ANGOLA â The Metropolitan School District of Steuben County committed an unfair labor practice by interfering with the collective bargaining rights of Angolaâs public schools teachers union, a state board has ruled.
The Indiana Education Employment Relations Board has ordered the district to cease and desist from interfering with or coercing employees who are freely exercising their right to participate in collective bargaining, said a recommended order handed down Tuesday.
The IEERBâs initial ruling comes after a Dec. 9, 2020, evidentiary hearing, held by videoconference, where testimony was heard from MSD administrators and union leaders regarding the alleged wrongdoing.
In July 2019, leaders of the Angola Classroom Teachers Association took the rare step of filing two unfair labor practice charges against the district for what the union said amounted to interference and coercion by the districtâs refusal to engage in good faith collective bargaining with the ACTA bargaining team during the first session of the 2018-19 bargaining period, in September 2018. A second charge was filed but later dismissed at the unionâs request.