ALLENDALE, Mich. – Coreen Bedford’s union at Grand Valley State University has enjoyed a positive, collaborative relationship with school officials, and union members recently realized they are better off disassociating themselves from the Michigan Education Association, a state affiliate of the National Education Association.

Employee grievances have been virtually non-existent for several years, and MEA officials sent to negotiate employment contracts on behalf of the staff employee union have been unhelpful and ill-prepared, she said.

This month, clerical workers and support staff at Grand Valley State University (GVSU) voted 235-24 to cut ties with the MEA and form an independent union – the Alliance of Professional Support Staff. Bedford, the new union’s acting president, said the MEA’s adversarial approach to employee relations was one of several major reasons for the change.

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“The MEA takes more of a stance that doesn’t work well here, and hasn’t for a long time,” Bedford told EAGnews.

“We have a very good relationship with the university leadership … so the need for the MEA to help with grievances for years has been minimal,” Bedford said. “When you look at the three major benefits of being with the MEA, the membership felt the quality of that didn’t (justify) the costs.”

Major factors

Bedford said leaders of the local clerical and support staff union have continuously monitored the value of its association with the MEA over the years, but delved deeper into the issue after Michigan lawmakers approved right-to-work legislation in December 2012.

“The employee group has always been a proactive employee group and we’ve always been looking to ensure the services provided by the MEA were a true benefit,” Bedford said. “We decided to be proactive, shared the information we collected with the membership, and let them decide what the future would be.”

Over the last year, local union officials analyzed three main factors to determine if the benefits of associating with the MEA outweighed the state union’s hefty dues, which cost employees as much as $832 per year.

The group looked at the relative health of the MEA, the group’s relationship with GVSU, and the MEA’s collective bargaining services heading into contract negotiations in 2014. The biggest benefits of MEA membership are assistance with bargaining, help with grievances, and training, Bedford said.

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The MEA training was less beneficial than what the university offered, she said, and grievances have been virtually nonexistent.

Collective bargaining services had been lacking in part because of regular turnover in the regional MEA Uniserv position in recent years.

The research provided by MEA officials during negotiations also “wasn’t timely,” Bedford said.

The MEA’s confrontational approach to negotiations and employee relations with GVSU was also a bad fit.

“It was part of the conversations we always had with our Uniserv director,” Bedford said of the MEA’s us-versus-them mentality. “When you have such a (collaborative) environment that approach can actually be counterproductive.”

Money factor

Support staff and clerical workers at GVSU paid a total of $242,000 to the MEA in 2012, which included dues for the local association, the MEA, and the National Education Association, the MEA’s parent organization.

“We were looking at value and 80 percent of that total went to the MEA, and that’s per year,” Bedford said.

“We expect a dramatic drop in the cost (of dues)” with the move to an independent union, she said, “perhaps as much as 70 percent.”

It was obvious to most GVSU employees they weren’t getting their money’s worth from the MEA, but the union did attempt to plead its case.

The union held informational lunch meetings at both GVSU’s Allendale and Grand Rapids campuses, but only a handful of employees bothered to attend, Bedford said.

“They also did two mailings that went to members’ homes, but that’s really about it,” she said. “I think they actually remained very professional through the whole thing.”

Bedford suspects the mild resistance was due to the MEA’s primary focus on K-12 public schools, which typically generate much more in dues revenue.

Regardless, she believes every local union would be wise to reconsider their relationship with the MEA, and weigh the benefits against the substantial dues cost.

“I think it’s something every local should be looking at, whether K-12 or higher education,” she said.