Teamsters sues sheriff and Franklin County. Union demands more jail access

Teamsters Local 839 is taking the Franklin County sheriff to court over his decision to limit the union’s access at the jail.

The union represents the county’s corrections deputies.

The civil suit aims to force the sheriff and county commissioners to enforce a Feb. 18 decision by an arbitrator.

The lawsuit is part of an ongoing dispute between the union and the sheriff’s office that has resulted in at least three unfair labor practice complaints and led to two jail employees being fired.

The two corrections officers had been placed on paid administrative leave while their “honesty is investigated,” the sheriff confirmed to the Tri-City Herald last month.

And tensions continue to flare as mediated talks between the Teamsters and Franklin County over the corrections deputies’ new contract have dragged on for more than a year.

Union access

In February, Robin Romeo, an independent arbitrator for the Washington’s Public Employment Relations Commission, ruled that the sheriff needed to rescind rules requiring union representatives to be escorted by the sheriff or a human resources employee whenever they go inside the jail in Pasco.

She found the new rules violated the jail’s past practices.

Sheriff Jim Raymond previously told the Tri-City Herald that he made the decision to preserve the safety of deputies and inmates.

He said he doesn’t stop corrections deputies from talking with their union representatives, and he doesn’t stop union officials from investigating grievances.

“To ensure that jail operations could continue securely and safely, the sheriff’s office allowed members needing to meet with their agent to be brought out individually and provided a private area to meet with their agent,” Raymond said in a March 8 letter following Herald stories about the arbitration decision.

At the time, he told the Herald that he didn’t intend to follow the arbitration decision because of jail security issues.

And the Teamster’s lawsuit said Raymond has stood behind that decision.

The Teamsters filed the lawsuit in Franklin County Superior Court, asking the judge to enforce the decision, along with paying their attorney’s fees. No hearing is scheduled yet on the issue.

Policy change

The Teamsters took over representing the corrections deputies in April 2020 during the last months of their contract.

They replaced the Franklin County Corrections Officers Association, which was responsible for negotiating the last two-year contract between the corrections officers and the county, according to the arbitration decision.

The arbitration decision says between April and October, the union representative Jesus Alvarez was allowed in to meet with union representatives.

That came to a head during an October 2020 union investigation, according to the arbitration. After that investigation, the sheriff reportedly changed the rules about jail access and required Teamsters representative to be escorted if he was going into the jail.

Raymond claimed Alvarez spent his time talking with members inside and outside of the jail, causing disruptions to the movement of prisoners, medical calls, meals and cell checks.

“I decided the best course of action was for us (FCSO) to have the Teamsters business agent state whom he needed to interview one at a time outside of the secured jail setting,” Raymond said in his March letter.

He said a jail supervisor was talking with a union representatives when an inmate, Thomas D. Franklin, collapsed in the jail. The man later died after being taken to Kadlec Regional Medical Center in Richland.

While Raymond did not blame the supervisor or the union for the death, he said the supervisor should have been focusing on the emergency.

Russell Shjerven, the secretary-treasurer for the local Teamsters union, told the Herald he did not see or hear any emergency while he was at the jail for 20 minutes at the time.

Arbitration

The union took the issue to the Public Employment Relations Commission, claiming the sheriff’s office was interfering with the rights of his employees and refusing to engage in collective bargaining.

The commission referred the issue to an arbitrator. Largely the argument came down the “work location” of the correction officers and what is considered reasonable hours for visits.

The arbitrator’s decision hung on a section of the contract that said union representatives “may visit the work location of employees covered by the agreement at any reasonable time for the purpose of investigating grievances.”

The county argued that the “work location” included the entire courthouse and a “reasonable time” was during business hours.

Union officials disagreed saying the corrections deputies work in the jail and the jail is open at all hours.

The arbitrator decided that since Alvarez had been allowed to come into the jail during both day and night shifts for six months, that showed what the past practice had been.

“While the employer cites security concerns, and while security is of utmost importance in a jail, those concerns are unsubstantiated when it comes to the union representative,” Romeo wrote in her decision.

Sheriff’s reaction

When news reports about the arbitrator’s decision were reported on, Raymond issued a seven-page letter responding to social media comments.

In the letter, he pointed out that he was sued almost immediately after taking over the jail about the treatment of the inmates. The lawsuits starts with the previous sheriff’s administration, and he and the commander overseeing the jail worked to bring “21st century policing standards” to the jail.

“Today, the corrections facility is fully accredited along with the sheriff’s office itself,” Raymond said in his March letter. “All federal decrees have been removed and we have attempted to reduce liability risks as much as possible.”

He has called on the Teamsters to focus on getting better pay for the corrections deputies.

“I believe my deputies and staff are underpaid and deserve every penny they can negotiate out of the county for their services, and I will support their efforts to better themselves financially,” he said in the letter. “It would be nice if the Teamsters Union would work as hard on the needs of their membership.”

Shjerven pointed out if the sheriff was concerned about the pay, then the union has submitted several proposals that would have done that.

“The sheriff is speaking out of both sides of his mouth in this process,” Shjerven told the Herald.

This story was originally published May 3, 2022 at 12:44 PM.