Pinellas deputies have organized two elections to decide whether they want union representation and collective bargaining power.
By MICHAEL SANDLER
Published June 27, 2003
He's no stranger to politics, but Sheriff Everett Rice faces an entirely different campaign this summer as he seeks to quell growing talk among deputies who want a union and bigger salaries.
While many Pinellas County sheriff's deputies already belong to the Fraternal Order of Police or the Police Benevolent Association, those labor organizations have long held no collective bargaining power with the sheriff. For years state law forbade it.
But after the state Supreme Court in January gave deputies the right to bargain collectively, they began to talk shop - union shop.
This month several deputies gathered enough signatures to organize two elections that will take place by mail. One will be a three-way race among the FOP, the PBA or no union. The other, for sergeants and lieutenants, will be between the FOP and no union.
Ballots go out on July 31 and will be tallied by the Public Employees Relations Commission on Aug. 21.
As expected, Rice does not support the call for a union. He said he has always left his door open for deputies to come talk and doesn't see the need for outsiders.
"What they are saying is you've got to have a union because you can't trust the boss," Rice said. "If you don't trust the boss and you need a union, that's fine. But I've never given them a reason to not trust me."
Deputies who are pushing for a union say Rice should not take it personally. They say they have been underpaid for some time and need representation to keep salaries and benefits fair.
They don't dispute that Rice is trying to get them more money. He recently went before the County Commission to lobby for raises.
But they say he is responding to pressure, given the growing number of vacancies at other agencies that pay more. As higher paying jobs open elsewhere, deputies are tempted by better offers.
Rice's own study shows the starting salary for a deputy, approximately $29,000, is more than $2,000 below the average for area law enforcement agencies ($31,109) and far below the $36,316 offered to officers starting with the Tampa Police Department.
"I think he's looking at it now because he can't find qualified people," said Lt. Tim Ingold, a sheriff's deputy who is also the president of Pinellas Lodge No. 43 for the FOP.
Deputies who belong to both labor organizations say they would be better served if they had a contract.
Deputy Terrance Heath, a senior vice president for the Pinellas County PBA, is pushing for collective bargaining so deputies can have a "forum for discussion."
"Right now, we have nothing," he said. "If the sheriff wants to talk to us, he talks to us. If not, he doesn't."
Heath and Ingold wear the same uniform and agree that deputies need representation. But that's where their agreement ends, as each is loyal to his organization.
Like most campaigns, the race is certain to be competitive, even fierce. Both groups plan to distribute fliers and hold forums to sway the vote.
FOP has an advantage in numbers, with more than 800 deputies as members. The PBA has about 200 members with the Sheriff's Office, enough to get them on the ballot only for deputies and corporals, but not on the second ballot for sergeants and lieutenants.
But the PBA may have more clout with big agencies, representing officers in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Largo.
No matter how it ends, Rice said he already has an obligation to honor another contract.
"The sheriff has a contract with the people and that is up every four years," he said.
