County Firefighters Hint at Job Actions

The Board of Supervisors is expected to approve a three-year wage agreement with Orange County sheriff’s deputies today, while county firefighters hint at possible job actions as contract negotiations crawl toward their ninth month.

“We’re angry and frustrated,” said Dallas Jones, president of the Orange County Firefighters Assn. “I think we’re just a few weeks away from either reaching an agreement or taking some other action. Anything is possible at this point.”

Jones said the 450-member association has been working without a contract since July but declined to disclose details about the union’s requests. An official familiar with the discussions, however, said the firefighters were asking for a 12% wage increase over three years.

County officials were offering a 6% increase over the same period of time, the official said.

The two sides have not met since Feb. 17. The next negotiating session has been scheduled for Monday.

Earlier this month, two units of sheriff’s deputies staged separate sickouts in protest of their protracted contract dispute.

Today, supervisors are expected to approve a three-year work agreement, providing deputies with 3.5% raises in each of the last two years. Deputies tentatively approved the contract in a vote last week.

Jones said he hoped that the agreement with the deputies would move officials closer to a deal with the firefighters.