HOUGHTON – In response to an unfair labor practices charge filed against Houghton-Portage Township Schools last year, the Board of Education voted Monday to file its own charge against the Houghton Education Association.

The charge, filed with the American Arbitration Association, alleges the teachers union committed an unfair labor practice by challenging a prohibited subject of bargaining through arbitration.

“The association filed a grievance, so in response to that, we’ve been trying to work it out, and in response we’re filing an unfair labor practice (charge),” said Superintendent Doreen Klingbeil.

The original grievance was in response to a minor disciplinary act taken against a teacher, said Terry LaJeunesse, UniServ director for the Michigan Education Association in Hancock. LaJeunesse said the district had violated the teacher’s rights by not following the board’s policy in what he termed a “capricious” investigation.

“They’re trying to get out of this on a technicality rather than fix the problem,” he said. “If they had followed the board policy and came to the same conclusion, there would not have been a grievance. They and other districts feel if it’s a prohibited topic, they can do anything.”

The charge now heads to arbitration. Both Klingbeil and LaJeunesse said a resolution could take months. A neighboring district’s ULP charge has been going on for close to a year, LaJeunesse said.