The Michigan Senate announced Thursday that it will investigate the behavior of the Michigan Education Association in regard to actions it has taken to avoid the state's right-to-work law.

Allegations against the MEA, Michigan’s largest teachers union, range from intimidation of teachers to harassment.

"Due to legislation passed in 2012, workers in Michigan have a choice: join a union or don't. Membership cannot be a condition of employment," Senate Majority Floor Leader Arlan Meekhof, R-West Olive, told reporters at a news conference in the Capitol Building. "When the law was signed, some employees were under pre-existing contracts that contained union security clauses. Provisions were made for these contracts. The legislation also granted employees the right to opt out of union membership. Not granting these rights to any employee would be a direct violation of Michigan law."

Joining Sen. Meekhof was Sen. Jack Brandenburg, R-Harrison Township; Sen. Tonya Schuitmaker, R-Lawton; and Sen. Hoon-Yung Hopgood, D-Taylor.

The senators announced the creation of the Senate Compliance and Accountability Committee. The new panel is being created to examine the implementation and application of laws passed by the Legislature and signed by Gov. Rick Snyder. It is not a special, or short-term committee, but a regular "standing" committee of the Michigan Senate that eventually would investigate more than just the allegations against the MEA. Sen. Meekhof will chair the committee and the initial hearing on the MEA's actions is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 13.

"The first potential violation that will be addressed by the committee will be a group of at least seven teachers from various areas who have encountered stonewalling or intimidation when they exercised their right to opt out of their Michigan Education Association membership," Sen. Meekhof said. "It has been alleged that this group of teachers was told they could not leave the union because it was not during the August window.

"These teachers were not bound by a union security clause and impeding them from leaving the union was a violation of the Freedom to Work Act," he said. "The teachers in question have also allegedly been strong armed with threats and intimidation such as being told they would face collection of dues and adverse reflection on their credit scores."

The Mackinac Center Legal Foundation is representing seven teachers who have filed complaints with the Michigan Employment Relations Commission against their local unions and the MEA.

Before the passage of the state's right-to-work law, employees who opted out of a union were still required to pay union fees, thus minimizing the incentive to opt out. Under the new law, those who opt out no longer will be required to pay the union to keep their job.

At the news conference Thursday, a reporter pointed out that the MEA has traditionally reserved August as a "window" in which members could leave the union.

"What the MEA and other unions may have done before the passage of the Freedom to Work law is no longer in force," Sen. Brandenburg said.

Reporters asked what the new committee could do to enforce the law, beyond what the courts would do.

"That would be borne out in committee," Sen. Meekhof said. "First, we'd have to hear the testimony."

Susan Bank, a former principal and current special education teacher in Novi Public Schools, spoke at the press conference.

"I have been dedicated to the education of Michigan students for 39 years," Bank said. "During that time, I have also been a dues paying member of the Michigan Education Association. After passage of the Freedom to Work legislation last December, I made the decision to sever my relationship with the union and discontinue paying dues. Since then, I have been subjected to intimidation, bullying and even threats to ruin my credit rating.

"Although I'm the one standing before you today, trust me when I tell you that I'm not the only one. And I look forward to joining others in testifying before Sen. Meekhof and the committee members," Bank said.

Sen. Brandenburg told reporters that his wife has been a teacher in Michigan for 29 years and paid union dues all along.

"What I want to say to the MEA is that as we are being told to accept Obamacare because it is the 'law of the land,' they have to accept Freedom to Work as the 'law of the land,' " Sen. Brandenburg said. "To besmirch someone's credit rating, especially someone who teaches children — if the allegation is true — I just think that is so unprofessional."

It is unclear if the MEA will actually testify before the new committee.

"They could come, but at this point they don't have to come," Sen. Meekhof said.

MEA Spokesman Doug Pratt told Gongwer news service that teachers had a "legally binding agreement" with the union.

Students at Eastern Michigan University pursuing teaching degrees are not happy with a union promoted boycott of their services.

The Washtenaw County Education Association, which is an affiliate of the Michigan Education Association, sent letters to each of the eight districts its members represent urging them not to accept student teachers from EMU because of the university affiliation with the Education Achievement Authority, MLive reported. Gov. Rick Snyder started the EAA, which is a special borderless district the state's most severely under-performing schools are placed in.

Six of the eight districts in Washtenaw County support blocking student teachers from EMU from working in their schools.

Anthony Wozniak, a secondary education student at EMU, called the boycott "outrageous."

"[T]his directly affects me and a lot of my classmates," Wozniak said. "The WCEA [is] punishing the students for what Eastern Michigan University is doing, and whether or not you think Eastern should be part of the EAA, the WCEA should not be boycotting student teachers."

To make matters worse, the president of the union is ducking the chance to explain the union's action to lawmakers.

Rep. Lisa Posthumus Lyons, R-Alto, said WCEA President Tim Heim has informed her that he won't be available to testify about the boycott before the House Education Committee, which Rep. Lyons chairs. Heim's lack of availability apparently is a permanent status.

On Oct. 30, Rep. Lyons publicly invited Heim to testify before the House Education Committee, but she said this week that he can't find any time in his schedule to testify.

"We just heard back from him that he can't make it,” Rep. Lyons said Wednesday. "But this was an open invitation (which is not limited to a specific date or time) to come before the committee. So, he says he can't make it — even when it is an open invitation?"

In April, the union sent letters on behalf of school union presidents in Dexter, Chelsea, Lincoln, Saline, Whitmore Lake and Manchester schools, advising teachers not to accept student teachers from EMU. The individual school district unions involved with the boycott are all chapters of the MEA.

"No matter how you look at this action, the Washtenaw County Education Association, an MEA affiliate, is truly a bully," said F. Vincent Vernuccio, director of Labor Policy with Mackinac Center for Public Policy. "Worse, it is bullying a group of students who have no control over the issue. Union President Tim Heim should be ashamed of his organization's attempt to harm the careers of young teachers to make a political point. Thankfully, when many of these students graduate they will have the ability to choose whether to support a union or not and these students will have long memories."

EMU officials have reported that the union instigated boycott has had a negative impact on its student teacher placements.

"This concerns us deeply, as the welfare and career path of our students is our primary concern," said Leigh R. Greden, EMU's vice president of government and community relations. "We agree with many in our state and community who do not think it is appropriate for an organization to take actions that could potentially affect the careers of our high quality teaching students, and the education of young people in our state.

"A large majority of our teaching students are from Michigan, and most plan to stay and teach in Michigan," he said. "Having a roadblock in their career development could lead them to look for opportunities outside Michigan."

The boycott won't force EMU to drop its affiliation with the EAA, he said.

Wozniak said he is going into teaching "because I want to help future generations of children" and that it's wrong for the union to try and stand in the way of that.

"When politics get in the way, we can't do our jobs and we certainly can't help anyone if we are not allowed to student teach," Wozniak said. "I don't agree with the teachers union on many things, and I think this is just another reason why the teachers union wants to flex its muscle and hurt everyone involved."

This is not the first time the MEA has tried to bully student teachers. In 1994, the MEA threatened to stop accepting Saginaw Valley State University student teachers from getting into classrooms to pursue their careers because SVSU was approved to charter schools in Michigan. The MEA also said it would tell its members who were alumni of SVSU to stop donating to the school if it worked to charter schools against the MEA's wishes.

WCEA President Heim could not be reached for comment. MEA spokesperson Nancy Knight did not respond to a request for comment.