Collective Bargaining and Deputy Sheriffs in Florida: An Unusual History

• Date: 01 December 2006
• Published date: 01 December 2006
• DOI: 10.1177/009102600603500404
• Author: Joan E. Pynes,Brian Corley
• Subject Matter: Article

Collective Bargaining

and Deputy Sheriffs

in Florida:

An Unusual History

Joan E. Pynes, Ph.D., and Brian Corley, PHR

There is an unusual history of collective bargaining and deputy sheriffs in

the state of Florida. While police officers have been allowed to unionize and

collectively bargain since 1968, it has only been since 2003 that deputy

sheriffs have been given that right. (Please note that despite the similarities

in job duties, deputy sheriffs were not considered to be public employees

for the purposes of collective bargaining.)

Position A: General duty work in the enforcement of laws and ordinances. An

employee in this class is responsible for the protection of life and property, for the pre-

vention, detection, and investigation of crime, and for maintaining law and order.

Position B: Highly visible certified law enforcement position responsible for

patrolling an assigned area for the prevention of crime, protecting lives and prop-

erty, apprehending and assisting in the prosecution of offenders, preserving the pub-

lic peace, and enforcing various regulatory measures.1

Individuals employed in Position B are deputy sheriffs. Individuals employed in

Position A are police officers. Despite the similarities in the positions, deputy sher-

iffs in the state of Florida were denied the right to join labor organizations for the

purposes of collective bargaining until 2003, while police officers have been permit-

ted to join unions and participate in collective bargaining since 1968. Until 2003,

deputy sheriffs were not considered to be public employees for the purposes of col-

lective bargaining.

Brief History

Public sector collective bargaining has been influenced by underlying beliefs and orga-

nizational structures not found in the private sector. The principle of government sov-

ereignty and the doctrine of illegal separation of powers are two examples of such

beliefs. The sovereignty doctrine holds that employees have only the rights that gov-

ernment permits them to have. The doctrine of illegal separation of powers forbids

a government to share its powers with others. It has been used most frequently to

299Public Personnel Management Volume 35 No. 4 Winter 2006