Education budgets signed, with line-item vetoes to force further negotiation
Michigan school districts and colleges affected by the Supreme Court’s ruling in the 3 percent case are expected to receive a disbursement of money from the state on Monday, Jan. 22, which will eventually be used to refund stolen wages to nearly 275,000 teachers, faculty, and support staff.
That does not mean refunds will be immediately issued to public school employees who had earnings illegally taken from their paychecks. Districts have discretion in how they issue the return of money, following a status conference in the Michigan Court of Claims on Thursday.
In that meeting of attornies from both sides, Judge Stephen Borrello also confirmed the time period covered by the ruling in the case as July 1, 2010, through September 3, 2012.
MEA has updated its FAQ on the 3% case. Look for new information starting with Question 9.
MEA, AFT-Michigan, and AFSCME fought the 3 percent case for more than seven years, winning a unanimous decision from the state Supreme Court in December. Courts at every level agreed the state acted unconstitutionally in taking 3 percent of school employees’ wages to pay for retiree health care – a benefit they were not guaranteed to receive.
Employees of affected school districts or colleges who have since retired or changed jobs are advised to update their former employers with current contact information and make sure their account is complete and up-to-date at the Michigan Office of Retirement Services (ORS).
In addition, those who wish to receive the latest information from MEA about the case can send their name, address, phone number, and home email address to webmaster@mea.org.
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Does everyone qualify.
Employees who had the 3% withheld during the 2010-2012 period in question would get their money back. Be sure to check in with the school district(s) where you were employed during that time.
Have you all seen how small the interest is that was supposedly earned with or money for over 5 years. It’s ridiculous. It works out to less than 0.2% annual interest for the time period. I hope the MEA is planning on bringing this injustice to the judge’s attention very quickly. We should have gotten at least money market rates for that period. I’m sure the state earned more interest than that. Do they get to keep that too?
I too, am astounded about the amount of interest being paid on this account. There is just no way that $550,000,000 could earn less than .5% interest. Local banks have been paying interest rates higher than that for savings accounts. And you can’t convince me that even an escrow account with $.5 Billion would earn less that a regular savings account. The State of Michigan is, once again, trying to screw over teachers. I sincerely hope the MEA will not stop in this fight until all of the money PLUS reasonable interest is secured. Keep up your great advocacy for membership!