The sides seem miles apart in negotiations.
On one side are the Wayne County Sheriff’s Road Patrol Deputies, Sergeants and Criminal Investigator divisions. They have been working under and without a new contract since 2015. After a tumultuous break with the Law Enforcement Union Council 82 and an eventual marriage with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, meetings and talks have come to a stalemate. They are now being represented by Union negotiator Chris Toole. Chris agrees the main issue is money and bringing the Wayne County deputies into parity with both surrounding counties and Village and Town police forces within the County. Charts show wage differences anywhere from $5 per hour, comparing Wayne County deputies to other agencies.
On the other side is the County, represented by chief negotiator John F. Corcoran, the Chief Negotiator representing Wayne County for all Law Enforcement and other bargaining units. He is a lawyer with Hancock Estabrook, LLP out of Syracuse, specializing in contract negotiations.
Corcoran said the deputies union presented wage demands that were to totally unacceptable and outrageous at their first meeting. A second meeting was met with more reasonable terms by the union, but still far short of what the County and Corcoran were willing to meet. At that point the County filed an “Impass” and asked for a neutral mediator to come in and negotiate wage and schedule issues.
Murray Solomon was appointed as the mediator in the contract negotiations and will hear both the union and county at a bargaining session planned for December 21st.
Both sides decided not to negotiate the issue in the media and public, but in the real world of social media – posts and letters abound Somewhere in the middle is Wayne County Sheriff, Barry Virts.
The main issue comes down to money. For decades Wayne County has been known as fertile ground for outside police agencies to pick off deputies with offers of much higher pay and benefits.
Sheriff Virts knows first hand the frustration of training, then losing officers. “The county provides the pay and benefits. As Sheriff, I determine the scope of the deputies tasks, duties and functions. I continue to ask the county to pay the deputies equitably and with parity with the other police departments in the County and surrounding Sheriff’s Offices. Deputies are working way too many extended shifts beyond 12 hours which is an officer safety issue and public safety concern.
I personally cannot blame the deputies for leaving. Our pay and benefits are not equitable to surrounding Sheriff’s Offices, and sadly not even in line with the Wayne County police departments. Our deputy sheriffs go through a rigid selection process, get hired and are trained by this office only to transfer as proven successfully qualified candidates to area police departments that have had great success with the deputy sheriffs Wayne County taxpayers have funded to be trained.
From 2010 to date, this Sheriff’s Office has spent $563,758 to train deputieswho are no longer employed by this office. I know the County Board of Supervisors and the people of Wayne County appreciate the great work and professionalism of the deputy sheriffs. My hope is the County Board of Supervisors and the Teamsters can come to an equitable settlement so this Sheriff’s Office will stop being a training ground for other police departments in this County and the Rochester area.”
According to the Sheriff’s Office, 2017 Road Patrol overtime hours worked totaled 12,020. The overtime budget was $305,000 and the year-end total equaled $414,770.
Another person in the firing line between police and taxpayers is County Administrator, Rick House. Rick worked his way up through the ranks in law enforcement for 35 years to become Wayne County Under Sheriff under Sheriff Virts, before accepting the position as County Administrator.
Now, as the top, non-elected official in the County, House knows not only the myriad safety concerns and issues, the uptick in drug and violence police encounter, but the fiduciary responsibilities to taxpayers. “What, in fairness, can the County afford? Yes, this is basically about wages and looking for parity. I once had to fill those shifts.”
Figures also show Wayne
County has a population of approximately 90,798. According to the U.S. census bureau, the population of Wayne County is declining slightly, at 0.5% per year on average. The county’s unemployment rate for 2016 (4.9%) was 0.1 percentage point higher than the State of New York average for 2016 (4.8%).
House pointed out that as a rural county, it is not just law enforcement that is in this position. He stated that Wayne County has a huge workforce, including nurses, doctors, engineers that face the same decision on whether to leave for what they consider better opportunities. He also pointed out that the County has many dedicated people in law enforcement and other careers who choose to stay here because this is their home. “Not everybody is looking to jump the fence.” Still, he realizes that some of the departure for money is “millennium” in nature, those looking for a home life with fewer nights, weekends and holidays to deal with.
Sodus Town Supervisor/County Board of Supervisors Chairman, Steve LeRoy said he was disappointed by the tone the deputies’ union representative has taken publicly. “He has made bold statements that we don’t care about the deputies, that we should be ashamed of ourselves, support the deputies and have more respect for them. That is not true. Many of those guys are our friends and neighbors. That we don’t care for them is just plain dirty. This thing (negotiations) has become far more ugly than it needs to be.”
There is no doubt Wayne County is on the precipice of financial decisions. For the past five years the County has been tapping their fund balance in order to keep the rising tax rates within reason and the State’s mandated 2% tax rate increase.
At last Tuesday (12/4) evening’s budget hearing, several town supervisors pulled an eleventh hour objection at the 2019 tax increase (see budget explanation on Page A3), arguing that the Board should have taken more out of reserves to balance the budget with no increase for taxpayers.
Chairman LeRoy was upset that this group came forward only at the budget hearing, instead of during the budget process where the fund balance amount was decided. “Our fund balance is healthy now. We are earning a good amount of interest. There are other counties that are in trouble with their fund balance. You never know what mandates the State has coming down.” He pointed to the $1.4 million increase last year in college tuition reimbursement to County students attending state,county colleges.
Still another point of negotiation that can be tied to salaries is the shift structure deputies work. Under the old contract 4/3, where deputies work 10 hour days for 4 days, then get three day off.
This system was negotiated by the deputies in the early 2000s before Sheriff Virts took office. The shift change meant the loss of 2-3 deputies every shift. Not only that, Road Patrol deputies are allowed to drive their cars to and from work. This leads to the $40,000 to $50,000 county police cars often sitting three days in a deputy’s driveway The 4/3 contract negotiation also led to a void where some deputies worked 12-15 hours of overtime to plug the shift. This increased in some cases to where deputies were working 16-17 hours on a shift on follow-ups when an earlier arrest was made.
Overtime hours and payroll skyrocketed It has also become an officer safety issue according to Sheriff Virts. “A deputy shouldn’t be working beyond 12 hours,” said the Sheriff.
A shift change could eliminate much of the overtime expenses. Of course, the deputies now prefer the current scheduling that gives them three days off.
Almost all police departments (except Wayne and Yates County) in the area now work a 4/2 shift, where deputies work an 8 1/2 hour day, with two days off. This would result in more deputies on the road during every shift and cut the overtime hours and costs substantially. Union representative Chris Toole said they (the deputies) are willing to discuss a 4/2 schedule in the negotiations.
Ironically, both Toole and Corcoran said that negotiations are their jobs and neither try and take it personally. Unfortunately for the 50 deputies, County officials and taxpayers, it has become personal.