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1986-22687-Minutes for Meeting October 30,1986 Recorded 11/5/19860 w 86-22687 VOL SodUE M- , DESCHUTES COUNTY BOARD OF COMMISSIONERS SPECIAL MEETING TO DISCUSS THE UPCOMING UNION ELECTIONS OCTOBER 30, 1986 Mike Maier stated that he received from the Employ;m�ntt ,Act ions Board a copy of petition for representation. He'-'0ta-fid � At the Commissioners are under a time line to decide what course of action to take in this matter. Bruce Bischof stated that it is his understanding that the county is prepared to enter into a consent election with the union as soon as possible for the purpose of deciding where the election will be conducted. He stated that his main concern is that in the notice of election, the union has sought to represent all county employees. The sheriff's department is under a separate rn bargaining unit. He stated that in his opinion the proposal by AFSCME to include the sheriff's personnel is inappropriate. Mr. ,.� Bischof stated that we need to raise this issue to the employment relations commission. The 911 department also has a bargaining c� agreement in effect. He stated that in his opinion the current Z notice is not correct. Mr. Bischof then stated that this can be handled by either calling the ERB and have them contact the union, or if it is AFSCME's intent to represent the sheriff's department and 911, then the commissioners need to decide of they c, want to potentially be involved in some type of litigation with the sheriff's association. He then stated that if the ERB and union aren't able to work out the sheriff's situation and 911, then the Commissioners' procedure would be to file an objection to the proposed unit, stating that we would agree to a consent Z election but not for sheriff's personnal or 911. Mr. Bischof stated that he tends to believe that AFSCME does not want to represent the sheriff's department. Chair Prante asked Mr. Bischof if a majority of the sheriff's employees would have to vote to change their representation. He stated that that is his understanding of the law. Commissioner Maudlin asked Mr. Bischof if AFSCME is counting on the sheriff's department and 911 to come up with the 30% of the eligible voters they need for an election. Mr. Bischof stated that the 30% has to come from the appropriate bargaining unit. He further stated that he recommends that the Commissioners find out if AFSCME intends to represent the sheriff's department and 911, which brings up another legal issue. He stated that if AFSCME does not intend to do that, then the notice of election is incorrect. Commissioner Maudlin asked Mr. Bischof if, under the rules, 911 employees are county employees. He stated that technically, the county has financial control over 911, but they do have a separate board. He stated that he isn't in a position to render an opinion on who is the employer. Commissioner Maudlin asked if AFSCME had requested a mail election. Mr. Bischoff stated that the union doesn't make that distinction. He SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 30, 1986 PAGE 1 VOL stated that it is an administrative decision made by the ERB, but that the county can make a request for an on-site election. Commissioner Tuttle asked what the procedure would be if these questions can be cleared up by mid -week next week. Mr. Bischof hopes to get a consent election agreement signed as soon as possible. He stated that he estimates it would be approximately 45 days until the election, and hopefully have the consent signed within the next 10 days. Chair Prante asked if there is a procedure for determining eligibility and verification of voters. Bruce Bischof stated that what employers do is, once the eligible departments are determined, they take copies of payroll signatures and forward them to the ERB who verifies that the 30% has come from the valid bargaining unit. He also stated that this is an administrative decision by the ERB; they do not have to verify signatures. He further stated that this is done before the consent is signed. Mr. Bischof stated that the employers will make a list of who they believe is eligible and forward that to union who looks at it further; this is worked out by oral agreement. He stated that the ERB can challenge any vote. He further stated that he doesn't envision any problems with this procedure. Mike Maier asked if the union would consider part-time employees as eligible. Mr. Bischof stated that they would consider all employees as eligible. He also stated that whatever votes were challenged would be put aside and counted only if there was no clear majority at which time a hearing would be held to determine the eligibility of each challenged vote. Dick Maudlin asked if the 30% necessary for an election need to come from the 180 that are determined eligible. Mr. Bischof replied that technically they do. Mike Maier asked what would happen to the 180 of we go through and take all the part-time employees which would make the proposed unit 250; would the 30% have to come from the 250. Mr. Bischof stated that the 250 figure would have to be used. He further stated that this issue needs to be cleared up before the vote. Rick Isham asked if there was an opportunity, by signing a consent election agreement or during this 14 -day period, where other organizations who might wish to represent the county might also participate in the election. Mr. Bischof replied that this is possible during this certain period of time, and that they need 10% to be considered. Chair Prante asked if other organizations do come in with their 10t, the employees choose among those available, and is representation determined by a majority of one or a majority for organization. Mr. Bischof replied that one union must win by over 50% of the vote. SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 30, 1986 PAGE 2 VUR.. 80a3E 729 Dick Maudlin stated that he is concerned with the 911 situation and the temporary employee situation. He stated that he would like to get those issues cleared up as soon as possible and take it from there. Chair Prante concurred. Chair Prante stated that she believes the first thing to do is establish eligibility and have them verified. Commissioner Tuttle stated that he believes we know what needs to be done and we should do these things as soon as possible and try for a mid-December election. Rick Isham asked Mr. Bischof if it would be worthwhile for us to collect signatures and have the ERB verify them. Mr. Bischof stated that he has never seen the ERB disallow petitions based on a large amount of wrong signatures. Rick Isham stated that it will not be difficult to put together a list, but that it would be difficult to go to every County site and verify signatures. Chair Prante and Commissioner Maudlin are in favor of an on-site election. Commissioner Tuttle feels that a mail -in election would be more appropriate. Commissioner Tuttle asked what the role of the Commissioners will be in providing any public information on the election. Commissioner Maudlin stated that he would like to put out a fact sheet. Chair Prante agreed with this. Commissioner Maudlin stated that we should provide information pertaining to Deschutes County only and give only the facts on what the County is doing now. There was some discussion on how much information should be given to the employees. It was discussed whether the employees would feel intimidated by comparisons of other union and non-union counties, and projections of would could happen in Deschutes County. Mr. Bischof related what some of his experiences have been on this issue. Chair Prante stated that the employees have the option to organize by themselves for either side of the issue and that has nothing to do with the Commissioners. Mr. Bischof stated that this is correct. Mr. Bischof stated that in labor law the union is allowed to make promises and it is not an unfair labor practice, but if the employer comes out with promises it is an unfair labor practice. Commissioner Maudlin stated that he certainly doesn't want to use any intimidation tactics, but 'he personally will examine SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 30, 1986 PAGE 3 VOL . SOPIGE 710 materials and promises made. Chair Prante believes that factual information should be available so that people know what they are getting. Commissioner Tuttle agrees with this, but he wants to make sure that the Board members sign off on all materials before it is presented. Commissioner Maudlin believes we should consent to an election and get on with it. Commissioner Tuttle asked what happens with the salary study done for non-exempt employees, which hasn't been implemented because of the union issue; merit increase are in abeyance. Mr. Bischof stated that the law says that once an employer has knowledge that a union is organizing, the employer cannot not make any changes that may affect the outcome of the organization or election. He stated that if the employer has had a traditional means of handling matters, that has to be continued. There was some discussion as to how to handle merit increases for those employees whose increase was frozen pending implementation of the salary study. Bruce Bischof believes that the Commissioners should do nothing at this time pending the election. Mr. Bischof stated that information will be given to supervisors outlining what they can and can not do in regard to the election. The meeting was adjourned. DESCHUTES COUNTY BO D OF COMMISSIONERS STOW PRANTE, Chair LAURENCE '1. TUTTLE, Commissioner D MAUDLIN, ommissioner BOCC:prt 86-102 SPECIAL MEETING MINUTES OCTOBER 30, 1986 PAGE 4