Republican's assault on teacher’s unions comes at the expense of good public policy

The Republican’s answer to a problem caused by technology brought to light by an anti-teacher’s union witch-hunt is a bill that goes after unions.

The late anti-union activist Chet Zarko launched a fishing expedition back in 2007 by filing a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) with the help of teabagger and former Howell School Board member Wendy Day seeking emails to embarrass the Howell teacher’s union.

Zarko, who passed away last summer, claimed the emails were sent on district computers during staff time, and they were used to lobby the public during contract negotiations. The district released some emails, but an injunction was issued stopping Zarko from receiving any more of the 5,500 emails.

The Michigan Court of Appeals ruled in January of 2010 that the emails sent and received on Howell Public School computers between union members were not public record, and they concluded that under the current FOIA statute the individual teacher’s personal emails were not rendered public records solely because they were captured in the email system’s digital memory. They also said this was unexamined ground in the law, and that this is an issue for the Legislature to address.

So, on January 13, freshman state Rep. Al Pscholka, R-Stevensville, introduced House Bill 4052 that would ban the use of taxpayer-funded e-mail servers for public employee collective bargaining, and, according to the Livingston County Daily Press & Argus, which has devoted tons of column inches to this story, “appears to address concerns that teachers' unions — including the Howell Education Association — might use school computers to conduct union business.”

The bill would apply to all public employees and public employee collective-bargaining units that have access to public e-mail servers.

When the Court of Appeals ruled last January, it said that under the FOIA statute the individual plaintiffs’ personal emails were not rendered public records solely because they were captured in the email system’s digital memory. In other words, something as harmless as an invitation to a colleague’s retirement party that was once just placed in a teacher’s cubbyhole would now be a public record if was sent via email; even if it was sent on a private computer using a private email address as long as it was sent using wireless provided by the district.

Perhaps the most ridiculous thing in the story were the comments by Rep. Marty Knollenberg, R-Troy, who co-sponsored the bill and who Zarko worked for when he passed away.

"Chet certainly was all about FOIA, transparency, full disclosure of how government spends its money and the activities of government, making sure the taxpayer is aware of what's happening to their tax dollars," Knollenberg told the P & A.

No, this was at attempt to smear the teacher’s union. I said it when I first started blogging about this back in 2007, and it is still true.

It’s also telling that the only other people the paper chose to quote was the righting think tank Mackinac Center, which is footing the legal bills, and the paper failed to mention it was a rightwing think tank.

The reporter did seek a comment from Howell Education Association President Jay McDowell, but he declined to comment because he said he didn't have enough time to analyze the bill.

This is a case that will affect every single school district and teacher’s union in the state, so a better quote to balance the story may have been a quote from the director of governmental affairs for the Michigan Education Association (MEA) or even the president of the MEA.

First order of business for House GOP is to shrink the middle class

It appears Michigan House Republicans are ignoring the wishes of new Republican Gov. Rick Snyder, and one of the first issues they plan to take up is the union busting so-called “Right to Work” law.

Rep. Marty Knollenberg, R-Troy, introduced House Bill 4054 on the first real session day of the 96th Legislature on Jan. 13 that would establish so-called “Right to Work” zones. Snyder said something so divisive is not part of his agenda.

The concept of RTW zones would resemble tax-advantaged enterprise zones, and in these zones, employees could decide individually whether they wanted to join or financially support a union. The concept is not new, and last session, former Sen. Nancy Cassis, R-Novi, pushed similar bills.

Republicans claim the law would do away with the requirement that workers must be in a union to be employed at a union shop. However, federal law already protects workers who don't want to join a union to get or keep their jobs, and the law gives workers the right to opt out of a union. But they must still pay union dues. RTW would give them the option of not paying dues while still enjoying the benefits of being in a union.

Unions in RTW states are required by law to defend non-dues-paying members involved in a dispute or charged with a grievance at work, but even those employees do not have to contribute dues. Making Michigan a right to work for less state does not give workers more rights, but instead it weakens unions and their ability to bargain for improved benefits and working conditions, which is the real intent of RTW. The union, by law, must represent all workers equally.

A better name for RTW is right to work for less. Workers in RTW states make an average of $5,900 less in annual salary, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. In addition, the rate of workplace deaths is 41 percent higher in RTW states, according to the bureau, and 20 percent more workers in RTW states go without health insurance.

Passing RTW has long been a Republican goal, and in the last four years they have really made a serious push. However, they have failed to pass a state wide right to work for less law, and a threatened ballot initiative has also failed to materialize. The RTW zone seems to be a scaled down assault on the middle and working class that has been ongoing for more than 50 years.

Get to the Peters townhall before the ‘tea baggers’ and ‘birthers’

There can be no doubt that the extremist rightwing Washington, D.C. lobbying groups behind the fake, Astroturf and misnamed “tea parties” are the same people scripting the disrupting of the townhall meetings of Democratic Congressman.

Republicans are promoting a pair of townhall meetings in Oakland County this week; one they plan to disrupt and one they don’t. The first one is actually tonight, Monday Aug. 31. The “health care townhall” is set for 7-9 p.m. at the Mott High School Performing Arts Center, 1151 Scott Lake Rd. in Waterford 48328 hosted by Freshman State Rep. Gail Haines, R-Waterford. Yes, you heard right; a state Representative.

Apparently, the meeting is for residents of Waterford, Lake Angelus and West Bloomfield Township, and photo ID is required. Can you imagine if a Democrat asked for an ID the fake outrage we would hear from the right? The ad also says, “Please no fliers, handouts or political signs on the school’s premises.”

Now, if they said none of those things that we saw at Democratic townhalls were not allowed inside I could understand, but they are not even allowed outside? Come on.

The first question I would like to ask Rep. Haines is what the heck is a state lawmaker doing hosting a townhall meeting about federal legislation? I know the answer, but I would like to hear her answer. The reason is that Republicans see defeating the President on health care reform is a way to get power back on both the state and federal level.

These farces are apparently taking place in Oakland County, and they bring in speakers who are against health care reform. Extreme right-wingers Reps. Tom McMillin, R-Rochester Hills, and Marty Knollenberg, R-Troy, recently held one of these farces, and Knollenberg said if there were seats left after all the residents of his district were seated others could attend. He reneged on that promise.

The other townhall meeting is actually being hosted by a U.S. Congressman: U.S. Rep. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township. The townhall is set for 6 p.m. Tuesday, Sep. 1 at West Bloomfield High School, 4925 Orchard Lake Rd. in West Bloomfield, 48323.

You need to get there at least a half hour early because the tea baggers have been pushing this hard, and you can bet they will disrupt it so they can get on the local news and on Faux “news.”