PARIS — An arbitration award to deputies at the Oxford County Sheriff’s Office establishes a separate coverage zone deputies can bid on to cover shifts.

According to Annalee Rosenblatt, a labor relations consultant who works for the county, the award, reached by the parties in mid-November, is the culmination of several rounds of grievances concerning the way deputies schedule patrol shifts.

Deputies submit bids to fill vacancies in the schedule around three coverage zones: in the north, around Rumford and Bethel, south, around Fryeburg and Brownfield, and central, in the Oxford Hills area. 

The agreement adds a subzone 3A, centered around Bethel, that patrol deputies can bid on to schedule shifts. The Sheriff’s Office was contracted by the town of Bethel to provide law enforcement coverage in 2010. 

According to the award, shift vacancies will be posted in the Sheriff’s Office at the county administration complex in South Paris.

Deputies, including corporals and sergeants, write their name next to their chosen shift. If more than one deputy chooses the same shift, the individual with the most seniority or who lives closest to the zone will be the successful bidder, according to the award

In August, Oxford County deputies voted to join the Teamsters Local 340, dropping their in-house bargaining unit, the Oxford County Deputies Association. 

The union and county commission recently restarted negotiations over a new contract for deputies. The deputies are currently operating under the terms of their old contract, which expired in 2011. 

pmcguire@sunjournal.com


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