By RAELYNN RICARTE
News staff writer
March 21, 2007

Hood River City Police Chief Bruce Ludwig is concerned that the “interest and welfare of the public” will soon no longer top the arbitration list with labor unions.

He said Senate Bill 400 reduces public safety to only one of many factors taken into consideration during collective bargaining. According to Ludwig, the legislation gives equal ranking to employee compensation and both vacation and holiday pay.

“Does anybody really think it is a good idea for an emergency responder not to put the welfare of the public over everything else?” he asked.

Ludwig and Hood River County Sheriff Joe Wampler are also concerned about the potential economic costs associated with the bill. They said that since public safety employees are prohibited from striking, unresolved differences with management are subject to binding arbitration.

Under SB 400, the individual selected from a regional pool of arbitrators would determine if staffing levels needed to increase in order to alleviate safety concerns. The sheriff and chief contend that diverting money from a limited budget into more manpower would force cuts in service delivery.

“Somebody from Montana could make a decision about how we operate here and the cost wouldn’t matter,” said Ludwig.

Currently, the police department has a $1.2 million annual budget that supports 15 patrol officers. The sheriff’s office spends $1.7 million each year to keep 18 deputies on the road.

Sen. Rick Metsger, D-Welches, who voted in favor of SB 400, said it is a “typical management versus labor deal.”

“Management wants more authority and employees feel the need to have more of a say on safety issues,” he said. “This bill is trying to balance fairness at the negotiating table since employees are not allowed to threaten a walkout.”

Wampler said the motivation behind SB 400 is to better protect the safety of emergency responders. But the end result of the legislation could be less responsive patrol coverage and a reduced ability for agencies to solve crimes that victimize citizens.

He and Ludwig contend that, if more staffing is required, their involvement in the Mid-Columbia Narcotics Interagency Task Force is likely to end. And detective positions could be eliminated so that officers and deputies have to pursue their own investigations between calls.

“What happens is you end up taking reports but not following up on them properly. And we don’t want to go there,” said Wampler.

He and Ludwig reiterated on Monday that their opposition to SB 400 does not reflect a lack of concern about the working conditions of their troops. They said the federal Occupational Safety and Health Act in conjunction with the Oregon Safe Employment Act already set rigorous on-the-job safety standards for both private and public employees.

In addition, both local law enforcement entities make ongoing investments to upgrade equipment and provide training opportunities for patrol staff. Plus each agency routinely sends out a backup unit when the other is dispatched to check out a complaint or involved in a traffic stop.

“We provide them (officers and deputies) with the best tools that we can, but there is an acknowledged risk that goes with this line of work,” said Wampler.

Hood River Asst. Fire Chief Devon Wells declined to take a stand on the bill. He said safety decisions for emergency service workers should not become political.

“The last thing I want is for a piece of legislation to negatively impact the safety of my firefighters,” he said.

However, Manuel Irusta, president of Hood River Firefighters Association Local 3256, is outspoken in his approval of the bill.

He said electricians, plumbers and other trade unions have the right to discuss safety issues. So, it is only fair that firefighters and police also be afforded that opportunity.

“A bargaining right is not a right to impose the union’s will. This bill would simply allow employers and employees alike to discuss safety issues,” he said.

SB 400 was introduced on behalf of public safety employee unions by Democratic Senators Kate Brown and Floyd Prozanski. The bill has been approved by the Senate and made it through the Business and Labor Committee in the House.

Rep. Patti Smith, R-Corbett, said she will be a “no” vote when the bill arrives on the House floor. She said Wampler and Ludwig were only two of the many officials from rural agencies who expressed concern about the potential loss of services.

Smith said the same bill was attempted two other times in recent legislative history but died because benchmarks for arbitration were not clearly defined. She is unwilling to risk more of an economic hardship on agencies that are already struggling under rising health and retirement benefit costs.

“This bill is very vague about what it defines as an employee safety issue and I think it is really just a way for unions to get more in their collective bargaining. But it could result in a decrease of public safety,” said Smith.

Chief Deputy Jerry Brown said the timing for SB 400 could not be worse. He is already crunching numbers to offset the loss of about $60,000 each year from federal funding to offset cutbacks in logging. Brown said that money was used to finance search and rescue operations in and around Mount Hood.

In addition, the county is looking at a $355,000 hike in its share of costs to run the regional jail.

“If we’re forced to increase our staffing, the money has to come from somewhere — so it’s almost certain to mean a loss of services,” said Brown.

Ludwig said another point of concern with SB 400 is the inclusion of middle-management in the bargaining unit. He said that effectively eliminates the chain of command with disciplinary issues. So he and Wampler will likely be called upon to address personnel problems that would usually be handled by captains and lieutenants in charge of patrol duties.

“This would also hurt our ability to set policy and see that it is carried out,” said Ludwig.

He said it is getting more difficult to recruit qualified individuals for police work. He said the demands of rotating shifts and difficult working conditions are a deterrent to many people. So, if the agency is forced by arbitrators to up staffing levels, the availability of applicants could also be a problem.

Metsger said the scenarios laid out by Wampler, Ludwig and Brown are unlikely to occur. He said 25 other states already have similar legislation on the books. And Oregon unions were allowed to negotiate staffing as a safety issue until 1995 when Senate Bill 750 rewrote the bargaining law.