By Jodi Hausen,Staff Writer

FARMINGTON – In a memo to Franklin County Clerk Julie Magoon, Sheriff Dennis Pike advised her that county commissioners acted beyond the scope of their authority when they voted to remove Sheriff’s Department supervisors from the union.

Magoon said Monday that she notified commissioners of their error. She also said she was expecting the sheriff’s memo.

Franklin County commissioners voted unanimously last week to change supervisors in the county jail, Sheriff’s Department and dispatch to nonunion positions. After the meeting, Magoon sent a memo to Pike asking him to notify all department heads of the change. She also said affected employees would need to change their health insurance and would no longer have union dues deducted from their paychecks.

In a memo dated Jan. 24, Pike wrote, “Following careful statutory review and subsequent legal advice, I have determined that (the commissioners’ decision) does, with all due respect, exceed the statutory authority of said county commission and furthermore does not reflect good faith procedure in the current ongoing union contract negotiations. The directive/edict cannot and will not be enforced as enacted,” he wrote.

Although their contract expired at the end of 2004, Sheriff’s Department union employees agreed to continue working under the former contract agreement while details of the new one are being hammered out.

Contract negotiations are not going well, according to Commissioner Fred Hardy.

But the situation with supervisors has nothing to do with union negotiations, he said.

Pike said Monday that he does not support removing employees from the union, though he said he would support the formation of a separate bargaining unit for supervisors should they request such a move. As the county’s elected law enforcement official, Pike said he has exclusive authority over such matters.

“We had the union before we had supervisors,” he said.

There has never been a problem with employees supervising others in the same union, Pike said. Supervisors do not discipline employees; they merely report insubordination or violations of procedure to managers, who are not union members.

“We’re not that large an operation,” said Pike, who referred to his employees as first-rate and high quality.

“I’m a firm believer (in), if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it,” he said.

The separation of supervisors from rank-and-file union employees “just kind of made sense to me,” said Hardy. “I don’t see how anyone can be in a supervisory position without being given the authority to do so,” he said.

But he added, “I’ve been wrong before. I’ve never belonged to a union. I’m on the outside looking in.”

Also he noted that the department might not have supervisors if it hadn’t been mandated by the state.

Not all sheriff’s departments are unionized, according to Maine Sheriff’s Association President Scott Story of Waldo County. His department is not, for example.

Commissioners have not talked about the situation yet and will take it up at their next meeting, on Feb. 1.