The Commissioners Court held a record short three-minute meeting Tuesday morning to pay bills. Following the regular meeting there was a six-hour arbitration hearing with the Sheriff’s Office Employees Union. The arbitration concerns changes made by the Commissioners Court in October regarding retiree insurance coverage by the county.
The county was represented by County Judge Brint Carlton, Commissioner Jody Crump, and hired attorney Bette Lynn during the hearing. Attorney Greg Cagle and union president Jimmy LeBoeuf represented the union. Arbitrator Norman Bennett heard the evidence presented by both sides.
LeBoeuf testified first for the union. Attorney Cagle said the union’s stance is that the collective bargaining agreement which was approved in 2009 refers to the current Human Resource Manual which would apply all details of the manual at that time to the contract and excluding any future changes made by the Commissioners Court.
Judge Carlton testified after lunch that the collective bargaining agreement did not specifically address a policy of retiree insurance coverage which was changed for the Human Resource Manual by the Commissioners Court in October 2016 to a sliding scale of benefits depending on the number of years of service for employees with the county.
Bennett requested briefs from both sides’ attorneys which he will rule on at a later unspecified date. Negotiations for a new collective bargaining agreement between Orange County and the Sheriff’s Office Employees Union were delayed until Wednesday because of the length of the arbitration hearing on Tuesday.
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