January 18, 2008

 To All Wayne County Deputies:

Thank you for signing enough interest cards for the Police Officers Association of Michigan (POAM) to file a petition on your future union affiliation. The Michigan Employment Relations Commission (MERC) will conduct an election very close to the expiration of your current contract.  State law only allows us to file our petition for election 90-150 days before your collective bargaining agreement expires. We will be filing our request on May 1, 2008.

Many of you are anxious to keep this process moving, and we have already accomplished our initial goal of obtaining a majority of  "interest cards" two months sooner than expected. However, please encourage employees to send in their card if they have not done so. POAM will be conducting a preliminary meeting with your group in March to get everyone up to speed. After the election details have been finalized by MERC in June, POAM will be hosting additional informational meetings at times and places convenient to all members.

In the meantime, we will be sending out letters to your home, communicating through our Law Enforcement Journal and www.poam.net. If you or any fellow employees are not receiving our correspondences, call the POAM office so we can update our mailing list. The website will act as a  "bulletin board", giving POAM the opportunity to quickly respond to the continuing misinformation being disseminated by people currently benefiting from the status quo.

The next few months are also an opportunity to call on colleagues in nearly every Wayne County police department and ask how POAM works for them. By the way, if you are in the neighborhood, stop by the POAM office and I will be glad to show you the operation and introduce you to our full-time staff of Attorneys, Research Analysts, Business Agents and support personnel.

I know that you are impatient for the chance to change the direction your union is heading. But for now, you are going to have to hang in there until MERC gives you the liberty of exercising your right to switch to Michigan's most influential police union.

Please call me personally if you have any immediate questions or concerns, or if you think POAM should be apprised of any situation. We appreciate your consideration and look forward to the privilege of serving you in the near future.

                                           Respectfully,

                                           Ed Jacques, Membership Director