When graduate students at
the
University
of
Michigan
decided to strike in September,
state law was definitively not on
their side.
On the first day of the strike,
the University filed an unfair
labor practice complaint against
the
Graduate
Employees’
Organization,
the
union
representing more than 2,000
graduate
student
instructors
and
graduate
student
staff
assistants, and later followed up
with a request for a preliminary
injunction on Sept. 14.
Members
of
GEO
went
on strike in protest of the
University’s fall reopening plan
and called for more COVID-
19 protections and the right to
work remotely for all graduate
student instructors. They also
demanded the diversion of funds
from the Division of Public
Safety and Security, a request
the University did not grant.
GEO
reluctantly
accepted
the University’s proposal to end
the strike because of the legal
pressure the union was facing.
“In the face of our power, the
University of Michigan decided
to lean on a nearly hundred year
old union-busting law to sue
their own graduate students,”
union leaders wrote in a Sept. 16
press release. “ … The University
poured their immense resources
into legal fees instead of simply
protecting our community by
implementing reasonable steps
toward a safe and just pandemic
response for all.”
Striking is one tool unions
have at their disposal to increase
their power when bargaining
with employers. However, in
Michigan, it is illegal for most
public employees to strike under
the 1947 Public Employment
Relations Act.
This ban is one of several
pieces of legislation and court
rulings that have restrained
the
power
of
unions
both
in Michigan and across the
country.
In
December
2012,
the
Republican-controlled Michigan
legislature
and
Republican
Gov.
Rick
Snyder
passed
a
law
cementing
right-to-work
legislation in Michigan. Under
the new law, no employee could
be required to be an official, dues-
paying member or to pay fees
supporting the union’s collective
bargaining.
Unions are still required to
represent nonmember employees,
who continue benefiting from
many union activities such as legal
representation and negotiations
with employers, often resulting in
higher wages and better benefits.
Amber McCann, a spokesperson
for state Sen. Mike Shirkey,
R-Clarklake, who supports right-
to-work legislation and voted for
the Michigan bill in 2012, wrote
in an email to The Michigan Daily
that Shirkey believes workers
should not be required to join or
finance a union’s activities.
“The driving force behind
Senator
Shirkey’s
support
of
‘Freedom to Choose’ (aka RTW
Legislation) was choice,” McCann
wrote. “He believes unions have
the ability to make their case for
membership and workers have the
ability to choose whether or not
that membership is beneficial to
them.”
According to Kate Andrias,
professor at the University of
Michigan Law School, who studies
labor law, because this kind of
legislation is labeled as right-to-
work, people often misunderstand
its purpose, which she said is to
weaken unions.
“Right-to-work is not actually
about a right-to-work — it doesn’t
give anyone a job or protect
anyone from being fired without
cause,” Andrias said. “Rather, it
is simply a tactic to defund and
weaken unions. The effect of
right-to-work laws is to weaken
workers’ bargaining power at
work and their influence in the
political system.”
The 2012 right-to-work law
justifies
the
prohibition
on
strikes
by
public
employees,
claiming regardless of the merit
of the controversy, they are an
“economic waste” and that the
state’s residents should always
be “considered, respected and
protected.”
Ian
Robinson,
president
of
the
Lecturers’
Employee
Organization, which represents
non-tenure track faculty members,
said the union lost approximately
10 percent of revenue when they
first felt the effects of new right-
to-work legislation. However, he
added this is not where he thinks
the union gets its power.
“Power doesn’t really come
from money, at least not at the
margins,” Robinson said. “I mean,
you need a certain amount of
money in a union to hire quality
staff people to help support the
volunteers that are really at the
core of the union work in union
power. If you don’t have a good
volunteer base and a high level of
The Washtenaw County Health
Department issued a stay-in-place
order for University of Michigan
undergraduate students Tuesday
to curb outbreaks of COVID-
19. It will take place effective
immediately and last until Nov. 3
at 7 a.m.
In a press release, Jimena
Loveluck,
Washtenaw
County
Health Officer, said they put the
order in place because the situation
has become “critical.” According
to
Loveluck,
U-M-associated
COVID-19 cases represent over
60% of local cases.
“This order is necessary to
reverse
the
current
increase
in cases,” Loveluck said. “We
must continue to do what we
can to minimize the impact on
the broader community and to
ensure we have the public health
capacity to fully investigate cases
and prevent additional spread of
illness.”
Undergraduate students, both
on and off-campus, must stay in
their residence unless attending
class, accessing dining services or
carrying out approved work that
cannot be done remotely. Students
who wish to return to a primary
residence may do so only if they
have completed the University’s
procedures for leaving campus
safely.
Students
not
experiencing
COVID-19 symptoms may still
leave their residences for a variety
of
reasons,
including
voting,
getting medication and going to
medical appointments, attending
class,
participating
in
varsity
sports, going to work if it cannot
be done remotely or exercising in
groups of no more than two people.
Under existing state orders,
people must stay away from those
not already in their household by
at least six feet and wear a face
covering when out in public or
common areas. No visitors will
be allowed in on or off-campus
housing. The county emphasized
there should be no in-person
gatherings with people outside of
people’s households.
According
to
the
county’s
press
release,
the
University
also will take further steps out
of an “abundance of caution”
to provide options for students
and instructors such as moving
more undergraduate courses to
fully remote instruction for the
remainder of the fall semester.
In a statement, Robert Ernst,
executive director of University
Health Service and associate vice
president for Student Life, said
the school was working in close
coordination with the county.
Editor’s Note: The Michigan
Daily has used several anonymous
sources
to
report
this
story.
As stated in the article, we are
honoring our sources’ requests to
be quoted anonymously due to fears
of retaliation from their sorority
houses or the greater fraternity and
sorority life community, which is
commonly referred to as Greek life.
The
Michigan
Daily
has
uncovered
a
previously
unreported cluster of COVID-
19 cases connected to fraternity
and sorority life on campus
after a party between members
in two houses. The Daily has
also
obtained
documentation
that multiple fraternities in the
Interfraternity Council conducted
fall recruitment of freshmen — a
violation of the IFC’s moratorium
on fall rush for first-year students.
The Chi Omega sorority had
a cluster of COVID-19 cases and
went on lockdown after members
of the sorority attended a joint
party with Delta Chi, a disaffiliated
University fraternity, according
to four Panhellenic Association
members.
The Daily has obtained an email
from University Health Service to
Chi Omega residents about this
cluster. The cluster is not publicly
identified
on
the
University
dashboard.
michigandaily.com
Ann Arbor, Michigan
Wednesday, October 21, 2020
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INDEX
Vol. CXXX, No. 4
©2020 The Michigan Daily
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M I C . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
O PI N I O N . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
A R T S . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1 1
STATEMENT. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .14
SPORTS .......................17
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EMMA RUBERG &
LEAH GRAHAM
Daily Staff Reporter &
Managing News Editor
CLAIRE HAO &
JOHN GRIEVE
Daily News Editor &
Daily Staff Reporter
See CLUSTER, Page 3
COVID emerges in fraternity and
sorority life as some chapters party
Cluster of cases identified near campus after a party between members of two
houses while several fraternities recruit freshmen in violation of IFC’s moratorim
Laws curbing union power limited graduate students’
options in strike, gave University of Michigan leverage
State legislation aided by US Supreme Court ruling, helped ‘U’ in dealing with Graduate Employees’ Organization in labor dispute
County releases
two-week order
telling students
to stay-in-place
The announcement comes amid spiking
COVID-19 cases in University community
See ORDER, Page 3
DESIGN COURTESY OF MAN LAM CHENG
See STRIKE, Page 2
EMMA STEIN
Daily News Editor