Court and Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) decisions, commentary on California public sector labor relations

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PERB: Employer Must Pay Missing Dues to Union

County of Butte (2016) PERB Dec. No. 2492-M (Issued on 6/30/16) I thought this case was interesting because of the remedy ordered by PERB. Here, there was an existing bargaining unit represented by the Butte County Employees Association (BCEA). Another union, United Public Employees of California (UPEC), filed a petition to modify the unit by transferring certain classifications into a new unit. The County took the position that BCEA had to qualify to be on the ballot; and when BCEA did not “qualify,” the County withdrew recognition and withheld dues from BCEA. This unfair practice charge followed. The Board affirmed…

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PERB: Employers Must Respond Promptly to Information Requests

Petaluma City Elementary School District (2016) PERB Decision No. 2485-E (Issued on 6/30/16) [Note: With summer vacations and my schedule, I’ve not been able to write about the flurry of PERB decisions that were issued right before the end of the fiscal year.  I intend to catch up by posting about those decisions in the next couple of weeks] In this decision, the Board partially overturned a Board agent’s dismissal of an unfair practice charge. One of allegations was that the County unreasonably delayed providing necessary and relevant information in response to a union request. According to the charge, the…

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PERB’s End of Fiscal Year 2015-16 Numbers

Overview: PERB issues 70 decisions PERB’s annual report for fiscal year 2015-16 is due on October 15, 2016. Until then, I have some preliminary numbers based on my tracking of PERB decisions. According to my records, PERB issued a total of 70 decisions this past year.  The prior year PERB issued 74 decisions. Here are other preliminary numbers: Decisions by Statute (Including Non-Precedential Decisions): MMBA: 30 EERA: 24 HEERA: 10 Dills Act: 5 Trial Court: 1 Court Interpreter: 0 LA Met: 0 Decisions by Precedence: Precedential: 54 Non-Precedential: 16 Decisions by Type (Not Including Non-Precedential Decisions): Appeals from Dismissals: 7…

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AB 1676: New Pay Parity Bill on Governor’s Desk

AB 1676 was introduced by Assembly Members Campos and Gonzalez on January 19, 2016. The bill amends the “California Fair Pay Act” (SB 358) which was enacted last year. The California Fair Pay Act strengthened an existing statute that prohibits paying women less than men for doing similar work.  AB 1676 adds race and ethnicity to the law; so an employer cannot pay employees of a particular race or ethnicity less than others for similar work. In addition, AB 1676 provides that, “Prior salary shall not, by itself, justify any disparity in compensation.” Comments: AB 1676 has passed both houses and is…

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AB 2835: “Union Recruiting” Bill May Land on Governor’s Desk

AB 2835 was introduced by Assemblyman Cooper (D-Elk Grove) on February 19, 2016. Since then it has been amended a few times but the substance of the bill remains the same. AB 2835 mandates that public employers provide an “orientation” to new employees during which time the union is entitled to make a 30 minute presentation. This bill is a direct result of the Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association (Friedrichs) decision in which the Supreme Court, in a tie vote, let stand a lower court’s ruling allowing agency fees in the public sector. Back when the outcome of Friedrichs was in doubt, unions began proposing that they be allowed to make presentations at mandatory employee orientations in the hope of increasing their membership if agency fees disappeared. Once Friedrichs was decided, employers were hopeful that the unions would drop this idea, but that turned out not to be the case.

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