Deputies' union still unresolved

A runoff vote will be held to decide which police union will negotiate for deputies during contract talks.

BROOKSVILLE - In a vote that looks more like the combination to a safe, Hernando County sheriff's deputies voted overwhelmingly in favor of choosing one union to represent their interests during contract negotiations.

The 55-54-35 vote, however, means deputies will vote again in a runoff, to be scheduled in the next 30 days, to decide whether they are represented by the Fraternal Order of Police or by the Police Benevolent Association, said Steve Meck, general counsel for the Public Employees Relations Commission.

With 144 votes cast, neither group received a majority of votes. The option against unionization garnered the least support, with 35 votes. To win, one group needs a majority, or 50 percent of the votes plus one.

Of the 174 sworn deputies who received a secret, mail ballot last month, 145 were returned to PERC headquarters in Tallahassee before they were tallied Monday. One ballot was void, said Meck.

Because the votes were so close, neither union is claiming victory - or admitting defeat.

"Until the final vote comes in, it is going to be like any other election," said Hernando Deputy Steve Klapka, who is also the president of FOP Lodge 164. His group obtained 55 votes. "We are going to go out again and reiterate some of the things we have done," Klapka said. "We are going to keep working hard."

They will also try to avoid "dirty tactics," some of which had popped up since both unions gained enough interest from the deputies to hold an election in March, Klapka said.

"Again, it's not an us-vs.-them mentality," said Klapka. "People are actually going to see the truth for what is."

Jim Wiggins, the director of organizational services for the Florida PBA, denied the allegations that his group has resorted to mudslinging, saying that FOP had taken unnecessary shots at them.

"We are not going to do that," said Wiggins, who expected the outcome. "We figured all along that we would be in a runoff. We knew that it would be close."

If there were another tie - neither union receiving a majority - then PERC would impose a one-year moratorium on forming a collective bargaining unit. But neither union representatives nor Sheriff Richard Nugent is looking that far ahead.

"The deputies have spoken," said Nugent, who has been criticized in the past for sending an antiunion memo to the rank and file.

"I don't have a problem with it. I just wish there had been one to win outright. It's just going to prolong it."

Nugent said that the runoff would stall the inevitable - contract talks. Once either group wins the right to represent the 174 sheriff's deputies, then contract negotiations will begin shortly thereafter.

Meanwhile, the Sheriff's Office will begin looking into bargaining tools, such as hiring a negotiator - a measure Pinellas County recently took to begin contract talks with the FOP.

"It's nothing that we have in the budget," said Nugent. "These are all new issues for us. It's new for all of the sheriffs."

In January, the Florida Supreme Court reversed a 1978 decision, finding that sheriffs' deputies are considered public employees, and thus entitled to collectively bargain over their wages, hours and other terms and conditions of their employment.

Since then, the largest unions representing law enforcement officers have been embroiled in what many have called a contentious struggle to represent sheriffs' deputies across the state.

Both the FOP and PBA have petitioned Pinellas, Hillsborough, Charlotte, Pasco and Sarasota counties on the west cost of Florida. On Monday, the Charlotte County sheriff's deputies, by a 72-59 vote, opted for PBA representation, Meck said.

- Duane Bourne can be reached at 754-6114. Send e-mail to dbourne@sptimes.com

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