2002 Labor Lifetime Achievement Award
Bud Treece, Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs
Forty years ago, a young Arlen “Bud” Treece was sworn in as a Los Angeles County Deputy Sheriff. Countless others have followed his path. Today more than 7,000 of those same deputies owe some of there success and happiness to Treece, the leader of ALADS, the largest most effective deputy sheriffs association in the nation.
Treece was that first President of ALADS when it was founded by the handful of deputies from Lennox Station. Under Treece’s directions at the negotiations table, ALADS members have ratified contracts that now provide an additional $32,856 in annual compensation, unparallel grievance protection, the standard-setting medical plan for all safety professionals, and statewide policy development that prevent jail privatization, secures presumptive disability benefits and much more.
He took over as ALADS Executive Director in 1983 after serving as a professional contract negotiator for more than a dozen employee associations across California. As lead negotiator for ALADS, Treece has guided nine salary agreements and seven fringe contract agreements as chair of the County Coalition of Unions.
Among the other roles Treece has assumed are administrator of the Peace Officers Relief Fund Trust, Vice President of the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO Executive Board, Commissioner of the Los Angeles County Quality and Productivity Commission and Chairman of the Los Angels County Labor-Management Advisory Committee on Productivity Enhancement.
2001 Labor Lifetime Achievement Award
Don Novey, California Correctional Peace Officers Assoc.
To know Don Novey and tell the story of his 22 years as the leader and tireless advocate for correctional peace officers is a little bit like a history lesson. Not only has he crossed paths with the state’s top leadership but has found in his own love for American history a way to perfect his insight and his keen visionary skills.
A one-time amateur boxer and spy, Novey returned to Sacramento in 1971 looking for work after a stint in the Army. His father, a correctional officer at Folsom State Prison, urged him to give corrections a try. Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, Novey began to advance in the corrections fields – first as sergeant and then to lieutenant.
A turning point came in 1978 when he began to get discouraged with the world’s opinion of correctional officers and thought about trying something new. After earning his secondary teaching credentialed at UC Davis, he returned to corrections with the intent of being more and more committed to bring about the changes that would enhance the profession and the lives of those in it. That led to his ultimate victory as state president in 1980.
A long time friend, Rod Blonien, who first met Don while working on Governor George Deukmejian’s campaign, characterized him as follows: “Don figured out how to be a success and he’s taken CCPOA from Point where they were really a joke around the Capital to the most powerful group in the state of California and it’s due to his leadership and keen insight.
Assemblyman Bill Leonard sees Don as a modern day Teddy Roosevelt. “Teddy said that for America to be strong, it must talk softly and carry a big stick. Don has seen the vision for a labor organization to talk softly and carry a big stick. It’s how you earn respect and bargain on behalf of their interest.”
In addition to working on behalf of the members of Unit Six, Novey has also busied himself over the years in other ways to be benefit the citizens of California. He has been a member of the International Narcotics Law Enforcement Association, served on the National Intelligence Board and under George Deukmejian’s administration, sat on the Blue Ribbon Commission on Public Safety. Under Pete Wilson, Novey sat on the Industrial Welfare Commission, was appointed by Governor Gray Davis to the state athletic Commission and sat on the Board of Kevin Collins Foundation, working to locate missing and abducted children.
Perhaps one of Novey’s greatest achievements in his distinguished career has been the devotion he has shown to the victim’s right movement in California and the level of success it has received thanks to the early efforts of CCPOA and Novey’s direction.
Novey saw that crime victims, like correctional peace officers, were once largely ignored by the policymakers of this state. He saw that they could help each other because of one very important reason. “Who was better to understand the pain and the needs of crime victims than the men and women who spend their days and nights among these murderers and child predators. We know their ways, we know what kind of people they are, what they’ve done to these innocent victims. We knew we had to help crime victims get the recognition they deserved,” Novey said.
