Employee
Relations Services – Human Resources Division
Date: November 2000 No. 3
ADMINISTRATION
OF MMB TRANSFERRED TO PERB
"I’ve
read that unions can now take complaints to the Public Employment Relations
Board (PERB) instead of going to court. How
will this affect the County?”
Governor Davis recently signed SB 739 into law, transferring
administration of the Myers- Milias-Brown Act (MMB) to the Public Employment
Relations Board (PERB). PERB
jurisdiction will not include peace officers or management employees.
The impact of PERB on public sector employee relations will be felt in
several areas.
1.
Unfair
labor practice charges - The
Meyers-Milias-Brown Act is the state law that regulates employee relations in
the public sector. Presently, if a
union or employer believes that “other side” has violated MMB it would go to
the courts for relief. Under SB
739, PERB would have the responsibility to investigate and determine the
validity of “unfair labor practice” charges. Representation disputes would also be handled by PERB.
2.
Agency
Shop Agreement - An agency shop
agreement between a union and public employer requires employees in a bargaining
unit to pay union dues or a representation fee to the union.
Currently, this agreement must be negotiated.
Under SB 739, a union can unilaterally elect to have an agency shop and
the public employer is obligated to accept it.
Currently, agency shop agreements must be renegotiated at the end of a
MOU or every three years, but under SB 739 agency shop will be in effect as long
as the employee organization is recognized.
It is expected that the initial impact of SB
739 will be a dramatic increase in the number of unfair labor practice charges
filed because going to court is expensive while filing with PERB is “free.”
We can also expect to see many more agency shop arrangements, which will
strengthen unions. Certainly,
we will have a better understanding of the impact of SB 739 after living with it
a few years.
The agency shop
provisions of SB 739 will go into effect January 1, 2001, and the unfair labor
practice portion will become effective July 1, 2001.
Employee
Relations Bulletins are intended to provide an overview of subjects of interest.
For more detailed information contact Employee Relations.