December 2011
Chief of Labor Relations Corner

Chief of Labor Relations
Michael Eagleson

Apathy Prevails

On November 29th the ballots for the Specialized Peace Officer Unit were counted at the SEBA office. SEBA had mailed out 367 ballots and received back 130 ballots. This equates to only having 35.4% of the membership voting on the arbitrator’s award. This low voter turn-out on such an important matter is disquieting. This leaves me with the question of how do we plan to affect change when the overwhelming majority of the membership did not take the time to check a box and place the ballot in a pre-paid postage envelop? The results of the count are 68 to Reject and 62 to Accept.

SEBA is unsure if the County plans to implement their Last Best Final Offer that will result in a 14% loss in each SPO members pay check. If the County attempts to implement their Last Best Final Offer, SEBA will take measures to try to stop this from happening, however, we might be unsuccessful. In any event the County will be able to implement after the Evergreen Clause expires which will be July 1, 2012, just seven months away. Even though the turn-out was low, I would like to thank the SPO negotiation team who worked tirelessly over the past several months and brought to the membership three offers. I just wish the membership would have made the same effort.

If you have any questions about this article I can be reached at the SEBA office.