Management and workers compromising, supporting each other, and striving for the best situation overall is exactly what should be happening. BOC members are showing where they stand, and that they will fight for their constituencies.

In an email sent to commissioners and commissioners-elect on Dec. 30, Yousef Rabhi – who was elected board chair earlier at the Jan. 2 meeting – announced the intent to call a special session: “Second, there is a group of Commissioners (myself included) that wish to call a Special Working Session on January 3rd at 6:00 p.m. Technically, this could have been done last year as there was more than 1/3 of the Board that desired to call the meeting. However, Curt [Hedger, the county's corporation counsel] advised that it would be best to call the meeting from the floor of the BOC meeting. The meeting would be for the purpose of discussing the implications of the ‘Right to Work’ legislation on the County.”

Mr. LaBarre’s strong outrage at the Michigan Chamber of Commerce’s support of union busting. So this timidness as a Commissioner isn’t surprising. Apparently he didn’t learn much during his time working with union rights champion Congressman John Dingell either.

The BOC is in fact management. The administrator negotiates labor contracts, but the BOC approves them. Management should not be punishing employees for their decisions regarding joining the union. Conan Smith is making very inflammatory statements in essentially threatening county employees that they will have benefits or job consideration withheld if they do not maintain union membership at a future time. If management can make those statements, what about management in another institution that threatens employees who chose to join a union? Coercion should not be a part of this equation in either direction.

I am personally appalled by the action of the Legislature and the Governor at pushing Michigan unceremoniously into this position of being a RTW state. Local governments and local companies will have to work through all the implications with their union members. It will be the job of union leadership to convince both membership and employers that they bring value to the employer-employee relationship.

I am so sad for our excellent county employees who have had to swallow a lot in the last few years. I hope that the BOC can show leadership in making the transition as stress-free as possible rather than adding to the stress I’m sure all public employees feel in these times.

From this article two Republicans are anti-union, Smith, Rabhi, and Sizemore all are expressing pro-union sentiments. What is the basis, other than LaBarre, that the rest of the commissioners would be unwilling to challenge right-to-work laws?

Andy LaBarre seems more worried about losing some convention business than worker civil rights. His fear of being open and transparent is troubling. Are we sure he’s a Democrat?

If I were any of the national union convention groups, I would pull 100% of my business from Michigan to send a clear message this terrorism against workers won’t be tolerated. Additionally, hopefully some folks who sat on their hands during the 2010 election for Governor are learning an important lesson here and might rethink vacationing in India with contributors who helped made this happen.

And despite his misuse of County funds, hanging out with crooked politicians like Bob Ficano, and his conflict of interest with his day job on the RTA, I hope Conan Smith is serious about this subject of trying come up with a best of a bad situation with collective bargaining rights in Washtenaw County. Even if this was a dog and pony show, he’s showing more guts than LaBarre, at least on this issue.

Let’s see how the next few weeks play out.