Michigan’s largest teachers’ union is being accused of trying to intimidate teachers who wanted to leave the union.
Earlier this month, the Michigan Education Association announced 99% of its members decided to stay in the union, despite Michigan’s new Right-To-Work law.
But a complaint filed with the Michigan Employment Relations Commission claims union leaders threatened several measures to intimidate teachers who wanted to leave.
Patrick Wright is the legal director for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a free market think tank that helped push the state’s Right-To -Work law.
He says the outcome of this may affect more than just the 8 teachers named in the complaint, who are paying about a thousand dollars to a union they don’t want to be a part of.
“So the quicker this gets determined the better,” says Wright, “If they are right, and they deserve all the money, they should get to keep it.”
An MEA spokesman says the union has not received a copy of the complaint. Until then, he declined to comment on the complaint.
