Paul Egan

Detroit Free Press

LANSING -- A union representing state workers broke federal labor laws in actions it took against its own employees, including illegal firings and discipline and refusals to turn over information, the National Labor Relations Board has ruled.

The Aug. 4 ruling faults the Michigan State Employees Association (MSEA) and its president, Kenneth Moore, for their dealings with their central office employees, who have their own union-within-a-union called the Central Office Staff Association (COSA).

It's not unusual for the NLRB to determine an employer has violated the rights of a union and its members. But in this case, the board determined that one union violated the collective bargaining rights of another union.

The federal board, in a 2-1 ruling, ordered the 4,500-member MSEA and Moore to stop violating the Labor Relations Act, reinstate central office employees who were wrongfully fired, and restore back wages, pay, benefits and seniority. If upheld, it could be a costly ruling for a union that has lost membership as the number of state employees has shrunk considerably over the last 20 years.

Moore and the MSEA had appealed an administrative law judge's 2013 ruling to the National Labor Relations Board, only to get rapped even harder than they did by the administrative judge for their actions toward the seven-member COSA.

Now, the union will appeal again, this time to the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, MSEA attorney Brandon Zuk, speaking on behalf of Moore, said Monday.

"There was a big mistake made by the board and by the administrative law judge," said Zuk, of Lansing. He said the dissenting panel member wanted to grant the MSEA's request to hear more evidence related to the credibility of a witness at the original hearing.

Asked if Moore has hostility toward COSA, which the board described as "animus," Zuk said: "Absolutely not."

Richard Ransom, president of the union for the MSEA office employees, said "we are very disappointed that President Moore has informed COSA he is appealing" the latest ruling.

"MSEA’s appeal is a disservice to its members and a waste of their dues money," he said. "We would expect MSEA elected officials to embrace the union philosophy with its own employees as they do their membership."

In October 2010, Moore issued a directive that said "effective immediately, all employee concerns regarding any MSEA issues are to be presented, and addressed, directly by the President." The NLRB panel went beyond the findings of the administrative law judge by concluding that rule violated the collective bargaining rights of the union office workers.

Administrative Law Judge Keltner Locke ruled the MSEA broke the law in the way it fired two of its administrative employees, terminated the recall rights of a third employee, and delayed a fourth union employee's return to work. The board agreed.

Locke also ruled, and the board agreed, the MSEA broke the law by "repeatedly refusing to provide relevant information that the union requested and unreasonably delaying in providing other requested information, unilaterally implementing work rules, unilaterally ceasing to provide cell phones and cell phone subsidies to unit employees," unilaterally taking away work from the office employees, and "failing to bargain in good faith with the union over the removal of this ... work."

Moore took office in July 2010 and is about midway through his second four-year term as president of the MSEA, which is a local affiliate of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees. The internal union considerably predates Moore, who came into office "determined to eliminate the laxity which he perceived" in union operations, according to Locke's ruling.

NLRB decision on MSEA vs. COSA

Locke's 2013 ruling said that MSEA steward Benny Poole, Jr. testified Moore told him, "You have to help me get COSA," and Poole interpreted that to mean "get rid of COSA" because it was costing the union pay and benefits.

Asked how often unions get involved in labor disputes with their own employees, "it happens," Zuk said. "It's unusual, but not unprecedented."

Contact Paul Egan: 517-372-8660 or pegan@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @paulegan4.