Police union files class-action grievance against VBT over mandate

The day after the township board voted to keep its COVID-19 vaccine mandate in place for all employees, the Van Buren Township Patrol and Dispatchers chapter of the Police Officer Labor Council union filed a class-action grievance against the township.
Union president Adam Byrd said he had alerted all the Detroit news channels that VBT is the only municipality in the State of Michigan mandating COVID vaccines for all employees. Channel 4 came to the township immediately to interview Officer Byrd for a report, which led off the six o’clock news on July 22. Channel 2 also had a report, along with a story in The Detroit News.
Byrd said the proposal should have been negotiated with the unions over the terms and conditions of an employment change. He said this creates an Unfair Labor Practice.
The five-page grievance, dated July 21, lists three violations to the union contract.
Byrd said the grievance is about choice and the rights of people to decide what they put in their bodies.
He said this affects the security of VBT as good officers will leave the organization and it will be difficult to replace them. He said it would be hard to get people to come to work at a place that requires vaccines that have not been approved by the FDA.
Then, the board member comment that booster shots could be mandated as well, adds another layer to the challenge, he said. The board members are taking the advice of those with no medical experience, Byrd said.
Byrd said he agrees with Trustee Kevin Martin who said the mandate takes away the rights of the individual.
Byrd said eight members of his union are not vaccinated and he is not sure about the fire department.
He said the board action is confusing, since Supervisor Kevin McNamara said he won’t fire anyone, with the caveat, “unless the board tells him to.” Supervisor McNamara repeated that during the Channel 4 and 2 interviews and said he would work to find a compromise.
Byrd said the emails sent out June 16, after the original June 15 mandate vote, from Human Resources Director Nicole Sumpter said this was a mandate and if any employee does not comply that person would be placed on a two-week suspension and subsequently terminated.
On June 21, Byrd and fire union president Marc Abdilla met with the three, full-time elected officials. It was agreed there would be an extension of the deadline for this mandate for 90 days. However, on June 22, Director Sumpter sent another email that stipulated the deadline for the mandatory vaccination had been extended to Aug. 16 (60 days) and that the termination of employment for non-compliance had been removed.
The VBT board’s work/study session has been scheduled for July 19. It is an opportunity for anyone to discuss matters that are going to be at the board meeting the following day as a preliminary approach to mitigate issues, Byrd said.
The July 20 board agenda carried an item for “Discussion on, and to consider a re-vote of Mandatory COVID-19 Vaccinations for Township Employees.” On June 14 and July 19, the work studies were cancelled.
“These cancellations suppressed our ability as a union to have a discussion with the entire board of trustees prior to the board meeting,” Byrd wrote in the grievance.
Byrd pointed out that on June 17, just two days after the board’s first vote to tighten up the rules in VBT, the state loosened up its rules, announcing it was reopening and rescinding nine mandatory rules because the COVID-19 cases had gone down considerably.
Byrd said if this mandate is kept in place, other departments could use Van Buren Township as a standard in the State of Michigan and security could be endangered for multiple agencies.
He said 20% of the members in his union, including some who are vaccinated, have indicated an interest in this issue and some say they will let the township fire them.
The current deadline to get the shot is Aug. 16.
Another union grievance
A VBT police patrol officer, with one year to retirement, also has filed a grievance against the township. He had COVID in January, which he got on the job, and was paid for his time off to recover.
Then, in May, he experienced a darkness across his eye and he was put into the hospital for two days and underwent many tests. There was a suggestion it could have been a mini-stroke. His eye doctor found no blood clot. He was put on a 30-day heart monitor, which was taken off just before the township board put the mandate in place.
He told the Independent after the township “came out of left field” with its shot mandate, his wife, who works as an emergency room nurse, recommended he hold off with the shot and wear a mask.
“I didn’t want to get the vaccine,” he said. “I already had COVID and the state is open because of less and less cases. With one year to retirement, I decided not to get it.”
He said the original notice from Human Resources Director Sumpter said he would be terminated if he didn’t get the shot.
“I don’t want to jeopardize my retirement,” he said, adding most doctors will not give you an excuse because of the liability they would get. And, he said he did not have a religious exemption.
“I pride myself on my record … I got the shot that Sunday and they paid me the time it took to get it.” He said he was sick on Monday and Tuesday and couldn’t work because of the horrible headaches and dizzy spells. He said he felt like he had the flu.
“I felt wonderful until I got that shot,” he said.
He said after two days off sick he had Wednesday and Thursday off because of his job schedule and returned to work on Friday, even though he still had headaches and dizzy spells. He was not paid for the sick days and was told by Sumpter to use his sick time.
That’s what he has grieved: That he was forced to get the shot that made him sick and the township won’t pay for his two sick days caused by that shot. The grievance was denied and is now on Step 2 of the procedure.
He said he asked if he could go to the township’s work doctor and he said Sumpter said to go to his own doctor. He said if he sprained his ankle on the job, he gets paid as a work-related injury and this is also a work-related injury.
He said his headaches and vertigo persist to this day and he was scheduled to get his second shot on Sunday.
The 53-year-old police officer has been on the job for 23 years and started out as an Explorer Scout when he was 13 years old. He served in the Marine Corps and said he lives in the township and is 100% committed to the township’s safety. His wife retired after 20 years as a VBT paid per call fire fighter.
“I’m very frustrated with the township,” he said.