Baltimore County sheriff?s deputies want more money.
They?re willing to work more hours to get it. But they just can?t reach a resolution with the county ? and now that a bill they had submitted in Annapolis looks doomed, they?re realizing the pay raise might not happen at all.
Baltimore County sheriff?s deputies currently work 35 hours a week, plus a mandatory unpaid lunch break each day. The deputies often work right through their lunch hours, officials said. Overtime doesn?t kick in until they?ve been on the clock 40 hours, so according to a local legislator, deputies can end up working five hours for free.
The department has lost as many as 15 people in the past few years who realized they would make more working 40 hours in other counties or agencies, said Lt. Richard Kelly, vice president of the department?s Fraternal Order of Police lodge.
“We lost somebody to railroad police, transportation authority,” Kelly said. “We can?t hire and retain.”
“It is a problem,” said Del. John Cluster, R-Baltimore County, who co-sponsored a bill that would force the county to pay for the extra five hours.
Cluster said the bill is being held up in a Senate committee and probably won?t pass this session.
“I think it?s a matter of just … doing the right thing,” he said.
County spokesman Don Mohler said he couldn?t comment on whether the county opposes the raise, citing ongoing negotiations. But he said the county opposed the deputies? legislative approach because it felt labor negotiations don?t belong in Annapolis.
“We bargain in good faith, and we welcome the sheriff?s deputies back to the bargaining table,” Mohler said.
With a starting salary of $31,749, Baltimore County offers deputies, on average, about $1,972 less than they?d make doing similar work in Anne Arundel and Howard counties, officials in those sheriff?s offices said.
Baltimore County sheriff?s Lt. Richard Kelly said the five extra hours would mean a $3,452 boost in starting salaries.
But Mohler said the county is being reasonable in the negotiations.
“The Baltimore County fire union approved their contract with a 97 percent approval,” he said. “So I think the county has a reputation of being fair.”