Board Extends Contracts of 2 County Labor Groups

The Board of Supervisors this week agreed to extend through July 1998 the contracts of two employee associations.

The Orange County Law Enforcement Managers Assn. represents captains and lieutenants in the Sheriff’s Department, and the Orange County Attorneys Assn. represents county lawyers and prosecutors.

The two bargaining groups have a total of about 420 members.

Under agreements worked out with the Human Resources Department, either the county or the associations can request new negotiations next year.

The associations can also reopen negotiations if another employee group receives pay increases.

The two groups are relatively small compared with the Orange County Employees Assn., which represents 11,000 employees.

Because of the county’s bankruptcy, officials have said they doubt that employees will receive significant pay increases in the near future.

The county officially emerged from bankruptcy on Wednesday, but it will spend the next 30 years repaying nearly $900 million in recovery bonds, severely restricting its financial flexibility.