BIG RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) -- The faculty union at Ferris State University has filed an unfair labor practice charge after the university board rejected a five-year contract. The contract was ratified by 96 percent of the union. But the board unanimously rejected it on Feb. 22.
The Michigan Education Association said Monday that the school bowed to pressure from Republican lawmakers who have threatened to withhold state funding increases if universities sign contracts before a right-to-work law goes into effect in late March.
The MEA says state labor law requires that the representatives of either party who negotiate an agreement must support that agreement when it's put up for ratification. A lawsuit also was filed in Mecosta County.
A university spokesman says the school doesn't comment on pending litigation.
