Answers To Survey Questions

Members,

We recently sent a survey to members asking if you support a dues increase and asked

for your feedback. I appreciate all who participated in the survey and left comments. I

want to attempt to answer a couple of the questions we received: Why do we need a

Union? What does our money go towards? Why do we need an increase in dues?

I took the paragraph that follows from US Department of Labor website since I think

they explain it better than me and will explain how this relates to you:

“A labor union is group of two or more employees who join together to advance

common interest such as wages, benefits, schedules and other employment terms and

conditions. Unions are membership-driven, democratic organizations governed by laws

that require financial transparency and integrity, fair elections and other democratic

standards, and fair representation of all workers. Joining together - or ‘acting

collectively’ - workers represented by unions have a powerful voice that strengthens

their ability to negotiate with their employer about their concerns. Higher wages, health

insurance, vacation days, paid sick leave and retirement benefits are a few examples of

what workers achieve through their unions. Workers also pursue other enhancements -

such as flexible scheduling, protections against harassment and safer working

conditions - that improve the quality of jobs and workers; well-being.”

Now I want to explain to members how this affects all of you. Last year a contract

negotiation committee negotiated a new three year contract for our membership. They

worked with our lawyers to negotiate a contract mutually agreed upon by the County

and our Union for wages, benefits, working conditions and various other benefits. When

I first started, the committee that negotiated a contract did a five year contract and not a

three year contract. The wage increase for a top step deputy was only about a $1

increase, almost equivalent to a COLA increase. It is in the best interest of members to

be able to negotiate these shorter contracts so we can push for higher wages if inflation

is high or other issues that may need to be addressed arise. This comes at a cost. The

committee for our side, MCCDA, consists of deputies and sergeants from our

membership which your Union dollars help pay for. The last committee met for seven to

eight months. The County covers a small part of wages but the bulk of costs for wages

of attorneys, deputies and Board members on the committee come from your Union

dues. When we have a shorter time frame between contracts, it benefits you but also

costs more. For example, you received an 18-28% increase plus a 5% COLA coming in

July on wages. This is in addition to cash retention bonuses. When the next committee

is formed the wages for all those people fighting for us will be higher, even if worth the

cost.

Things this committee negotiated for members that are a huge benefit that affect you

directly: Hourly pay, pay incentives, TX’s, medical coverage, comp time, sick leave,

vacation, if you can be motted on your Friday, workers comp benefits, disciplinary

rights, and an array of other rights under this contract.

The Board ensures the County holds up their part of the bargaining agreement. We

have elections every year when different Union Board positions come up. You have six

members on your Board. These positions are President, Executive Vice President, East

VP, West VP, Treasurer and Information Officer. The job duties of your Board and what

year these positions come up for election are laid out in our constitution. Within the

contract there can be things each side interpret differently. We have a labor law attorney

that helps us fight for our side to make good arguments and also helps us review policy

coming down from the County. The lawyers also help train our Stewards so they’re

informed to answer questions. In order to have a strong Union there are things that

need to be reviewed and updated continually. Two things that need attention are our by-

laws and constitution. These are very important because they set the structure under

which the Union operates. They lay out duties of the Board, elections and a whole host

of things we need to operate. Our current constitution hasn’t been reviewed since 2017.

This should be a living document that continually evolves as things change or issues

come up which often time cost the membership time and money. We recently sent out a

recruitment for the constitution committee and this generally has 5-7 members which

the wages are paid by the Union.

The union also has a responsibility to represent you when Internal Affairs comes

knocking, which seems to be more frequent now. With high definition cameras at

MCDC, cameras at Inverness, ever changing and more restrictive Oregon laws, and

command staff afraid of any sort of liability, members are being sent to IA at the drop of

a hat now. This requires the board to be available to ensure a member has due process

is not violated, and in some cases, involve attorneys to help represent members in more

complex or high stakes cases. Even the most policy abiding members can be thrown

into IA’s cross-hair when somebody decides to file a frivolous complaint.

At times the board can be called in at any odd hour of the day. There was recently a

death in custody requiring immediate response from a board member in the middle of

the night to represent members and ensure all of the steps are taken to take care of our

membership. Often command staff gets so caught up in liability prevention and checking

boxes, proper representation and the human element are left out. The Board can also

be urgently called upon when detectives come knocking, to ensure members rights are

preserved, and if necessary, immediately pulling in legal consultations.

While the finances are not at a point where we can’t pay the bills and “keep the lights

on”, a time will come quickly when this will be the case if we do not act with some

urgency. The consistent annual losses the Union is taking are not sustainable. Unlike

command staff, who saw and were warned of a staffing crisis coming, we are acting

early to correct the issue we see coming and are trying to warn membership about (in

this case finances). We are being proactive to address this problem and work towards a

long term and sustainable solution.

I hope this helps inform you of what your Union dollars are going toward and why I am

asking for you to vote for the increase. I have tried to be transparent with all of you and

encourage all of you to look at the blog post “Union Transparency” where we explain

other costs and attached an excel spreadsheet to show the finances. When I was a new

deputy I didn’t know much about the Union and if it was important. This increase is

especially geared toward the members who have a long career ahead. The board

wants to ensure you are left with a financially stable and strong Union for the many

years ahead.

Respectfully,

Nicole