Opinion ID: 2712872
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: the collective bargaining agreements

Text: While the ordinance clearly gives the commission discretion to maintain actuarially equivalent joint and survivor benefits, the ordinance is only effective as to unionized employees “as provided in the applicable collective bargaining agreement . . . .”60 As a result, we must examine the individual collective bargaining agreements to determine whether they incorporate the ordinance’s terms. Eight of the nine collective bargaining agreements at issue in this case expressly incorporate the terms of the retirement ordinance in the determination of retirement benefits.61 They state identically that “[t]he Employer shall continue the benefits as provided by the presently constituted Macomb County Employees’ Retirement Ordinance, and the Employer and the employee shall abide by the terms and conditions thereof, provided, that the provisions thereof may be amended by the Employer as provided by the statutes of the State of Michigan . . . .” Because the collective bargaining agreements cover the calculation of retirement benefits, we conclude that the grievance procedure is the appropriate avenue for the charging parties’ claims arising out of the parties’ rights under their respective collective bargaining agreement.62 actuarial equivalent of his accumulated contributions standing to his credit . . . .”) (quotation marks and citation omitted). 60 Macomb County Retirement Ordinance, § 22(b). 61 The eight collective bargaining agreements containing identical language are those bargained by: UAW Local 412, Units 39, 46, 49, 55, and 75; UAW Local 889; AFSCME Local 411; and the Michigan Nurses Association. 62 Each of these collective bargaining agreements specifies a grievance procedure. Six of the collective bargaining agreements provide a grievance procedure for “all disputes that may arise between [the parties] concerning the interpretation or operation of this 19 The ninth collective bargaining agreement—between the Macomb County Road Commission and AFSCME Local 893—implicitly incorporates the retirement ordinance. A subject “need not be explicitly mentioned in an agreement in order for the subject to be ‘covered by’ the agreement.”63 In the context of retiree health care benefits, the Local 893 collective bargaining agreement states that “[h]ospital-medical coverage will be extended to a retiring Employee and spouse who qualifies and received [sic] benefits under the Macomb County Retirement Ordinance” and that this coverage “shall be discontinued upon the death of the retiree, unless the spouse continues to be entitled to and receive payment under a retirement benefit option.” Additionally, it states that “[e]mployees retiring from the Road Commission of Macomb County and eligible for benefits under the Macomb County Retirement Ordinance” shall receive a $10,000 life insurance benefit. The collective bargaining agreement specifies the formula to calculate a retiree’s pension benefits but, more important for the purposes of this case, it expressly refers to a “retirement benefit option” that allows a surviving beneficiary to receive benefits. As a result, we hold that this collective bargaining agreement incorporates the retirement ordinance to the extent that the ordinance governs optional joint and survivor Agreement.” The collective bargaining agreement between UAW Local 889 and Macomb County states that the grievance procedure applies to “all disputes, including but not limited to dismissals, suspensions, demotions and other disciplinary actions of any type that may arise between [the parties] concerning the interpretation or operation of this Agreement.” Finally, the collective bargaining agreement between UAW Local 412, Unit 46 and Macomb County states that a grievance is “a claim, reasonably, and sensibly founded, of a violation of this Agreement.” 63 Port Huron Ed Ass’n, 452 Mich at 322 n 16, citing Dep’t of Navy, 295 US App DC at 252. 20 benefits and that the grievance procedure is the appropriate forum for the remaining charging party to raise its claim regarding disputes arising out of the collective bargaining agreement.64