Dear COBA Members;

I would like to once again congratulate and thank all COBA Members for ratifying the proposed contract agreement.

With 97% of COBA Members voting in this ratification process, it was the highest percentage to date of member participation. That is something you should all be very proud of. The democratic process only works if you get involved. And over the last few days, you did just that. You got involved.

To those members who voted against the deal, I hope you believe it when I say that I understand your continued frustration with issues related to this job. We know that starting pay, and other issues need to be addressed to make this job more attractive to future hires. But I hope everyone also understands that it is not the Union's job to recruit and hire. That is the County's job, and not a topic for collective bargaining.

Negotiating a contract is not an easy task. It is an arduous undertaking, where we hold the livelihoods of many hundreds of people and their families in our hands. This is the fourth contract I have personally negotiated on behalf of the members of this Union, and its one hell of a responsibility. In contract negotiations, you need to have a fundamental understanding of Labor Law, mandatory and non-mandatory subjects of negotiation, prior bargaining history and knowledge of not only our contract but the contracts of numerous other unions. It's obviously not a process where you walk in the room, make your demands and your adversary gives you whatever you want. Far from it. Particularly under the thumb of a financial control board.

The COBA Negotiating Committee, consisting of myself, Brian Doyle, Dennis Maurus, Pat McDevitt, John Hogan and Brian Wise were focused and dedicated on getting this deal done and we succeeded with your support.

With that said, I wish to once again sincerely thank the Members of COBA for approving this contract. I also thank the Election Committee for their hard work in processing a ratification vote under our new Electronic Voting System. Aside from a few kinks, it worked out even better than we expected with such a high voter turnout.

Thank you all for your support during this process.

Always in Unity;

Brian Sullivan, COBA President

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