‘Deadlocked.’ Negotiations lead to labor dispute between Lexington, jail officers’ union
“Tense” negotiations between Lexington officials and the union which represents officers at the local jail have resulted in both sides filing complaints and petitions with the state labor cabinet this week.
The Fraternal Order of Police Town Branch Lodge No. 83, which represents all full-time non-probationary officers and sergeants at the Lexington jail, alleged in a formal complaint that Mayor Linda Gorton and other city officials have tried to coerce the union into accepting a bad collective bargaining agreement.
Meanwhile, the city on Wednesday filed a petition for mediation with the labor cabinet. City officials said in their complaint that negotiations have been going on for eight months and as of Wednesday, the two sides “are deadlocked.”
The two sides are in agreement that massive turnover issues in the corrections department are causing potential safety problems at the jail. The Lexington-Fayette county Detention Center houses nearly 1,000 inmates but has fewer than 200 employees, according to documents filed by the city to the state labor cabinet. But the sides haven’t been able to reach an agreement to fix the issue.
The union alleged in its complaint with the labor cabinet that more than 90 employees have left the department of corrections in 2021. There are more than 100 job vacancies and officers are working up to 16 hours in a day to try to cover the empty roles, according to the union.
Union President Michael Harris said the labor shortages have left the remaining jail officers in unsafe situations. He said last weekend, some units in the detention center had to be left largely unguarded. With overtime included, some staffers have worked 16 hours in a day, Harris said.
“You see the strain” on officers, he said. “You see the fatigue. They’re not as alert and it creates an unsafe work environment.”
Union president: Mayor is trying to undermine, bypass union
Harris said he feels the union is proposing contract terms which are mutually beneficial, but they keep getting rejected.
“They have tried to turn the membership against me, to sway me to put them in a bad position,” Harris said. “And there’s no force that’s going to get me to do that.”
The union alleged in its complaint that city officials, including Gorton, have tried to speak directly with employees instead of addressing issues at the bargaining table. In its complaint, the union called this an attempt “to undermine the union’s effectiveness.”
In the complaint, the union accused Gorton of providing detailed negotiation information to union members who weren’t part of the union’s negotiation team. That information provided by Gorton included raises proposed by the city, according to the complaint.
“Gorton portrayed Lodge #83’s negotiation efforts as ‘uncooperative’ and implied that union leadership was impeding the ability for members to immediately earn higher wages,” the union said in its complaint. The complaint alleged that Gorton intended to “exert internal pressure through Lodge #83 members, based on misleading information, for union leadership to accept LFUCG’s proposals.”
The proposals from the city wouldn’t solve staffing issues if they were accepted, the union alleged.
The union further alleged that the mayor’s chief of staff, Tyler Scott, sent an email on Nov. 23 to jail supervisors which included confidential information regarding pay negotiations between the city and the union, according to the complaint. That email was printed by a recipient on a public printer at the jail. Several employees who are union members found the email.
“The effects of the unlawful disclosures created confusion and discontent among Lodge #83 members as the misinformation was disseminated throughout FCDC,” the union said in its complaint.
The union wants the state labor cabinet to order the city to cease and desist the alleged unfair labor practices and post notices in the jail that Lodge No. 83 is the exclusive representative for full-time, non-probationary officers. The union also wants the labor cabinet to direct the city to submit periodic reports proving the city is complying with the order.
The city denies any wrongdoing.
“We do not believe any of our actions were out of line,” said Susan Straub, a spokesperson for Gorton. “We look forward to defending these charges.”
City: Jail officer wages could’ve been raised immediately
The city doesn’t disagree that staffing issues need to be rectified quickly.
“Staffing shortages must be rectified to ensure adequate security and alleviate the need for overtime,” the city wrote in its petition.
The city also wrote in its petition that both sides agree increasing wages will help attract additional staffers at the jail.
But the city has taken issue with other requests made by the officers’ union in negotiations. The city alleges that the union proposed a complete rewrite of the old collective bargaining agreement which would’ve given the union “a host of management rights previously reserved for” the city.
The city rejected the union’s proposal earlier this year but offered to immediately implement a wage increase in an effort to resolve turnover issues, the city stated in its complaint. Earlier this month, the city offered another proposal with additional wage increases and bonus payments for employees which would have allegedly been worth a total of $1.5 million, according to the city’s petition.
The union hasn’t accepted any wage increase offers, according to the city’s filing.
While progress has been made in negotiations this year, the city still feels the two sides are “deadlocked on a handful of issues,” according to the petition for mediation. Those issues include disciplinary and grievance procedures for jail officers.
Harris told the Herald-Leader he was trying to get grievance and disciplinary processes similar to what the Lexington Police Department has for its officers. He said he felt that was reasonable because the jail officers are also sworn law enforcement officers.
The city said in its petition that it has offered to mediate with the union and the union has declined. The city now hopes the labor cabinet will intervene to help the parties reach an agreement.