Newspaper Notice Says They’re Ready to Work--for Someone Else : Deputies Use Ad in Pay Impasse

Anticipating possible layoffs or a strike, the Assn. of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs ran a newspaper ad Friday saying that 1,100 peace officers “are expected to be available for temporary and permanent employment” in July, when their county contract runs out.

“The county has told us numerous things in negotiations that cause us concern,” said Robert J. MacLeod, general manager of the association. The association represents investigators for the district attorney’s office and sheriff’s deputies, investigators and sergeants.

“The reason the ad came about is there is a very strong likelihood we’d be involved in a major job action,” MacLeod said.

Negotiations at Impasse

Negotiations on a new labor contract between the county and the association reached an impasse May 13. The county had offered no pay raise and had proposed cutting some benefits, he said. The association had asked for a 12% raise for deputies, as well as other increases, including extra pay for helicopter pilots.

The county’s negotiator, Dick Thornberg, said Friday: “I hesitate to say too much right now when we’re still hopeful of getting back to the table. I hope they are not really serious at this point about going on strike. Normally we’d go into mediation and try to have it resolved . . . before they consider a strike.

“I asked them if they wanted a mediator, and their response was, ‘Not right now.’ There’s still some hope of getting back together in negotiations, and I don’t want to jeopardize that. We’re still hopeful we can get an agreement.”

Layoffs Held Unlikely

Thornberg said he did not think it is likely that association members will be laid off.

The pay range for sheriff’s deputies is from $2,109 to $2,983 a month. Negotiations began April 8, but the last session was May 4. The current one-year contract expires July 2.

According to MacLeod, the association’s membership ranks 17th among 24 agencies in the county in “in-pocket compensation,” which is total pay minus salary deductions for retirement and medical insurance. Most police agencies in the county pay 100% of their employees’ retirement and medical insurance.

The association’s ad reads in part: “This job bank is being developed as a benefit to the peace officers we represent and is being offered to employers without charge. To register positions you have available, please contact us.”

The ad “is something we’ve never had to do before,” MacLeod said. “We need to maintain income for our members.”

Number of Calls Fielded

He said by Friday afternoon the ad had already drawn “calls from a number of (police) agencies.” He said police recruiters have asked that their agencies not be identified.

The association has never called a strike, although its membership authorized negotiators in 1979 and 1981 to “initiate job action up to and including a strike.”

In contract talks last year, sheriff’s deputies on four separate occasions participated in small-scale sick-outs, he said.

MacLeod said county negotiators have maintained that they cannot afford to give deputies raises and that there are higher priorities for available funds.

“We don’t know if it’s true or if they are just yelling wolf,” MacLeod said.

Thornberg acknowledged that county “departments are being asked to submit budgets that are less than they had this year for next year.” Moreover, he said, it has been suggested that the sheriff’s two helicopters be grounded to save money.

“Given our current financial condition, it’s being looked at, along with everything else,” Thornberg said.