Court settlement partially restores pay cuts for Detroit school employees
From The Detroit News: Teachers and other unionized employees in the Detroit school district have won back part of wages and benefits that were slashed last year. The Detroit Federation of Teachers and two other unions have agreed to a court settlement with emergency school district manager Roy Roberts. When Roberts imposed a pay cut and health care increases, he broke collective bargaining agreements with the unions, which sued. The settlement, approved by a federal judge, includes a lump-sum payment equal to 2.5 percent of employees' 2011-12 earnings and a limited reinstatement of step increases.
EARLIER....From The Detroit Free Press: Three of the eight unions representing Detroit Public Schools employees have sued to challenge a new state law that allowed the district to cut employee wages by 10 percent. The law gives emergency managers the power to modify or cancel union contracts. The unions that filed the lawsuit -- the Detroit Federation of Teachers, the Detroit Association of Educational Office Employees and the Detroit Federation of Paraprofessionals -- said in a joint written statement that the lawsuit is an effort to stop an "unprecedented power grab."
JULY 2011....from The Detroit News: Detroit Public Schools emergency manager Roy Roberts has imposed a 10 percent wage cuts on all district employees and is moving the district to a more costly benefits plan. The move will save the school system $81.8 million dollars this year; it is struggling with a $327 million budget deficit. Keith Johnson, president of the Detroit Federation of Teachers, says the union will not accept Roberts' plan.