Category: California PERB Blog

City of San Jose v. Operating Engineers Local Union No. 3 (Case No. S162647) (Issued on July 1, 2010)The California Supreme Court has just issued its decision in City of San Jose.  The key holding is as follows:"California allows public employees to go on strike to enforce their collective bargaining demands unless the striking employees perform jobs that are essential to public welfare. But whether a particular employee’s job is so essential that the employee may not legally strike is a complex and fact-intensive matter, and one on which public employee organizations and public entities may disagree.Here, we address this…

Retired Employees v. County of Orange (9th Cir. 09-56026 6/29/10) Since approximately 1966, Orange County has provided health care benefits to its retired employees. In 1985, the County began “pooling” the retired employees with the active employees in the rate-setting process. Because retirees generally require more health services than active employees, who are generally younger and healthier, pooling the two groups allowed retirees to pay lower premiums and receive greater coverage than they otherwise would. As the cost of health care continued to rise over the years, the County found its employee health plans underfunded and needing adjustment. On September…

... But Not All the Votes Are Counted Yet ....It looks like the voters in the City of Vallejo have repealed the City charter provision requiring binding interest arbitration to resolve collective bargaining disputes.  Although it was initially reported that Measure A had passed, the Times Herald was reporting as of this afternoon that thousands of mail-in and provisional ballots remain to be counted. (See article here.)  According to the Solano County Registrar's website, Measure A is currently ahead by 454 votes (7014 to 6065). Assuming that the measure passes, it may be a harbinger of things to come.  In 1970, Vallejo became…

There was an interesting story out of Carlsbad last week.  (See articles in the North County Times here and here.)  The Carlsbad City Council voted to impose a two-tiered retirement system on its firefighters after reaching impasse in bargaining.  Under the two-tiered retirement system, existing employees will continue to accrue benefits under the 3% at 50 formula that is widely used in public safety.  However, new firefighters will be under a 2% at 50 formula.  According to the article, the move was necessitated to keep Carlsbad in "good fiscal health."  What is interesting is that the city is also planning a ballot initiative that…

According to some reports, the Senate may be voting on S. 3194 as early as this week as part of a larger appropriations bill. S. 3194 is titled the “Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act of 2009” and would establish collective bargaining for state and local firefighters, police officers, and paramedics throughout the nation. Currently, state and local employees are excluded from the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA). Under S. 3194, state and local public safety employees would come under the jurisdiction of the Federal Labor Relations Authority (FLRA). Upon enactment, the FLRA would have 180 days to determine, “whether a…