Barnstable County Sheriff Donna Buckley and the unionized employees of the sheriff’s department are at odds over the way the county jail and house of correction are being run.
The members of the Barnstable County Correctional Officers Union took a unanimous vote of no confidence in Sheriff Buckley, citing what the union calls, “deteriorating facility conditions, unsafe working conditions, and a hostile work environment under new Superintendent Ned McCormick.”
The union went on to say that conditions, “directly undermine officer safety and the collective bargaining agreement that has governed working conditions since 2004.”
Among the union’s complaints is that Sheriff Buckley has increased spending in the department, something the union says, “raised serious questions about fiscal management. In her second year in office, she spent approximately $10 million more than her predecessor, Sheriff James Cummings, did in his final year — an increase of around 35 percent in just two years.”
Buckley responded with surprise at the no-confidence vote.
She said the increased spending in her department was aimed at improving the pay scale for the same officers who are now criticizing her management.
“The benefit was for them, so it’s absolutely head-scratching,” Buckley said. “If they want to give back the raises, that’s up to them.” She said it makes no sense to go back to the salary structure that was in place before the increase.
“We needed to be able to recruit and retain staff and when we looked around and saw what other counties were paying we weren’t even in the ballpark. It’s a pretty drastic situation that required a drastic response, and it was all for their benefit,” Buckley said.
As for the charge that McCormick has created a hostile work environment since he came to the department four months ago, Buckley said that stems from the attempt to reform the use of so-called “comp time” as well as paid sick leave and vacation days.
“The issues concern accountability. They mostly concern time and attendance,” Buckley said.
“We can’t run a safe facility if people don’t come to work. And one of the things we found was that from the previous administration, people were allowed to accrue unlimited amounts of comp time and they were allowed to figure out how to decide how to work their schedule so instead of working a four and two schedule, they were allowed to work two days and be off for five.”
Buckley said the shifts still needed to be staffed so the situation required the sheriff’s department to pay double time and time-and-a-half to officers who worked. It also led to not having as many staff on duty as the sheriff feels is necessary to keep the jail secure.
“People have to come to work. They already have an extraordinary amount of time off even without comp time. That’s what they are pushing back on, but they have never come to the table to talk about it,” Buckley said.
She added that some department employees were using sick leave as vacation time, “And that’s not what it’s for.”
While the no-confidence vote by the union is typically a tactic used during contract negotiations, there are no negotiations currently going on.
The BCCOU said it, “welcomes inquiry into these conditions to hold Sheriff Buckley’s office accountable through oversight from any appropriate state officials and/or committees.”
