County Employee Slowdowns Grow

Orange County courts were clogged Thursday by an expanded sheriff’s union work slowdown, and some of the county’s landfills, maintenance garages and street repair equipment were being run largely by supervisors because of a sickout by another union.

The three-day-old slowdown by members of the Assn. of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs, which is fighting the county for higher wages, grew Thursday when about 160 deputies working in the main jail in Santa Ana also began following procedures to the letter.

On Monday and Tuesday, the 48 deputies responsible for transporting prisoners from jail facilities to the county’s courthouses were participating in the same action.

Court administrators reported prisoners arriving at the courthouses as late as 12:25 p.m. Thursday, at least three hours later than normal and about half an hour to an hour later than the previous day.

In one courtroom Thursday morning, a frustrated judge ordered that a defendant in a murder case, Martin James Kipp, be held overnight in the courthouse so that he would be available at 9 a.m. today. Superior Court Judge Donald A. McCartin even offered to pay $20 from his own pocket for the defendant’s meals.

By the end of the day, however, the judge had rescinded the order after the Sheriff’s Department and the marshal’s office guaranteed that the prisoner would be in court on time today. Sheriff’s Lt. Richard J. Olson said some special accommodations would be made.

“I’m not interfering with their negotiations, but I’m not going to sit here and wait,” McCartin said. “This is stupid. . . . They’re not going to slow me down.”

In another job action against the county, at least 152 members of the Service Employees International Union participated in a sickout Thursday that backed up work at the county’s central garage, some of its public works yards and at least one landfill, county and union officials said.

The sickout originally was targeted for just one equipment yard and the central garage, said Fred Lowe, the union’s director in Orange County. But other members joined the sickout on their own.

“People got anxious,” he said. “There’s just a lot of frustration.”

The union represents about 565 county equipment operators, automobile mechanics and landfill technicians. John Sibley, county director of community relations, said 152 union workers called in sick Thursday, but Lowe said the number was about 250.

Lowe said that the workers will return to their jobs today but that an immediate work slowdown is planned.

Sibley said workers who called in sick Thursday would not be penalized, but employees were notified that in the future any worker who claims an illness will have to submit a doctor’s verification.

At the civic center garage, where county vehicles such as patrol cars are repaired and serviced, work slowed to a crawl, county officials said.

Back Not Serious Yet

There were about 30 vehicles in the garage Thursday, and there were very few repairs, said Robert Stechmann, manager of the General Services Administration transportation division.

Although the the backup is not yet serious, he said, if it continues the county might consider contracting some of the work to a private garage.

Union officials also said there were no maintenance crews to open or clean restrooms at some south county beaches.

The county’s $1.7-billion budget, which the Board of Supervisors is scheduled to adopt next week, is so tight that it would cut 100 county positions and cause up to 45 employees to be laid off, County Administrative Officer Larry Parrish has said. Until this week, no salary increases had been offered in talks with eight unions.

But the county has now offered 2% pay increases for the current fiscal year to three unions, including the sheriff’s deputies. All have rejected the proposal.

The deputies were offered a 12.5% pay increase over three years, but only about 2% in the first year. The union asked for 16% over three years, and more than 2% in the first year. The union also wants higher pay for specialty jobs, such as helicopter pilots.

Negotiations at Impasse

Roger R. Stanton, chairman of the Board of Supervisors, has declined for two days to return phone calls to his office. The eight unions now negotiating with the county represent about 12,000 of the county’s 14,000 employees. In talks with four of those unions, negotiations have reached an impasse, Sibley said.

In the courts, Marshal James C. Byham said the slowdown was causing his staff to chalk up a lot of overtime because some inmate buses did not leave the courts Wednesday night until after 9 p.m., more than three hours behind schedule. The marshals are responsible for handling prisoners in the courthouse until they are turned over to the sheriff’s deputies for transportation to the jails.

One way the sheriff’s deputies have slowed down the transportation process is by conducting more inmate searches than normal. Usually, sheriffs use their discretion to determine when there is a safety risk.

In Violation of Order

Also, Olson said, deputies conducting roll calls in the jail are using full names--first, middle and last--and checking wrist identification bracelets, rather than just listing last names as they normally do.

The county notified a federal judge this week that the slowdown has apparently placed it in violation of his order that prisoners be allowed eight hours of sleep before a court appearance. To meet that requirement, Olson said, the buses must be back to the jails by 9 p.m.

But Wednesday, 46 prisoners arrived at the jail after 9 p.m., and nine of those were scheduled for court appearances Thursday, Olson said. On Tuesday, six prisoners were not back in jail until after 9 p.m., and two of them had court appearances Wednesday.

Deputy County Counsel Terry C. Andrus said the county is considering legal action to stop the slowdown. “Legal things are always being considered, but it’s a day-to-day thing,” Andrus said.

Sibley added: “It’s pretty close. . . . Our attorneys are working on things right now.”