Catherwood LibraryILR School

Three leaders of the Michigan State Employees Association, the state's oldest public employees union, will be tried by the organization after speaking to the Detroit Free Press regarding internal strife within the union. The MSEA is unhappy that the three members, Brent Heyer, Michael Walker and Mark Sanchez Jr., spoke out publicly against union president Ken Moore, classifying their actions as detrimental to the purposes of the union. The trial highlights an ongoing struggle within the union over its own labor practices. The NLRB ruled in August that the MSEA had used unfair labor practices against its own employees, including illegal firings. Moore then won a narrow vote to appeal the NLRB's decision, against the wishes of many of its constituents who are concerned with the amount of union money being spent on the case. The three union officials could be suspended, or even expelled by the MSEA.