HomeMy WebLinkAboutDoc 718 - DA Bargaining AgrmtDeschutes County Board of Commissioners
1300 NW Wall St., Suite 200, Bend, OR 97701-1960
(541) 388-6570 - Fax (541) 385-3202 - www.deschutes.org
AGENDA REQUEST & STAFF REPORT
For Board Business Meeting of December 8, 2010
Please see directions for completing this document on the next page.
DATE: December 1, 2010
FROM: Dave Kanner Administrator ext. 6565
TITLE OF AGENDA ITEM:
Public Comment and consideration of approval of Document No. 2010-718, a Collective Bargaining
Agreement between Deschutes County and Deschutes County District Attorney's Association, effective
through June 30, 2015.
PUBLIC HEARING ON THIS DATE? Yes.
BACKGROUND AND POLICY IMPLICATIONS:
Earlier this year, deputy district attorneys (DDAs) in the Deschutes County District Attorney's Office
petitioned the Employment Relations Board for an election to certify a new bargaining unit to represent
the DDAs. The election was held, the union formation was approved by a vote of 10-5 and at the end
of September, the ERB certified the new bargaining unit.
Following certification, the County, as required by ORS 243, negotiated in good faith with
representatives of the new union on a collective bargaining agreement, which has since been ratified by
the union. Because DDAs are strike -prohibited under Oregon law, the County faced a stark choice
between negotiating an agreement with the new union that we could seek to make as acceptable as
possible, or having an agreement imposed on us by an unelected arbitrator, possibly from out-of-state,
and likely unacceptable to both the County and the DA.
It quickly became clear in these negotiations that the one and only issue that mattered to the union was
a "just cause" provision; that is, contractual language spelling out the circumstances under which
deputy DAs can be removed from their jobs. Given the likelihood that a contract imposed on us by an
arbitrator would contain onerous and unfavorable "just cause" language, we instead worked with the
union to create "just cause" language that would be acceptable to all concerned.
The resulting contract consists mostly of language written and/or proposed by the County, including the
articles on Discipline and Discharge and Grievance Procedure. It is an unusual contract in that it
contains no guaranteed pay increases, no guaranteed benefit levels (in fact, the contract devotes only
three sentences to wages, compensation and benefits), no guaranteed paid time off and no seniority
rights; in fact, almost none of the things one normally sees in a public employee union contract. The
contract does, however, contain a lengthy and detailed set of management rights.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
The contract has no direct fiscal impacts, as it contains no guaranteed pay or benefit levels other than
those of non -represented management employees.