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

<!-- Decorative image -->

PERB Announces Advisory Committee Meeting In Glendale on February 28, 2013

The Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) has announced a meeting of its Advisory Committee to be held in Glendale on February 28, 2013 at 11 a.m.  (Click here for announcement.)  The location will be at PERB's Glendale office at 700 N. Central Ave., 8th Floor.  (Note: The meeting will be held on the 8th Floor, not the 2nd floor where PERB's main offices are located). The scheduled agenda items are: 1) possible regulation changes concerning the conduct of elections by the State Mediation and Conciliation Service; 2) possible regulation changes concerning appeals of Board agent determinations on MMBA factfinding requests; and 3) the timing of…

Read More
<!-- Decorative image -->

PERB Asserts That Factfinding Is Required Upon Effects Bargaining Impasse

San Diego Housing Commission v. PERB (San Diego County Superior Court Case No. 37-2012-00087278) (Active case) With the passage of AB 646, one of the biggest fears of employers was that PERB would interpret the statute to apply to situations other than bargaining to reach a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), such as effects bargaining.  Well, our fears have come true.  The San Diego Housing Commission (Commission) is currently embroiled in litigation with PERB over this exact issue. The facts of this case are simple.  In 2012, the Commission notified SEIU Local 221 that it would be laying off employees due…

Read More
<!-- Decorative image -->

Governor Appoints 2 New Board Members

On February 1, 2013, Governor Brown announced two appointments to the Public Employment Relations Board:  Eric Banks and Priscilla Winslow.  Here are the excerpts from the Governor's press release. Eric Banks, 41, of San Diego, has been appointed to the California Public Employment Relations Board. Banks has been partner at TenPageMemo LLC since 2013. He served in multiple positions at the Service Employees International Union, Local 221 from 2001 to 2013, including advisor, president and director of government and community relations. Banks was policy associate for state government affairs at the New York AIDS Coalition from 2000 to 2001. He worked in…

Read More
<!-- Decorative image -->

California Bucks National Trend on Unionization

  • News

Bureau of Labor Statistics News Release: "Union Members - 2012" Today the Bureau of Labor Statistics released the results of its annual survey on union membership. (Click here to view the release and charts.) The statistic getting all the attention is the fact that overall union membership in the nation dropped from 11.8% to 11.3% over the last year. According to a New York Times article, the 11.3% unionization rate is a 97-year low. Not since 1916, when the unionization rate was 11.2%, have fewer employees been members of a union. Undoubtedly there will be many more articles like that…

Read More
<!-- Decorative image -->

Will Public Sector Pensions Follow Private Sector Trends?

  • News

The last private industry pension plans: a visual essay, by William J. Wiatrowski Last month the Monthly Labor Review Online, published by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, included a fascinating article entitled, “The last private industry pension plans: a visual essay.”  (Click here for article.)  The article hammered home what most of us already know is happening to private sector defined benefit plans: they are disappearing.  Among the interesting facts: Employees Covered by a Defined Benefit Plan in 2011: Private Sector:  18% Public Sector:  78% “Frozen” Plans In 2009, the BLS began tracking information on “frozen” plans, which are…

Read More