Eight districts approved separate “agency fee agreements” with their unions in an attempt to continue to require teachers to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment. These districts enroll about 27,000 students and employ more than 1,800 teachers.[46]
These agency fee agreements are separate from the district’s main collective bargaining agreements, and are focused on forcing teachers to financially support a union. Every separate agency agreement identified has a different duration than the district’s standard union contract.
Graphic 3 lists these districts. The column labeled “Ratification Date” indicates the date a school district ratified its main collective bargaining agreement.
Graphic 3: Separate Agency Fee Agreements
District |
Date of Ratification |
Language |
Armada |
3/19/2013 |
“Each bargaining unit member shall, as a condition of employment ... join the Association, or pay a Service Fee to the Association.”[47] |
Clarkston |
3/25/2013 |
“[F]ailure to pay the service fee will result in employment termination.”[48] |
Haslett |
3/25/2013 |
“Each Association bargaining unit member shall, as a condition of employment ... remit membership dues or pay a service fee to the Association.”[49] |
New Haven[*] |
3/21/2013 |
“All teachers ... as a condition of continued employment shall ... [b]ecome members of the Association, or [p]ay a service fee.”[50] |
Romulus |
3/18/2013 |
“Any employee ... shall, as a condition of employment, pay as a representation fee to the Union an amount to be determined by the Union.”[51] |
Rudyard |
2/11/2013 |
“Any [bargaining unit members who are not paying dues] ... shall immediately execute an authorization permitting the deduction of an annual service fee.”[52] |
South Lake |
3/21/2013 |
“Each bargaining unit member shall, as a condition of employment ... join the Association or pay a service fee to the Association.”[53] |
Taylor |
1/24/2013 |
“[E]ach person employed in the bargaining unit shall either become a member of the [union] and pay dues ... or agree to pay a service fee.”[54] |
Taylor is being sued by the Mackinac Center Legal Foundation.[55] Mackinac Center attorneys argue that the “union security agreement” approved by the Taylor school district was designed to require teachers to pay union dues and fees for as long as possible, and that a school district and union cannot have two simultaneous collective bargaining agreements in place with different expiration dates. The Taylor union security agreement expires on July 1, 2023, while the district’s main collective bargaining agreement expires on Oct. 1, 2017.[56]
Graphic 4 shows the details of the agency fee agreement and main contracts approved by the eight identified school districts. The effective and expiration dates of each district’s main contract are compared to the effective and expiration dates of the district’s agency fee agreement.
Graphic 4: Separate Agency Fee Agreement Dates
District |
Main contract effective date |
Agency fee effective date |
Main contract expiration date |
Agency fee expiration date |
Armada[57] |
9/1/2013 |
3/19/2013 |
8/31/2016 |
8/23/2023 |
Clarkston[58] |
9/1/2013 |
3/25/2013 |
8/31/2014 |
6/30/2016 |
Haslett[59] |
8/16/2013 |
3/22/2013 |
6/30/2016 |
6/30/2016 |
New Haven[60] |
3/21/2013 |
3/21/2013 |
8/31/2017 |
8/31/2023 |
Romulus[61] |
8/16/2013 |
3/18/2013 |
8/15/2016 |
8/15/2016 |
Rudyard[62] |
7/1/2013 |
2/11/2013 |
6/30/2014 |
6/30/2015 |
South Lake[63] |
3/21/2013 |
3/21/2013 |
8/31/2016 |
8/31/2018 |
Taylor[64] |
1/24/2013 |
1/24/2013 |
10/1/2017 |
7/1/2023 |
Armada, for example, approved a main collective bargaining agreement that took effect on Sept. 1, 2013, while its agency fee agreement took immediate effect on March 19, 2013. Armada’s main collective bargaining agreement will expire on Aug. 31, 2016, while the district’s agency fee agreement will continue for another seven years.
Similarly, Clarkston, Haslett and Romulus have agency fee agreements in place that took immediate effect, while their main contracts took effect after the Public Act 349 deadline. This arrangement allowed these districts to lock in immediate mandatory financial union support, while delaying the implementation of the other terms of the regular contract.
South Lake followed the pattern of Taylor: The district’s main collective bargaining agreement and agency fee agreement both took effect immediately, but the expiration dates differ. South Lake’s agency fee agreement is set to expire in 2018, two years after the district’s main contract will have expired.[65]
[*] New Haven’s contract states it was entered into on March 21, 2013. Board meeting records suggest the contract was entered into around this time, but it may have been approved as early as February 2013. “Regular Board of Education Meeting” (New Haven Community Schools, Feb. 11, 2013), http://goo.gl/r4IQK3 (accessed Sept. 2, 2014).