalent of union dues.
However, unlike traditional agency
shop clauses, if non-union members
fail to pay the service fee, they will
not lose their jobs. The FA,
however, has the option to take
those who refuse to pay to small
claims court.
In Wednesday night's meeting,
which will be open to FA members
y°ur majority of faculty sign petitions
Move for decertification begins
by LORETTA PIZZG of  petition sent to  the  Board'of
LIFE News Editor Trustees  Friday requesting  an
More than 300 faculty membersv/emergency meeting of the board to
i/V
cter;
pigfled a petition last week calling for
vote on the fate of the Faculty
Association as legal bargaining
agent at Central.
Submitted Thursday to the
National Labor Relations , "Board
office in Lansing, the petitiqn,
[containing 306 signatures, marked
first legal step taken by faculty
tietnbers in their move to decertify
jjremove) the union.
According to George Stengren,
professor and chairman of
pMosophy and a leader of the
petition drive, John Hepler,
professor of English, took the
Petition to Lansing late Thursday
STENGREN,'HEPLER and
Paul Spece, professor and chairman
Pf accounting, as "ringleaders'' of the v
Pecertification effort, signed "a letter '
determine if President William B.
Boyd's authorization to sign the
ratified contract should be rescinded.
The board met Saturday for
nearly two hours, deciding to continue Boyd's authority to sign the
contract Monday, (see related story
this page).
Although both faculty members
seeking decertification and members
of the administration said Saturday
they were unsure of the legal status
of the contract if Boyd signs it, *
check with the! Michigan Em-
plo/ment Relations Commission
(MERC) revealed once signed, the
contract is valid only, if the union
remains the legal bargaining agent.
The next step  in the  decer-
cademic. Student
enates to meet
Academic Senate will -meet
[today in the University Center
|Auditorium (third floor) at 3:10 p.m.
'Items on the agenda include the *
iPsrtial point grading system and
faction  of  an   Executive   Board
member to replace Rick Marshall,
Warren'senior* election of Liaison
Committee members and election of
' Committee on Committee members.
Student Senate will meet at 8:10
p.m. today in the UC.
;
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Mich 4
tification process is for an election
date to be set. Before this can
happen, ■ thej union and the
petitioners must examine and approve as valid all 306 signatures on
the petition. Both parties also must
consent to an election, according to
MERC officials.
If agreement cannot be reached,
a formal hearing scheduled by an
administrative law judge from
MERC would be conducted in
Detroit, Lansing or Mt. Pleasant,
according to James Kurtz, of
Detroit, who is himself a judge. "In
this case," Kurtz said, "it would
probably be there in Mt.'Pleasant."
Filed primarily in protest of an
agency shop clause in the union-
ratified contract, the decertification
move may be temporarily blocked by
' a still-pending unfair labor practice
(ULP) charge, filed tyst spring
against the administration by the
union. That charge is still before
MERC.
Kurtz said the ULP could effect
the decertification "if the employer
is refusing to bargain *and the,
decertification move rises in context
of tbe bargaining process. Then, the
petition to decertify would be set
aside until the settjing of the ULP."
He also indicated a "time lag" of
more than a month may be necessary
before a vote could be scheduled
once consent is reached because of a
backlog of cases at MERC.
One point Kurtz stressed
concerned the status of the contract
< if Boyd signs it and the onion then is
decertified. Kurtz said the contract
then would become null and void
since "there would be no legal ag*nt
to enforce it*
One of the conditions of the
resolution passed by the board •
Saturday when they continued
Boyd's authorization to sign was that
it be determined first the contract
signing  Would   not,  hamper   the
decertification process.
If the decertification process
should not result in the removal of
the union as legal bargaining agent,
; would be Mav 1977 before another
attempt could be made, according to
hub i*.
An attemptedecertification
early last spr^*4^ " jhot get off the
ground.       V.
only, Clason said the members would
have several options to consider
concerning the current situation.
"There seems to be an indication," he said Sund^^'there
might be an option>«JB||i $£vtr the
petitions (to decerliP^thV .union
which were filed in Lansing Thursday by three"faculty members!."
Clason said he would be in
contact with lawyers Monday to see
if the possibility of such a move
exists.
Clason made it clear to the
Board of Trustees and the audience
at Saturday's meeting that he would
defend the contract, including the
agency shop provision.
"I BELIEVE,"   he  saul  "the ,
agency   shop   was   a   good,   well-
negotiated item."
"Any situation in which the best
interest of both parties are served,"
he added, "has to be a good provision
on that basis."
The FA's executive board will
meet Tuesday night in the Michigan
Education  Association's   (MEA)
CM UPE PHOTO BY 4^Y MC NALLY
JVAUD SfRMET &OME GUTTEB-fire gutted the David Guthrie residence, 1006 Ward, early Sunday
morning* Mt. Pleasant firemen arrived^ 2:18 a.m. and fought the blaze for two hours. A police spokesman said
the Guthrie family was out of town for the wekend, and no injuries were reported* Cause of the blaze is unde*
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