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

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AB 2126 Passes Assembly; Heads to Senate

AB 2126 passed the Assembly on May 29 and now heads to the Senate.  To my knowledge, AB 2126 is the only active bill remaining in this Legislative session that would substantially affect PERB.  AB 2126 would make the following changes to the MMBA: Impose mandatory mediation at the request of either party; Provide that any impasse over a mandatory subject of bargaining is subject to factfinding; Provide that factfinders only need to consider the statutory criteria relevant to a dispute. Comments: I’ve commented previously on this bill.  (Click here for that post)  Since that time the bill has not…

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Court: PERB Must Pay County’s Attorneys’ Fees

County of Riverside v. PERB (SEIU Local 721) (Riverside County Superior Court Case No. RIC 1305661)

One of the most interesting pieces of litigation going on right now is PERB’s attempt to force Riverside County to go to factfinding over effects bargaining.  Last year I wrote about how PERB filed an anti-SLAPP motion against the County for challenging PERB’s factfinding order.  (Click here for that post)  The court—properly, in my opinion—dismissed PERB’s anti-SLAPP motion.  Now we have the court’s order on the County’s attorneys’ fees motion. 

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PERB Issues Decision Supporting its Position on Factfinding

County of Contra Costa (2014) PERB Decision No. A410-M (Issued on 4/16/14)

I wrote an alert on this case for CalPELRA last month.  CalPELRA alerts are usually available to the general public after a few weeks, so if you’re interested it should soon be available to read here.

In this decision, PERB held that factfinding under the MMBA is available for any bargaining dispute, not just disputes over a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU).

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PERB: Factfinding Powers Apply to Peace Officers and Management

City of Redondo Beach (2014) PERB Decision No. A409-M (Issued on 4/09/14) Since 2001, PERB has had jurisdiction to enforce the MMBA with some limited exceptions.  Two of those exceptions involve peace officers under Penal Code section 830.1 and management employees.  These two groups are not subject to PERB’s traditional powers even though they are subject to the MMBA.  (Gov. Code, §§3509(f); 3511.)  But how does this system work now that there is factfinding?  Especially with the change that allows PERB’s decision to grant or deny a factfinding request to be appealed to the Board? In this decision, PERB held…

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Board: Impasse Not Reached if Rush to Impose

County of Riverside (2014) PERB Decision No. 2360-M (Issued on 3/25/14)

This was the oldest case on the Board’s docket.  The facts date back to bargaining between the County and SEIU in 2009.   Basically, the County declared impasse and imposed its last, best, and final offer (LBFO).  (Note: This was before AB 646, so no factfinding was required.)  SEIU argued that the County’s imposition of its LBFO was improper because the parties were not at a genuine impasse.

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