Howell Educational Secretaries Ass'n v. Howell Public Schools

The Howell Public Schools Board of Education (school board) appeals as of right from an order of the Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC) which held that a group newly added to a collective-bargaining unit became automatically covered by the noneconomic provisions of the collective-bargaining agreement previously entered into between the school board and the Howell Educational Secretaries Association, MESPA (union). The issue presented is of first impression.

In 1979, the school board entered into a collective-bargaining agreement with the union for the period between July 1, 1979,…