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

Last week Assembly members Roger Hernandez and Michael Allen introduced AB 195 which would codify employer unfair practices under the MMBA. The bill would delete Government Code section 3506 and replace it with the following:3506. A public agency shall not do any of the following:(a) Impose or threaten to impose reprisals on employees, to discriminate or threaten to discriminate against employees, or otherwise to interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees because of their exercise of rights guaranteed by this chapter. For purposes of this subdivision, "employee" includes an applicant for employment or reemployment.(b) Deny to employee organizations the rights guaranteed…

Cal. Statewide Law Enforcement Assn. v. Dept. Personnel Admin. (Case No. C061102) (Issued on 1/26/11) This case involved a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the California Statewide Law Enforcement Association (CSLEA) and the State of California reached in 2002. Under the new MOU, CSLEA bargaining unit members were to be reclassified as “safety members” effective July 1, 2004 and allowed to participate in the more generous safety retirement pension plan. A dispute arose over whether the reclassification into safety member status was intended to be retroactive; in other words, whether the employees' past years of service would also be credited…

The California Supreme Court has just issued its decision in International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 188, AFL-CIO v. Public Employment Relations Board (City of Richmond) (Case No. S172377) ("Richmond").Here's the holding:Here, we address two issues: (1) If, after receiving an unfair labor practice charge, PERB decides not to issue a complaint, is that decision ever subject to judicial review? (2) Is a city's decision to lay off firefighters for fiscal reasons a matter that is subject to collective bargaining?On the first question, we agree with the Court of Appeal that although PERB's refusal to issue a complaint is generally not…

The California Supreme Court has given notice that a decision in International Association of Fire Fighters, Local 188, AFL-CIO v. Public Employment Relations Board (City of Richmond) (Case No. S172377) ("Richmond") will be issued on Monday morning.As a recap, the Richmond case presents the following issues:(1) Is the decision by the Public Employment Relations Board not to issue an unfair labor practices complaint under the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (Gov. Code, § 3500 et seq.) subject to judicial review? (2) Is a decision to lay off firefighters for fiscal reasons a matter that is subject to collective bargaining under the act?Given the questions asked by…

County of Los Angeles v. Los Angeles County Employee Relations Commission (Court of Appeal Case No. B217668) (Issued on 12/14/10; Rehearing granted on 1/11/11)I discussed this case in a prior blog post. (Click here for prior post) In short, the Court of Appeal held that under California’s right to privacy, non-union members of a bargaining unit (i.e. agency fee payers) have a reasonable expectation of privacy that their personal information will remain confidential.  The Court held that before the home addresses of non-union members can be released, the employer must provide these employees with notice and an opportunity to object…