TRAVERSE CITY — Northwestern Michigan College (NMC) Faculty Association affiliates of the Michigan Education Association (MEA) voted today 56–1 to approve a new collective bargaining agreement. The ratification vote followed a 10-hour negotiation with a state mediator last week in which a tentative agreement was reached on all outstanding issues including salary and organizational flexibility.
The NMC Board of Trustees will now review and vote on the proposed contract at an October 14 meeting.
“We are pleased to have made additional progress toward an agreement, that achieves our goal of securing a contract that supports our faculty and is responsible to our students, and taxpayers,” said NMC Associate Vice President of Human Resources Mark Liebling.
Social Sciences Instructor and NMC Faculty Association President Brandon Everest said, “the faculty look forward to being able to put their full focus on teaching and learning and on other exciting things to come for NMC.”
Bargaining teams reconvened on October 2 for negotiations after the release of a non-binding Fact Finder’s Report from the Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC) on remaining issues in late August. The contracts expired December 31, 2018.
Release Date: October 8, 2019
For more information:
Diana Fairbanks
Executive Director of Public Relations, Marketing and Communications
dfairbanks@nmc.edu
(231) 995-1019