by Maury Koffman, APA President
The APA is proud to have recently received a binding ruling by an arbitrator, citing a unilateral violation of the APA contract by MSU and compelling the University to issue payment of the withheld funds from our January 2015 lump sum bonus payment as bargained for you by the APA.
January 2014 Lump Sum Bonus Payment
As you may recall, the University unilaterally withheld roughly $300 from every eligible member’s January 2014 lump sum bonus payment. While the lower court ruled exclusively in favor of the APA and MSU to enforce the contract as agreed, the outside plaintiff appealed the lower court’s decision and the union was waiting for a hearing in the Michigan Court of Appeals.
On February 5, 2016, the hearing on the merits of the appeal was heard in the Michigan Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals has no mandatory timeline to issue their ruling but holding the hearing is a step forward in the process.
We will continue to update members as we have more information.
January 2015 Lump Sum Bonus Payment
There was no lawsuit regarding the January 2015 payment. However, MSU chose to unilaterally withhold roughly $100 from every member’s lump sum bonus payment in January 2015. Since this issue was not subject to adjudication through the court, the APA filed a grievance and certified the case to binding arbitration.
The arbitration hearing was held in late November 2015 and in January 2016 we received a positive ruling from the arbitrator compelling MSU to payout the unilaterally withheld funds from January 2015.
The APA is engaging MSU to identify the specific amount (again, roughly $100 per full-time member of the APA who was employed on January 1, 2015) and the date payment will be issued per the order of the arbitrator. Once we have further details we will update the membership accordingly.
Moving Forward
The January 2014 and January 2015 payments were the result of collective bargaining in reflection of the health care savings from 2009 – 2013 (roughly $2,400 per member). Since those total savings were to be paid out between the January 2014 and January 2015 bonus payments there are no additional lump sum bonuses scheduled under our current contract.
It is our strong collective voice through the union and support from our state affiliate, the Michigan Education Association, that gives us the necessary resources to legally pursue full payment of the January 2014 and January 2015 lump sum bonus payments.
The arbitrator’s ruling regarding the January 2015 payment affirms the University unilaterally violated our legally binding contract and the APA is proud to have successfully pursued this issue on behalf of every APA member.