AUBURN — The Maine Labor Relations Board is asking for a response to a complaint from Androscoggin County jail guards, patrol deputies and dispatchers who argue that county commissioners violated Maine statute during union negotiations.

“It appears to warrant a response from the employer,” said Marc Ayotte, the labor board’s executive director. The county now has 20 days to issue its response.

The Androscoggin County Employees’ Association released a statement Friday saying the complaint and its supporting documents prove the county’s “unprincipled refusal to sign agreements they actually made.”

In its complaint, the union is asking the county to sign contracts that were agreed upon, to pay the union’s legal fees and to pay interest on the money that union workers would have made since votes in May.

Bryan Dench, an attorney for the county, described the union’s complaint as “very unfortunate.”

He said he understands the frustration of workers who have been working without a contract, but he insisted that commissioners have broken no laws.

“We’ll have to defend the commissioners,” Dench said Friday. “And when all of that is over and people focus on the future again, we’ll get back to the table and get the contracts settled.”

Dench has represented the county since 1980. He said he has seen contract negotiations between the county and its union break down despite approvals.

“We’ve done nothing wrong,” he insisted. Sudden financial troubles forced the commission to back out of the agreement. “Rather than sign something they knew they couldn’t live up to, they brought the problem to the attention of the union and said, ‘We need to solve this.'” 

John Chapman, a lawyer for the union, did not return a request for comment on Friday.

The association’s prohibitive practice complaint, filed Thursday with the labor board, argues that commissioners bargained in bad faith. Besides the eight-page, 72-point complaint, accompanying materials include emails sent between the union and the county and five contract proposals. They include deals that were proposed by the county and approved by the union membership on May 4 and May 24.

Contract negotiations have been ongoing for more than three years. Negotiations began in 2008 with a previous County Commission. Since the beginning of 2009, workers have been without a contract.

Mediation began in early 2010. When that failed, the process went to fact-finding.

Commissioners made at least three offers before 2011. The union rejected all three. This spring, the sides seemed to have finally come to an agreement. On May 4, commissioners made an offer. Union members approved the deal on May 10. Commissioners then wanted changes and made a second offer. The union approved that one, too.

That’s when the financial situation worsened, commissioners say.

On July 6, commissioners voted to remove $81,000 from money set aside as miscellaneous pay to corrections personnel to balance the 2011-12 jail budget.

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