Negotiations Continue on County Offer to Deputies

In their longest labor talks in more than two months, Orange County negotiators continued to meet with the sheriff’s deputies union late Wednesday to discuss an 11th-hour wage offer that narrowly averted a planned walkout.

Since Tuesday night, when the county called with a new offer, the two sides have met for more than 16 hours, parting only from 3 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. Wednesday.

During short breaks, union officials said talks could either break down or produce an agreement. Either way, however, union officials said they will still have to present the latest offer to their members before they order another job action.

‘Plodding Along’

“We’ve got some very complicated issues, and everybody is very tired,” Robert MacLeod, general manager of the Assn. of Orange County Deputy Sheriffs, said Wednesday night. “We’ve been plodding along, but these kinds of things can go good or bad real quick. . . . There’s no way to tell.”

The deputies’ union had been scheduled to announce a one-day walkout at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The union had already put out the word during the afternoon that the 1,100 deputies guarding the jails and patrolling the county’s unincorporated areas should not to report to work Wednesday, beginning with the morning shift.

Barely an hour before deadline for the announcement, county negotiators interrupted those plans.

County officials have continued to refuse comment on the talks. And MacLeod said the union has agreed not to reveal details of the latest offer.

If the talks should end without agreement, MacLeod said, the union will move as quickly as possible to position itself for another job action. The deputies are getting anxious to conduct a major job action, MacLeod said, and have complained about the union stalling on its plans.

The deputies have been threatening to walk off their jobs since they ended an eight-day work slowdown Aug. 27 that was aimed at clogging the county’s criminal court system. Some courts were eventually operating up to five hours behind schedule.

Wednesday’s meeting represented the third time the two sides have met since the work slowdown. Following the two previous meetings, deputies angrily rejected county wage offers and became increasingly adamant about conducting another job action.

Combined Job Actions

For the last two months, the deputies have also been meeting with five other county unions to share notes on their talks and discuss the possibility of combined job actions. The other unions include firefighters, marshals, welfare clerks, heavy machinery crews, mechanics and landfill operators.

Eight unions, representing 12,000 of the county’s 14,000 employees, have been working without contracts since at least July.

The county has been insisting that its 1987-88 budget is one of its tightest ever. County Administrative Officer Larry Parrish said the budget, passed by the Board of Supervisors in August, will bring up to 30 layoffs.

So for months, the county’s position has been that no employees would get raises this year. Then, after the simmering unions began to boil, county negotiators began putting up to a 2.5% increase on the bargaining table.

But the unions said that was not enough. They are convinced that the county has the ability to pay higher salaries.

Three County Offers

Deputies now earn $2,200 to $2,983 per month.

Before Wednesday, the county had made three offers. Two would last 27 months and the third a year. Under the one-year plan, the county offered a 2.5% raise in April, while the union demanded 6% retroactive to July.

The most significant differences between the county and the deputies over the two long-term contracts involves the first year.

The union wants 4.25% retroactive to July, with increases of 6% in July, 2% in January, 1989, and 4.5% in July, 1989. Members also want the union to be able to buy its own medical benefits plan, possibly eliminating a $90 monthly payment required of deputies under the county’s plan.

One county plan includes a $1,000 lump-sum payment in January, with increases of 6% in September, 1988, 3.8% in January, 1989, and 3.7% in July, 1989. Under this plan the county would keep control of the medical plan.

The other county plan includes raises of 3.5% in April, 3% in July, 3% in January, 1989, and 3% in July, 1989. The deputies’ union would control the medical plan under this offer.