March 10, 2016
GRAND RAPIDS, MI - A Grand Rapids special education teacher has filed unfair labor practice charges against her local teachers union and the Michigan Education Association.
Becky Lapham accuses the unions of violating her rights under the state's right-to-work law that prohibits requiring workers to pay union dues or fees as a condition of employment.
Lapham, a district teacher for 13 years who now works at the Lincoln campus, filed the charges with the Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC) on March 1. She is receiving free legal assistance from the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation.
"Despite her rights under Michigan's public employee Right to Work law, in January 2016 Lapham received a letter from MEA union officials demanding nearly $2,000 in union dues," the foundation said in a press release.
Lapham, who cold not be reached, resigned from the union in 2014, but the unions argue that she's bound to paying dues until the end of the bargained contract, which expired in June 2015.
"The association will defend itself against the charge," according to a statement from the Michigan Education Association. "However, since the issue is currently being adjudicated at the Michigan Employment Relations Agency, we will not comment at this time on the specifics of the case."
In 2014, Lapham also filed unfair labor practices charges with MERC accusing the GREA, MEA and Grand Rapids Public Schools of violating her rights under the state's right-to-work law. There were four charges, one of which remains pending.
Allegations against GRPS and two others from the earlier complaint were voluntarily withdrawn, according to Tanya Baker with the state Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs. She said the fourth charge, which challenged the window period for resigning membership, is on hold after a recent conference with the parties that was held January 20.
The MEA letter to Lapham allegedly included an invoice for 2015-2016 membership dues, and listed Lapham as a "member," even though she had exercised her right to resign from formal union membership nearly a year and half earlier. That demand is what prompted Lapham to file the charge which MERC will now investigate.
"Because Lapham is not a union member and is fully covered by the Right to Work law, she cannot be required to pay any union dues or fees as a condition of employment," according to the release.
"The NRTW Foundation will continue to fight alongside teachers, bus drivers, civil servants, and all workers who suffer abuse from forced unionism," said Mark Mix, the foundation's president. "These sorts of schemes must not continue, because no worker should ever be forced to pay union dues or fees just to get or keep a job."
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Is this another Rebecca Friedrichs’ in the making?
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