Bloomfield Hills, Michigan (December 16, 2004) — Attorneys with the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation have filed arguments in the Michigan Court of Appeals opposing the State’s precedent-setting actions to permit Michigan Education Association (MEA) union organizers to impose union monopoly bargaining on teachers at Brother Rice High School.
In their amicus curiae brief filed on behalf of a religious liberty public policy group known as the Acton Institute, Foundation attorneys urge the court to overturn a decision by the Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC) claiming that the Catholic school falls under the jurisdiction of Michigan’s compulsory collective bargaining laws. The MERC ruling allowed union officials to target Brother Rice teachers for unionization and to be declared monopoly bargaining representatives for the teachers who provide the church’s religious instruction. Unless overturned, MERC’s decision could ultimately result in union monopoly bargaining privileges extending into the school’s hiring and firing practices, as well.
Foundation attorneys argue that federal constitutional law and U.S. Supreme Court precedent preclude state regulation of the religious institution, and that state supervision of a church school violates the Establishment Clause of the federal constitution. Foundation attorneys also cite that Catholic Church doctrine and the ideology of the MEA union are incompatible, and that the Michigan state government has excessively entangled itself with the institution.
The Foundation’s brief asserts that Michigan state law was not constructed in a way to include Brother Rice in the jurisdiction of union representation and state regulation. Imposing unionization and state supervision over educators at Brother Rice would force the Church to negotiate specific terms of employment which run counter to church doctrine, including the subsidizing of abortions in the church-provided healthcare package.
Foundation attorneys point out that the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Lemon v. Kurtzman that the government cannot foster “excessive government entanglement with religion.” Foundation attorneys argue that the Michigan Employment Relations Commission’s oversight of collective bargaining agreements would amount to an “excessive entanglement” in church activities because the Commission has acknowledged Brother Rice is “physically and financially” part of the Catholic Church. Additionally, since hiring practices at the school necessarily involve religious beliefs, the state could be asked to pass judgment upon church doctrine to determine whether the school’s refusal to bargain over certain terms is legitimately based on religious belief.
“In their lust for more compulsory dues, teacher union officials have again crossed the line – placing their own selfish interests above the wishes of people of faith. If they get away with it here, there is no question they will make similar power grabs across Michigan and even in other states,” said Foundation Vice President Stefan Gleason.
The National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation is a nonprofit, charitable organization providing free legal aid to employees whose human or civil rights have been violated by compulsory unionism abuses. The Foundation, which can be contacted toll-free at 1-800-336-3600, assists thousands of employees in more than 250 cases nationwide per year.
