Indiana: Deputies still eye collective bargaining
According to the Courier Press.com:
Sensing an opportunity in recent changes to the Vanderburgh County Commissioners, sheriff's deputies are making another push for collective bargaining.
Craig Blessinger, president of the Vanderburgh County Deputies Organization, said last week that he and Fraternal Order of Police President Larry Nelson have been "working out final details" with members of the County Commissioners and County Council.
"We hope to have talks finalized by January," Blessinger said.
But Blessinger acknowledged the deputies don't yet have the support of two of the three commissioners, the county's executive governing body with whom any collective bargaining agreement would be signed.
"We've been talking to Commissioners (Jeff) Korb and (Troy) Tornatta," he said. "(Korb) hasn't confirmed if he is a yes-or-no vote."
Tornatta, a Democrat who was elected last year, is a longtime champion of collective bargaining for deputies, which has been an objective of the Deputies Organization for more than 11 years.
But Commissioners President Bill Nix, a Republican elected in 2004, opposes the 51-page, two-year contract proposal the deputies first put forth that year. The contract has undergone minor changes since then, with Blessinger saying it is "98 percent the same language."...click to continue.
