ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — Change may soon be coming to the way the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office deals with rank-and-file deputies, with a vote to unionize all deputies scheduled for Thursday, February 20, and Friday, February 21.
Steve Zona with the Florida Fraternal Order of Police told Action News Jax Thursday the departments’ deputies feel they have been left behind in negotiations for far too long.
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“They really want to have a seat at the table,” Zona said. “To have discussions with the sheriff and have communications, and they don’t feel like they’re getting that right now.”
According to a recent study by the St. Johns County Chamber of Commerce, the average affordable rent budget for a St. Johns County law enforcement officer sits at around $1,375 a month -- calculated by taking 30% of the average monthly income of SJC law enforcement officers. The issue: that figure falls about $300 shy of the average cost of a one-bedroom apartment in St. Johns County.
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For those economic reasons, Zona said pay and fair wages remain another key factor that he hopes unionization will improve for St. Johns County law enforcement officials.
“That’s always one of the top items that we wanna take care of for the people we represent,” Zona said. “And that is wages, benefits, health insurance, everything else, but also just consistency across the board. Whether it has to do with discipline, job assignments, transfers, leave, all those types of things.”
Sheriff Rob Hardwick released the following statement to Action News Jax:
“I have been a member of law enforcement for over 30 years and 11 of those years were spent being represented by a union. Since being elected as Sheriff in 2020, I have stayed true to my promise to our men and women to negotiate for the best pay, benefits, equipment, and training our profession has to offer. I want our people to be able to afford to live and raise their families in St. Johns County, one of the most expensive counties in the State of Florida to do so.
One of my biggest concerns with police unions is they often spend much of the dues paid by the members protecting the few whom we all agree should not be in our profession. Twice in our history at the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, a union has tried to “unionize” our agency and both times our members have voted it down.
Being elected twice as the Sheriff of the county I grew up in and raised my family in has been the most humbling experience of my life. The proudest moments come from watching our men and women serve their community and treat it like it’s their own, and because of that I will never stop fighting and advocating on their behalf.”
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