CMU and faculty accept court order

MOUNT PLEASANT, Mich., Aug. 27 (UPI) -- University of Central Michigan faculty members and administrators said they were pleased with a court order that allows picketing but prevents a strike.

University attorney Bob Vercruysse said, "We are pleased that our faculty will be in the classroom. We're delighted that our children will be able to be in the classroom … and continue their education."

"This court action ensures CMU students' academic instruction will continue without further disruption," Steve Smith, the university's director of public relations, said in a statement, the Mount Pleasant, Mich., Morning Sun reported Saturday.

But President of the Faculty Association Laura Frey said, "We have had our First Amendment rights restored. It's very clear we should have never had them taken away."

The university was also ordered to process union dues, which it had stopped doing. And faculty will also be offered a prescription drug plan and a chance to work with the Michigan Education Special Services Administration, a reseller of health and prescription plans that Frey said "will significantly reduce some of the increases our members have had to incur since the administration did not extend our contract."