MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Commissioners in Monongalia County will meet soon with representatives from the United Mine Workers of America (UMWA), and another election for the Region 4 representative to the West Virginia First Foundation will be held later this month.

UMWA District 31 Vice President Mike Payton told commissioners during their regular meeting the vote within the Monongalia County Assessor’s Office was free and fair, with more than 90 percent approving union representation.

Union members asked the commission to endorse the vote in the assessor’s office, but they declined and issued a statement in May that said in part, “It is the opinion of this commission that employees in the Monongalia County Assessor’s Office have the ability to choose for themselves to support a union, but we do not agree that having an intervening third party to represent the employees is in the best interest of our employees, nor would it be beneficial for the governance of Monongalia County.”

“There are some that say it’s not legal, and they are hiding behind the legal aspect of it,” Payton said. “In the state of West Virginia, it is permissible. Huntington has municipalities that are in collective bargaining agreements in the union.”

Commission President Sean Sikora agreed to schedule a work session with the union at the request of Payton.

“You certainly have the right to request a work session with the commission, and rather than going back and forth, I think we ought to have that,” Sikora said.

Payton also told the commission he believed there would be future votes within other county departments without elaborating on who that might be.

“We will be back in front of you multiple times for the rest of the Mon County Courthouse who have expressed interest that they want to be represented by the United Mine Workers of America,” Payton said.

The Region 4 representative to the West Virginia First Foundation, the organization to distribute nearly $1 billion in opioid settlement money, Jon Dower, was elected to a one-year term that will expire in the coming weeks. This will be the third election Dower has gone through; the first he lost to Jonathan Board, the eventual pick to lead the foundation; the second he was elected to represent Region 4 after the appointment of Board; and this election would be his third selection process.

“Our representative drew the short straw, and his appointment was only one year; they were one, two, or three years,” Bloom said. “So, we will be voting again in our region either to reappoint for Mr. Dower or to come up with another individual.”

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