ALFRED — The labor representative for the National Correctional Employees Union which represents corrections staff at York County Jail said the next step in a grievance process could be arbitration.

York County Commissioners denied three NCEU union grievances on Wednesday regarding task assignments, promotions and staffing of housing units at the jail. Two of the grievances were heard in public — the one involving promotions was heard behind closed doors.

NCEU labor representative William Doyle told county commissioners that incidents of inmate unrest have increased since two housing units — called “pods” in jail parlance — were condensed into one.

The difficulty, he asserted, is that the two pods are still in use — doors separating the two have been opened — but the two units operate with one corrections officer, while there would be one in each unit if the door was closed.

Doyle said there were 14 inmate fights or threats since the system was instituted in October, while each of the jail’s several other housing units has had only one or two incidents in the same time period.

County Commissioner Richard Dutremble pointed out the 14 incidents took place when “thousands” of inmates had passed through the jail; the policy has been in place for about eight months.

“The figures can be misleading,” Dutremble  said.

Doyle claimed  the decision to unite the two housing units, which he later estimated contained about 40 to 45 inmates, was instituted to save money.

“Management is creating a deliberate indifference to the safety of inmates and ultimately, corrections officers,” said Doyle.

York County Sheriff William King said the housing unit change was made to avoid forcing corrections staff to work even more overtime then they already do. Corrections has about 11 vacancies, which means officers work overtime regularly to fill shifts.

If the sheriff has to declare an emergency because of staffing vacancies, workers are ordered to work. He explained that had the housing units at issue had a another officer, he would have to fill an extra 168 hours a week.

“If I thought staff was endangered, I wouldn’t be doing it,” said King, who pointed out the inmates housed in those particular units have trusty status. “If we had the people to hire, we would. I’m trying to give (corrections staff) a rest.”

He said if he separated the units — and so staffed each unit with a its own corrections officer, resulting in more overtime shifts — “we’d be back here in a month with complaints of (too much) overtime.”

Doyle countered that one solution would be to close one of the housing units and transfer  inmates to the one left open.

Task assignments, where a corrections officer is pulled from their regular duty to do another job, creates tension among the staff, said Doyle. He said it raises safety issues and that shifts are filled through officers working overtime. He asked that the task assignments cease until the jail is fully staffed.

The sheriff said task assignments have been a longtime practice and in this case is necessary to prepare for inspections by the Department of Corrections.

Commissioners deliberated the issues behind closed doors and voted to deny the grievances in open session.

With the denials,  Doyle said the union would be reviewing its legal options and deciding whether to proceed to arbitration.

— Senior Staff Writer Tammy Wells can be contacted at 324-4444 (local call in Sanford) or 282-1535, ext. 327 or twells@journaltribune.com.