NORWICH – Chenagno County law enforcement deputies and corrections officers have been working without a contract for two and a half years, and the end appears nowhere in sight.

It could be another two months before a three-person panel meets for the first time to go over evidence and records from an arbitration hearing that was held in late January for the Law Enforcement Association. The panel may meet in more than one executive session depending upon the diverse opinion on what should or should not be contained in the deputies’ award.

Post hearing briefs have been submitted to panel members representing Chenango County, the LEA and the panel chairman. The latter member was selected using what’s called a ‘strike’ method based on a list of possible candidates provided by the NYS Public Employment Relations Board, or PERB. The process took some time, said New York State Union of Police Associations President Anthony V. Solfaro.

“The chairman is in the process now of scheduling an executive session. It is the next step. It takes time to coordinate people’s schedules. It (the session) will be sometime in the near future,” he said, later clarifying, “a couple of months.”

The lengthy union contracting system is far from perfect, the official admitted. First there are negotiations, then mediation, and finally, if necessary, arbitration. The third piece of the impasse procedure requires Sheriff’s deputies to ensue a waiting period before filing. Then, the PERB selection process, and then scheduling hearings and executive sessions with all parties involved.

The LEA and Chenango County Sheriff’s Employee’s Association (CCSEA), which covers corrections officers and all other corrections staff, has been without a contract since December 1999. Several callers and writers to The Evening Sun’s ‘30 Seconds’ reaction line, who identify themselves as public safety officials or their representatives, have lamented the wait and rumored 1 percent pay raise offers from the county. In comparison, Civil Service Employees working in other county departments received increases last year anywhere from 3 to 4.5 percent through 2013.

The next step for the CCSEA, which covers corrections officers and corrections staff, is fact finding. The CCSEA is awaiting a PERB-appointed fact finder. The mediator would then set their own hearing date, have a hearing and then issue a final and binding award. The fact finder is independent; he or she doesn’t have to worry about additional people’s calendars, and there are no follow-up meetings.

Disputed contract items have had more to do with workers’ schedules, holiday time off and shift differentials than establishing wages and benefits amounts, said Solfaro, explaining that the Sheriff’s Office and jail run around the clock, seven days a week throughout the year.