Sheriffs, Detention Officers in Iowa Affiliate with CWA

Concerned over pay, intimidation by management, and job security, a unit of 100 detention officers and 39 deputy sheriffs in the Woodbury County Sheriffs Department in Sioux City, Iowa, voted to affiliate with CWA last week, reports District 7 Vice President Annie Hill.

CWA was the overwhelming choice over the Fraternal Order of Police as a merger partner because of CWA's clout and expertise in representing public safety officers. The workers belonged to an independent association but were not able to address the issues facing the workers. Low pay is a major issue for all of the workers, and the detention officers, unlike the deputies, are at-will employees who can be fired for any reason and have no due process rights.

Not having a union to stand up to management is also an issue. "Workers find that it is extremely difficult when they attempt to exercise their right to organize, or engage in concerted activity," said CWA Representative Midge Slater, who assisted in the affiliation along with Local 7103. Elsewhere in the district, CWA has extended union representation to some 1,000 public safety officers in Arizona in the past year through AZCOPS Local 7077.

Last week CWA recorded two other organizing victories in District 7, when 75 workers gained union representation at AT&T Mobility retail stores in Idaho and at SPC Printing in Hibbing, Minnesota. The workers at AT&T were assisted by CWA Local 7603 and Spokane AT&T Mobility retail sales worker, Michelle Manning, who is represented by CWA Local 7818. At SPC Printing, a bargaining unit of 38 mailroom workers voted for union representation with Hibbing-Virginia Typographical Union 727/CWA Local 14726 in an NLRB election.