Week in Review : MAJOR EVENTS, IMAGES AND PEOPLE IN ORANGE COUNTY NEWS : COUNTY : Sheriff’s Deputies Return to Work After ‘Sick-Out’ Over Contract Talks
Orange County Sheriff’s Department patrol deputies returned to work after a one-day “sick-out” over stalled contract negotiations, but the action’s effectiveness remained unseen.
Robert J. MacLeod, general manager of the Assn. of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs, said the job action during the Thursday night shift was successful because it demonstrated support for deputies and because enough warning was provided the department to fully staff patrol cars.
MacLeod said 35 of 42 deputies called in sick, marking the “first time any action similar to this was deemed necessary” by the association, which represents 800 members.
Whether the job action is successful in bringing county negotiators back to the bargaining table was unresolved by the weekend.
“I think we haven’t changed our position,” Dick Thornburgh, negotiator for the county, said last Friday. “We still feel we have a more than reasonable offer out there. We’re not going to let them blackmail us into increasing our offer by withdrawing their services for a day.”
At issue is the county’s last offer of a 4.75% wage increase for deputies, identical to that being offered other county employees, MacLeod said. The association wants a percentage increase comparable with what other local police agencies are receiving, or about 6%, he said.
“There were no operational difficulties as far as units . . . or problems in the field” as a result of the job action, Sheriff’s Lt. Richard Olsen said.
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