Union Transparency

Members,

When I was elected as your President I was told that I might want to take a look at the finances by the exiting Board. I sat down with your Treasurer, Sergeant Fernley, and we went over the expenses. Fernley had noticed we had a financial shortfall in 2022 and attempted to address it with Board but for whatever reason it didn’t get brought to the attention of the members. It was clear we had a financial shortfall that needed to be addressed. We want to be clear before we even considered asking to increase dues we sat down and cut any expense that would help. We have been going over all this since I was elected and I know some of you might feel like you were blindsided by the increase. I apologize if the message was rolled out poorly. I want to make sure you all are aware that this is meant to be a conversation and this matter will not be put to a vote until after the June meeting.

This is a conversation that should have been had years ago. E-Boards over the past 15 years should have seen the scales tipping where expenses were going to exceed income. The only thing your current Board can do is address the problems in front of this Board and address them accordingly. We are doing our due diligence by bringing this issue to all of you. I want to share with all of you the things we looked at to come to the numbers we proposed.

*There has been 40.2% cumulative inflation since 2008. Something that was $1 in 2008, is now $1.40. Since 2009, MCCDA members have seen a wage increase at top step of 50.9%.

*% per paycheck of top step deputy with no OT or incentives:

-2009 (Last dues increase) 1.4349%

-2022 June 30th 1.1012%

-2023 June 30th .9986%

-2023 Without dues increase July 1st 2023 .9511%

-2023 With dues increase July 1st 2023 1.4946%

* A strong union, financially able to defend staff from dangerous policies and also negotiate a contract, was able to get 10.7% more than the cumulative cost of living increase over the last 15 years.

*Top Deputy Wages 2008 – $30.49

*Top Deputy Wages 2023 (July 1st) – $46.00

*Other Agencies current dues

Portland Police – 2% of top step officer, approximately $190 per month Washington County - $90 per month Clackamas County – 1% Base Pay ~ $95 per month Multnomah County Road – Just voted in $100 per month starting July 1st

*MCCDA is currently running at a $70,000 yearly deficit. I have provided a spreadsheet to better explain the financial shortfall

*The Picnic – voted on every year, last year was $33,000, or $3.57 per paycheck.

I want to answer a few questions that have come up:

1.) Have we considered finding different lawyers at a cheaper rate to represent us?

We cannot refuse to represent members, and our legal team is one of the few things that stops command from blatantly violating a contract. We have discounts on both our workplace legal and criminal defense attorneys. I have worked in the Court Services Unit for almost five years. There is a difference in attorneys just like there are differences in doctors. I can tell you the lawyers we have retained to help represent us are some of the best in the State. Just in the few months I have been on the Board the amount of issues we have used our attorneys for is invaluable.

2.) Why do we have a Union office?

We are now utilizing the office to hold meetings and already have utilized it for a meeting. There are files and important documents stored there which I would worry about being stolen if they were just stored in a storage unit and would not be easily accessed if needed.

3.) The Union hasn’t listened in the past or taken my concerns seriously.

I cannot answer for previous Boards but I can tell you I do listen to your concerns and all of us are doing the very best we can to try and change the culture of how the Board is viewed. Issues that we can push or grieve, we will. I want to make sure that our new stewards will be trained and if they want to step into positions on the Board that it will be an easy transition. I know all of us on your current Board have done our best to listen and protect our members.

4.) Why is the Board not voluntary? Why do you get paid?

All of us on the Board are working very hard for our membership. None of us are doing this for the money but the amount of time and energy we’re putting in cannot be voluntary. A few things we have done in the last few months: wrote rebuttals for multiple IA’s, worked with command staff to address the hiring/recruiting issue, met with the County Chair and multiple commissioners (advocate for not shutting down dorms), labor management meeting, addressed books for financial stability, answered hundreds of phone calls and emails, recruited new deputies, monthly meeting with command staff, updated website, gave tour to inspector, consulted with multiple attorneys for various issues, board meeting, met multiple times with the DA’s office. We are on call 24/7 and frequently take calls after hours. This stipend goes for the many hours of work we as the board put in to work for you.

Spreadsheet PDF.pdf

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