The ongoing labor dispute at Ferris State University has sparked a Michigan lawmaker to propose legislation that would penalize striking employees at all state universities.
Ferris State University faculty members returned to the classroom without a contract yesterday, but were still negotiating with university officials, Ferris State University spokesperson Margaret Avritt said.
State Rep. Ken Sikkema (R-Grandville), state House minority leader, plans to propose a bill that docks university employees one day's salary for every day they strike. The bill also fines state universities that practice employee lockouts.
Under Mich-igan law, it is illegal for public employees to strike, and public employers may not lock out their employees.
"There is a fundamental issue at stake," Sikkema said. "I don't think anybody is above the law.
"It puts financial teeth behind the prohibition against striking," he said. "I find it unacceptable that (the strikers) thumb their noses at the law."
Sikkema said strikes such as the one at Ferris State University, which began Aug. 25, violate the law, and therefore striking faculty should be punished.
He suggested that an alternative to striking is lobbying local legislators.
"What they are doing (now) does not work in a representative democracy," Sikkema said.
Some University staff members disagree with the proposal.
"It takes away the biggest bargaining right we have," said Nages Shanmugalingan, a member of the steering committee for the University of Michigan's Graduate Employees Organization. The union of graduate student instructors held a three-day walkout in sepil 1996.
The proposal would damage the working environment for University employees, she said.
"They are devaluing our contributions and it would deteriorate the working conditions," Shanmugalingan said.
However, Shanmugalingan said the suggestion to punish universities that participate in lockouts is "a good idea."
Sociology Prof. Don Deskins said the proposal is "unreasonable and controlling."
"It takes away the individual's rights," he said.
Sikkema said he is "not taking sides" in strike situations by proposing the bill, because the legislation would punish both employees and employers who violate anti-strike laws.
The bill will be modeled after Public Act 112 of 1994, which imposes similar penalties against striking public school employees and public schools that lock out their employees.
Rep. Clyde LeTarte, minority vice chair of the House Colleges and Universities Committee, where the bill will likely land, said the proposal is fair because it makes the penalties equal for public university and public school striking parties.
"To penalize one and not the other is not logical," LeTarte (R-Jackson) said.
With the democratic majority in the state House, LeTarte said he is not confident the bill will pass.