Orange County Employees Association

Nurses working at Orange County sheriff's jails are hobbled in their efforts to provide excellent medical care to inmates by significant staffing shortages, insufficient training, equipment problems and communication breakdowns, according to a grand jury report released Thursday. The grand jury review was prompted by published reports about inmate deaths that raised questions about medical care at the jails.

Dealing a blow to the logic of outsourcing government work to private companies, a new Orange County report finds little savings in a $25-million-per-year contract awarded to a firm that manages the county's technology systems. The report may be the starting point for an effort to bring work back in-house -- which could significantly expand the county workforce -- after decades in which outsourcing was a fashionable concept among fiscal conservatives seeking to shrink government.

Orange County's largest public employees union took the first steps Tuesday toward a recall of embattled county Treasurer Chriss Street, and it urged political parties and other groups to join in the effort. The move follows revelations about the treasurer's personal and professional legal troubles and the climbing costs for a fancy remodeling of his offices that have left even his longest-standing fellow Republican ally questioning his fitness for office. The Orange County Employees Assn.

Orange County has offered its 13,300 rank-and-file employees a raise of 4.75% for the current year, at a total estimated cost of nearly $40 million. The raise slightly outpaces anticipated inflation for the coming year. County officials said they were trying to bring salaries in line with those offered by other local governments, and employee union representatives said the raises were deserved because the union had helped the county save money in the last year.

The general manager of the largest local government union in Orange County has retired, ending his family's 45-year association with the organization. John Sawyer quit the Orange County Employees Assn. last week after six years. In 1998, Sawyer succeeded his father, John H. Sawyer, who had served as general manager since 1959. The union, founded in 1937, represents more than 13,000 county government and court employees and 2,000 employees in 18 cities.

The general manager of the largest local government union in Orange County has retired, ending his family's 45-year association with the organization. John Sawyer quit the Orange County Employees Assn. last week after six years on the job. In 1998, Sawyer succeeded his father, John H., who had served as general manager since 1959. Sawyer joined the union's staff in 1973.

Orange County officials appear ready to significantly boost the pensions of longtime employees as both sides complete a labor agreement for employees who have worked without a contract for nearly a month. The tentative deal with the Orange County Employees Assn.

Orange County's largest union of government workers has voted overwhelmingly to support a contract that substantially boosts pensions but that also requires workers to forgo raises and make out-of-pocket payments to cover the increased retirement pay. After a spirited debate that included comment from rank-and-file workers and the skeptical county treasurer, 87% of workers who cast ballots endorsed the contract, said Nick Berardino, general manager of the Orange County Employees Assn.

The union that represents 1,200 Orange County court employees accused court officials Friday of refusing to disclose the travel records of its top executives, records it says could show wasteful spending at a time of budget cutbacks. Superior Court officials have failed to provide the Orange County Employees Assn. with travel and entertainment records of judges and top court executives, saying the court is exempt from the state Public Records Act.

After a 39-year career as general manager for the Orange County Employees Assn., John H. Sawyer said Wednesday that he plans to retire Monday. "You reach a point when you think the time is right, and things have been going good for OCEA, so I'm leaving," said Sawyer, 83, who also has been the union's chief negotiator. The association won't have to change nameplates, though. Sawyer will be replaced by his son, John H. Sawyer, 51, the association's general counsel.