ALFRED, Maine — York County Commissioners on March 7 denied a grievance brought by the County Patrol Association concerning overtime scheduling — the third heard by the five-member panel on the same issue in the last three months.
One commissioner, Richard Clark of Wells, said it is time for the parties to work it out.
Michael Edes, the labor representative for the Fraternal Order of Police, which represents the CPA, and County Manager Greg Zinser agreed that like the last two grievances heard in January, the most recent one also comes down to the interpretation of a clause in the contract, which addresses how overtime assignments are handled.
“We’d had a number of these,” said Clark after the last grievance was heard. “What concerns me is this issue is not settled.”
He said the matter should be discussed between management and the union.
“And if the language is not clear, then it should be negotiated into the next contract,” Clark said. “We’ve had far too many of them. It is not within the power of this board to resolve this. It needs to be resolved by the parties active in it.”
Edes said the grievance is based on two work details in October, where deputies took part in a drug take-back event at drop off locations.
Edes said there was no issue with how the first two deputies were scheduled, but he said the second two deputies were not selected from the “call list,” as he said they should be, under the contract. Instead, two specific deputies were selected for the work, Edes said.
The grievances heard in January were similar.
All three were first denied by Sheriff William King and by Zinser, prior to coming to the commissioner’s table.
Commissioners mulled the issue in a 40-minute, closed-door session before voting unanimously to deny the grievance.
“This needs to be resolved between the parties,” said Clark, who said he believed he was speaking for the entire board on the matter. “No one here wants to hear these.”
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