LANSING, Mich. – A Michigan administrative law judge recently ruled that the Ann Arbor teachers union unfairly charged teacher Ronald Robinson a $495 “agency shop fee” after he dropped out of the organization in 2015.

Michigan lawmakers approved right-to-work legislation in 2012 that made it illegal for unions to force employees to join as a condition of employment, and the Pioneer High School teacher took advantage of the law to resign from the Ann Arbor Education Association in August 2015, Mlive reports.

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The law, which went into effect in March 2013, applied to collective bargaining agreements signed after that date, and local unions in several school districts attempted to circumvent the legislation by keeping contracts intact, or signing “security agreements” with school officials to extend fees for non-unionized employees.

In the Taylor School District, union officials signed a 10-year deal with the district to extend the mandatory fees for all educators, and officials in the Ann Arbor district crafted a similar arrangement through memorandums of agreement that applied to a contract initially approved for the 2009-2011 school years.

“Robinson was a member of the AAEA from 1993 until August 2015, when the MEA acknowledged in a letter his desire to resign his union membership, according to court documents. In December 2015, Robinson received an information packet with a form that gave him the option of joining the union or paying a service fee,” Mlive reports.

“Robinson did not return the form, and in February 2016, the MEA charged him $495.36 for the service fee. That was when Robinson filed the unfair labor practice charge, claiming he should not be required to pay the fee. The Mackinac Center Legal Foundation joined the case representing Robinson in May 2016.”

The Mackinac Center called on the Michigan Education Association – the statewide parent union – to cease the illegal collections, and pursued legal action against both the AAEA and Taylor teachers unions to defend educators extorted by their unions. The MEA reportedly sent some teachers to a collection agency in an attempt to collect the agency shop fees, a tactic that ultimately netted the union $241,000 between 2013 and 2016, the Mackinac Center reports.

“The NEA shouldn’t be using a collection agency to threaten the credit ratings and family finances of teachers who just want to peacefully leave the union,” Mackinac Center Legal Foundation Senior Attorney Derk Wilcox said in a statement.

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“If the Michigan Employment Relations Commission accepts the judge’s recommendation, all the pain the MEA caused its former members will not only have been morally wrong, but legally unjustified.”

The Mackinaw Center contends Robinson and others left the union because “it was unresponsive to members, protected bad teachers, neglected to respond to teacher grievances in a timely manner and failed to negotiate better contracts.”

In 2015, the Michigan Employment Relations Commission ruled that the union security agreement in the Taylor school district constituted an unfair labor practice, and Judge Julia Stern cited that decision in a ruling in late June that found the Ann Arbor agreement to be “unlawful and unenforceable,” Mlive reports.

“As in Taylor, Respondents (the AAEA and MEA) unquestionably understood, when they entered into the 2013 MOA, that the Legislature’s intent was to make union security agreements unlawful, at least prospectively,” Stern wrote in her decision.

The MEA appealed the Taylor decision to the Michigan Supreme Court, where it is currently pending review.

“This is a clear case of the union leaders protecting the union’s money and power at the expense of the very people they were supposed to represent,” said Mackinac Center Vice President for Legal Affairs Patrick J. Wright. “Judge Julia Stern says the Ann Arbor contract and others like it are unenforceable. This provides an opportunity for the MEA to reconsider its hardline tactics against its current and former members until this matter is resolved.”

Wright alleged the MEA’s aggressive tactics are likely tied to its dismal financial situation.

“The MEA’s most recent annual report revealed that the union has more than $130 million in pension liabilities and $166 million in retiree health care liabilities, but only $67 million in assets of any kind,” Wright said. “MEA leadership has mismanaged their way into a deep hole, and they act as if they see their members as dollar signs instead of people.”

Stern ordered the AAEA and MEA to stop harassing Robinson for the illegal agency fee, and to notify all members of the AAEA of the unfair labor practice within 30 days, a decision that will likely face appeal to the Michigan Employment Relations Commission.