Law Enforcement Union Negotiations Begin Next Month

By Gordon HopkinsNegotiations between Jefferson County and the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP), the union that represents Jefferson County Deputies, will begin April 11, 2022.Deputies had been considering unionizing for some time. Sheriff Nick Georgi informed members of the Law Enforcement Committee deputies had unionized at a meeting in January of this year.County Attorney Joseph Casson told FJN last year that Jefferson County is a rarity in Nebraska in that the Sheriff’s Office did not have a union contract. The county does employ other unionized workers, such as the road crews.Unions allow for “collective bargaining,” meaning they negotiate for all workers in the union, rather than having each worker negotiate individually. Deputies are not obligated to join the union. All deputies will get all the benefits of a union contract whether or not they are dues paying members. However, deputies that are not members of the union will not get legal representation in the event of a dispute.County commissioners discussed the looming negotiation at a meeting on Tuesday, March 22. Commissioner Mark Schoenrock said, “I think the main thing is, we already gave a substantial (pay) increase to our law enforcement officers last fall, and we did that based on a comparability study, a multi-county comparability study.”Commissioner Michael Dux suggested pay was not a primary issue, “My understanding is that's not really why they're concerned.”Dux added, “We don't really know.”Commissioner Gale Pohlmann said, “I guess until we find out, we probably don't have much to comment on.”

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