Deputies with the La Plata County Sheriff’s Office have voted in a secret ballot election to form a collective bargaining unit represented by the Fraternal Order of Police, Lodge #8.
Of the 115 eligible voters, which included deputies at the rank of sergeant and below as well as other administrative roles, 44 participated in the March 20 election. Thirty voted in favor of FOP representation and 14 voted against it.
Employees of Colorado counties with more than 7,500 residents were afforded the right to unionize after the passage of legislation in 2022.
Deputies in La Plata County join employees at five other Colorado counties in exercising the right, according to the Colorado Department of Labor and Employment’s database. The deputies submitted a petition to the Department of Labor last fall. It remains unclear exactly what the unit might seek in a contract that will be negotiated in the coming months.
“The FOP sheriffs office members will elect a committee to figure out what our members want to see in a contract,” FOP, Lodge #8 President Keith McSweeney wrote in an email to The Durango Herald.
Law enforcement and the FOP have a fraught history with traditional labor unions, and McSweeney shirks the term “union” in favor “collective bargaining.”
“Collective Bargaining for us relies on cops helping other cops out through the whole Collective Bargaining process,” he wrote.
Unlike most labor unions, county employees who have formed a collective bargaining unit may not strike.
FOP representatives have not yet requested a contract negotiation, County Manager Chuck Stevens said. Officials have a broad understanding that the goal of negotiations is largely to secure the existing benefits and pay in place now.
rschafir@durangoherald.com
