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

<!-- Decorative image -->

Governor Stops BART Strike

  • News

Late Sunday evening, Governor Jerry Brown utilized his power under the Public Transportation Labor Disputes Act (Gov. Code, §3610 et. seq.) to stop the BART strike scheduled for Monday morning.  The Governor did this by appointing a three member investigation board pursuant to Government Code section 3612.  The board must issue a written report to the Governor within seven days.  During that seven-day period, any strike is prohibited. Under Government Code section 3612, the report of the investigation board “shall include a statement of the facts with respect to the dispute, including the respective positions of the parties, but shall not…

Read More
<!-- Decorative image -->

BART Strike Ban Not That Simple

  • News

As of Sunday evening, it looks like BART employees will be going on strike again Monday morning for the second time in as many months.  Last month’s strike obviously caused a lot of disruption and anger among commuters in the bay area.  Last week there was an article in the SF Chronicle questioning why BART employees are even allowed to strike when transit workers in New York and San Francisco are barred from striking.  The article noted that “banning public transportation strikes or, specifically, a BART strike, would require state legislation that would certainly be opposed by labor unions and…

Read More
<!-- Decorative image -->

Board Modifies Effects Bargaining Rules

County of Santa Clara (2013) PERB Decision No. 2321-M (Issued on 7/25/13) The Board has overturned another set of cases. This case involved an unfair practice charge by the Santa Clara Correctional Peace Officers’ Association (Association) against the County of Santa Clara (County).  The charge alleged ten separate violations of the MMBA.  The one I want to focus on is an allegation that the County unilaterally changed staffing levels at the main jail.  The charge alleged that the County reduced staffing at the main jail from 75 on-duty officers to between 63 and 65 on-duty officers without providing notice to the…

Read More
<!-- Decorative image -->

Update on PERB Regulations

On June 13, 2013, the Board held a public hearing on the proposed regulations regarding: 1) State Mediation and Conciliation Service (SMCS) conducted representation and agency shop elections; and 2) MMBA factfinding sufficiency determination appeals.  The proposed regulations were previously published in the April 26, 2013 California Regulatory Notice Register.  My understanding is that the Board voted to proceed with the regulations as published. According to the Office of Administrative Law (OAL) website, PERB has submitted its “Final Statement of Reasons” for the two regulatory packages and now OAL has 30 days to review the proposed regulations.  The OAL review…

Read More
<!-- Decorative image -->

PERB Email Filing Now Available

PERB’s general regulation changes took effect July 1, 2013.  The biggest change is regulation 32091 which provides for filing documents via email.  PERB has created separate email addresses for each regional office and the appeals unit of the Board.  The email addresses are listed below and are published on PERB’s website on the “Contact” page.  (Click here). E-file (SRO) PERBe-file.SRO@perb.ca.gov E-file (LARO) PERBe-file.LARO@perb.ca.gov E-file (SFRO) PERBe-file.SFRO@perb.ca.gov E-file (Appeals) PERBe-file.Appeals@perb.ca.gov Email filing replaces PERB’s “on-line” filing system which was cumbersome to use.  I was one of the first people to take advantage of the email filing option since I had a filing due on…

Read More