The strike by the faculty at Eastern Michigan University continues. Educators have been picketing on EMU’s campus as their union is facing a lawsuit from the administration that could force them to go back to work.
Outside of Welch Hall across the street from the Ypsilanti Water Tower, dozens of members of the EMU American Association of University Professors are picketing.
There is a steady stream of chanting and very animated people like biology professor Jonathan Hall. Hall says if a court ruling sends him back into the classroom, he will trust union leadership.
“The faculty are united in doing everything that we can to fight for a fair contract, so, whether or not that means united defying the ruling, I don’t even know if that’s legal, but, you know, our legal team will inform us of that.”
The administration is calling the strike illegal. They filed a suit with the Washtenaw County Circuit Court Wednesday, arguing its teachers are public employees and not allowed to strike.
The EMU-AAUP, who have been without a contract since August 31st, says the strike will be settled at the bargaining table, not a courtroom.
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