Leaders of Nevada’s newest union say they’ve made labor history with their more than 1,000 public safety employees from almost 40 different agencies.

Called the Nevada Association of Public Safety Officers, the newly formed group encompasses nearly 15 Nevada law enforcement associations. It will be affiliated with the Communications Workers of America, AFL-CIO Local 9110, as well as with the National Coalition of Public Safety Officers.

Union leaders say they’re out to protect wages, work hours and job security for the hundreds of police officers, deputies, probation officers and other law enforcement professionals who’ve teamed up to form the new union.

“Although we won’t eliminate concerns by both management and employees over our state’s current financial problems, we hope to let management know that we speak as the voice of thousands of public safety officers around this state, and not just the few who may comprise their own employee groups. Strength in numbers is what it’s all about,” says Rick McCann, NAPSO plan administrator (essentially, its executive director), who also acts as the group’s chief labor representative – as he did with the soon-to-be defunct Nevada branch of the California Organization of Police and Sheriffs.

Readers will remember McCann as the union labor representative for Nye County sheriff’s deputies, some of whom have recently faced serious troubles (and here).

Watch CityBlog for more on Thursday.