Category: PERB News

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PERB Loses Anti-SLAPP Motion Against Riverside County

Last week I wrote about a Superior Court decision in Riverside County holding that factfinding under the MMBA applies only to full contract negotiations.  (Click here for post)  In that post, I noted that one fascinating aspect of that case was that PERB had filed an anti-SLAPP motion against the County for challenging PERB’s factfinding order.

A SLAPP action is a “Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation.”  The purpose of a SLAPP action is to chill the valid exercise of constitutionally protected speech and to burden the opposing side with the cost of a legal defense.  For example, a developer might file a lawsuit against a local citizen’s group opposed to the developer’s housing project.  In California, the Legislature has enacted an anti-SLAPP statute designed specifically to combat SLAPP actions.  (Code of Civ. Proc., §425.16.)

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PERB Issues 2012-13 Annual Report

PERB has released its annual report for fiscal year 2012-2013. (The report is available here.)  The transmittal letter to the Legislature notes that, “The Board now has a full complement of Brown appointees who share the vision and policy objectives of the current administration.”  If you view labor relations as a dichotomy between labor and management, I read this statement as confirmation that the Board is going to tilt towards labor in the coming years.  That’s not unexpected; after all, elections have consequences.  However, I just hope that the Board will move in an incremental and predictable manner to provide as much stability to labor-management relations as possible.

With that in mind, here is my annual summary of the statistics in the report:

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AB 537: How Does it Change the MMBA?

As introduced, AB 537 would have made dramatic changes to the MMBA. Many of those dramatic changes were removed from the bill as it advanced through the legislature.  As signed by the Governor, AB 537 only amends two sections of the MMBA.  Here’s a closer look at what it does. Voting on a Tentative Agreement AB 537 amends section 3505.1 of the MMBA to provide that: If a tentative agreement is reached by the authorized representatives of the public agency and a recognized employee organization or recognized employee organizations, the governing body shall vote to accept or reject the tentative…

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PERB Issues First Non-Precedential Decision

Coast Community College District Teachers Association (Hays) (2013) PERB Decision No. 2320-E (Non-Precedential) (Issued on 7/25/13) This decision was issued a while ago but I wanted to highlight it as PERB's first "non-precedential" decision.  Starting July 1, 2013, PERB has the authority to designate certain appeals as precedential or non-precedential.  (See PERB Reg. 32320.)  When PERB first issued the Coast Community College decision, it included the following footnote: PERB Regulation 32320, subdivision (d), provides in pertinent part: "Effective July 1, 2013, a majority of the Board members issuing a decision or order pursuant to an appeal filed under Section 32635…

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Governor Signs AB 1181: Union Release Time

The Governor signed AB 1181 on September 9, 2013.  AB 1181 amends the MMBA to require employers to give paid time-off to a reasonable number of employees for the following: Formally meeting and conferring with representatives of the public agency on matters within the scope of representation. Testifying or appearing as the designated representative of the employee organization in conferences, hearings, or other proceedings before the board, or an agent thereof, in matters relating to a charge filed by the employee organization against the public agency or by the public agency against the employee organization. Testifying or appearing as the designated representative…

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