FeedsCourt orders Wayne-Westland teachers back to work
Students in the Wayne-Westland school district will be back in class on Friday after a judge ordered teachers back to work and negotiations to resume.
After listening to representatives of the Wayne-Westland Community School District (WWCSD) and the Wayne-Westland Education Association (WWEA) Thursday morning, Judge Kathleen MacDonald of the Third Circuit Court ruled that teachers in the district must report back to work. For now, the teachers will work under the terms of their expired contract. The court will maintain jurisdiction over the bargaining until the two sides reach an agreement.
The injunction hearing came on the fourth day classes were cancelled due to a strike by teachers. As public servants, teachers are forbidden under Michigan law to go on strike.
“This is a victory for our students and our community,” said School Superintendent Gregory Baracy. “Our primary responsibility is—and always has been—to our students. We believe our differences with the union should be resolved at the negotiating table, and should not stand in the way of our students’ education.”
Union president Nancy Strachan said the union intends to comply with McDonald’s order.
“The purpose of the work stoppage was to put the board on notice and make the community aware of the egregious and illegal behavior of the board’s bargaining team,” she said in a written statement. “We accomplished that today.”
MacDonald also ordered that the district refrain from taking disciplinary action against the teachers involved, ordering that the matter be held in abeyance, and that both parties continue to bargain in good faith.
The court action came two days after a special meeting of the school board during which board members voted to set up disciplinary proceedings against teachers that participated in the strike. The meeting also offered angry parents and union supporters a chance to share their sentiments during the hour-long citizen comment period.
Negotiations are scheduled to resume at 4p.m. today. A fact-finder with the Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC) will work with the two bargaining teams to take testimony and review proposals from both parties and, ultimately, provide a report on the matters on which the sides disagree.
