Scott County deputies vote to withdraw from union

BENTON, Mo. -- Scott County sheriff's deputies opted to decertify union representation during an official vote this week.

In a vote of 12-1, the deputies chose Monday to decertify union representation by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, according to Scott County Presiding Commissioner Jamie Burger.

"The IBEW no longer represents the Scott County deputies," Burger said Tuesday during the regular county commission meeting.

The dispatchers and correction officers voted in 2015 to certify union representation, but the dispatchers are petitioning to have a vote to possibly decertify, he said.

"The deputies are now removed (from union representation). The dispatchers are in the process of going to a vote to possibly decertify through the State Board of Mediation, and the COs (correction officers) are still in contract negotiations," the presiding commissioner said.

The State Board of Mediation is Missouri's way of allowing for the dispatchers or correction officers to vote to certify or decertify, Burger said. The deputies were able to vote Monday through a county ordinance, he said.

The dispatchers have taken a tentative vote but have to go through the process of the State Board of Mediation to conduct that vote, Burger said. Their intent is to hold that vote to decertify, but that's not been recognized yet by the Board of Mediation, he said.

"The COs contract negotiations are ongoing, and until the county and the IBEW come up with an agreement to move forward, it will not be presented to the COs until that time, and that is an ongoing effort," Burger said.

Ultimately, it's the sheriff's department employees' decision, First District Commissioner Dennis Ziegenhorn said.

"Personally, I would rather them not (certify union representation) because I feel like our doors are open for negotiation of any sort that they might have, and we're for the betterment of the deputies and everybody who's an employee here," Ziegenhorn said. "... For 12 years, my policy has been door open."