The Fraternal Order of Police in Pueblo voted 152-2 to unionize this morning.
The vote instructs union leadership to prepare a collective bargaining resolution to present to the Pueblo County Board of County Commissioners, with a recommendation that the final agreement be presented to voters for approval.
“If a government expects to reduce the burden on its taxpayers by asking its police for greater efficiency and effectiveness, then it must involve them in the process that affects their work,” Michael J. Violette, executive director of the Labor Council for the Colorado Fraternal Order of Police, said in a statement.
The Fraternal Order of Police represents 202 deputies and law enforcement employees in the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office.
“The union has no issues with the current sheriff or his staff. It is the system that has been in place for many years that has brought the employees to this decision.”
The Pueblo County sheriff’s Department Employees Association become a Fraternal Order of Police lodge last July in order to work toward better pay, working conditions and retirement benefits.
