BILL NUMBER: AB 2596 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 31, 2002
PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 31, 2002
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 31, 2002
AMENDED IN SENATE AUGUST 26, 2002
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 1, 2002
INTRODUCED BY Assembly Member Wesson and Senators Burton and
Polanco
FEBRUARY 21, 2002
An act to amend Sections 1164, 1164.3, and 1164.11 of, and to add
Sections 1164.12 and 1164.14 to, the Labor Code, relating to
agricultural labor relations.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2596, Wesson. Agricultural labor mediation procedures.
SB 1156 of the 2001-02 Regular Session would provide a mediation
procedure applicable to specified agricultural employers and a labor
organization certified as the exclusive bargaining agent of a
bargaining unit of agricultural employees. It would permit either
party to file with the Agricultural Labor Relations Board, at any
time following 90 days after certification of the labor organization,
a declaration that the parties have failed to reach a collective
bargaining agreement and a request for an order directing the parties
to mandatory mediation and conciliation of their issues.
This bill would permit the filing of a declaration with the board
at any time following 90 days after a renewed demand to bargain by an
agricultural employer or a labor organization certified prior to
January 1, 2003, or 180 days after an initial request to bargain by
an agricultural employer or a labor organization certified after
January 1, 2003.
SB 1156 would permit either party to file with the board,
following a specified period of mediation and conciliation, a
petition for review of a report issued by a mediator selected by the
parties that determines all issues not resolved by the parties. It
provides a procedure whereby the board may grant a review of the
mediator's report, order the provisions that are not the subject of
the petition into effect, and order an additional mediation period on
the controverted items, among other things.
SB 1156 would apply the mediation and conciliation procedures of
the bill to all election certifications issued by the board before or
after the effective date of the bill.
This bill would permit the filing of a demand with the board for
mediation of issues only for cases that meet specified criteria.
SB 1156 would not permit a party to file with the board more than
a specified number of declarations per calendar year, as specified.
This bill would not permit a party to file with the board more
than 75 declarations with the board.
This bill would provide that the mediation procedures added by SB
1156 shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2008, and as of
that date is repealed, unless a later enacted statute that is enacted
before January 1, 2008, deletes or extends that date.
THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
SECTION 1. Section 1164 of the Labor Code, as added by Senate Bill
No. 1156 of the 2001-02 Regular Session, is amended to read:
1164. (a) An agricultural employer or a labor organization
certified as the exclusive bargaining agent of a bargaining unit of
agricultural employees may file with the board, at any time following
(1) 90 days after a renewed demand to bargain by an agricultural
employer or a labor organization certified prior to January 1, 2003,
which meets the conditions specified in Section 1164.11 or (2) 180
days after an initial request to bargain by an agricultural employer
or a labor organization certified after January 1, 2003, a
declaration that the parties have failed to reach a collective
bargaining agreement and a request that the board issue an order
directing the parties to mandatory mediation and conciliation of
their issues. "Agricultural employer," for purposes of this chapter,
means an agricultural employer, as defined in subdivision (c) of
Section 1140.4, who has employed or engaged 25 or more agricultural
employees during any calendar week in the year preceding the filing
of a declaration pursuant to this subdivision.
(b) Upon receipt of a declaration pursuant to subdivision (a), the
board shall immediately issue an order directing the parties to
mandatory mediation and conciliation of their issues. The board
shall request from the California State Mediation and Conciliation
Service a list of nine mediators who have experience in labor
mediation. The California State Mediation and Conciliation Service
may include names chosen from its own mediators, or from a list of
names supplied by the American Arbitration Association or the Federal
Mediation Service. The parties shall select a mediator from the
list within seven days of receipt of the list. If the parties cannot
agree on a mediator, they shall strike names from the list until a
mediator is chosen by process of elimination. If a party refuses to
participate in selecting a mediator, the other party may choose a
mediator from the list. The costs of mediation and conciliation
shall be borne equally by the parties.
(c) Upon appointment, the mediator shall immediately schedule
meetings at a time and location reasonably accessible to the parties.
Mediation shall proceed for a period of 30 days. Upon expiration
of the 30-day period, if the parties do not resolve the issues to
their mutual satisfaction, the mediator shall certify that the
mediation process has been exhausted. Upon mutual agreement of the
parties, the mediator may extend the mediation period for an
additional 30 days.
(d) Within 21 days, the mediator shall file a report with the
board that resolves all of the issues between the parties and
establishes the final terms of a collective bargaining agreement,
including all issues subject to mediation and all issues resolved by
the parties prior to the certification of the exhaustion of the
mediation process. With respect to any issues in dispute between the
parties, the report shall include the basis for the mediator's
determination. The mediator's determination shall be supported by
the record.
SEC. 2. Section 1164.3 of the Labor Code, as added by Senate Bill
No. 1156 of the 2001-02 Regular Session, is amended to read:
1164.3. (a) Either party, within seven days of the filing of the
report by the mediator, may petition the board for review of the
report. The petitioning party shall, in the petition, specify the
particular provisions of the mediator's report for which it is
seeking review by the board and shall specify the specific grounds
authorizing review by the board. The board, within 10 days of
receipt of a petition, may accept for review those portions of the
petition for which a prima facie case has been established that (1) a
provision of the collective bargaining agreement set forth in the
mediator's report is unrelated to wages, hours, or other conditions
of employment within the meaning of Section 1155.2, or (2) a
provision of the collective bargaining agreement set forth in the
mediator's report is based on clearly erroneous findings of material
fact.
(b) If it finds grounds exist to grant review within the meaning
of subdivision (a), the board shall order the provisions of the
report that are not the subject of the petition for review into
effect as a final order of the board. If the board does not accept a
petition for review or no petition for review is filed, then the
mediator's report shall become a final order of the board.
(c) The board shall issue a decision concerning the petition and
if it determines that a provision of the collective bargaining
agreement contained in the mediator's report violates the provisions
of subdivision (a), it shall, within 21 days, issue an order
requiring the mediator to modify the terms of the collective
bargaining agreement. The mediator shall meet with the parties for
additional mediation for a period not to exceed 30 days. At the
expiration of this mediation period, the mediator shall prepare a
second report resolving any outstanding issues. The second report
shall be filed with the board.
(d) Either party, within seven days of the filing of the mediator'
s second report, may petition the board for a review of the mediator'
s second report pursuant to the procedures specified in subdivision
(a). If no petition is filed, the mediator's report shall take
immediate effect as a final order of the board. If a petition is
filed, the board shall issue an order confirming the mediator's
report and order it into immediate effect, unless it finds that the
report is subject to review for any of the grounds specified in
subdivision (a), in which case the board shall determine the issues
and shall issue a final order of the board.
(e) Either party, within seven days of the filing of the report by
the mediator, may petition the board to set aside the report if a
prima facie case is established that any of the following have
occurred: (1) the mediator's report was procured by corruption,
fraud, or other undue means, (2) there was corruption in the
mediator, or (3) the rights of the petitioning party were
substantially prejudiced by the misconduct of the mediator. For the
sole purpose of interpreting the terms of paragraphs (1), (2), and
(3), case law that interprets similar terms used in Section 1286.2 of
the Code of Civil Procedure shall apply. If the board finds that
any of these grounds exist, the board shall within 10 days vacate the
report of the mediator and shall order the selection and appointment
of a new mediator, and an additional mediation period of 30 days,
pursuant to Section 1164.
(f) Within 60 days after the order of the board takes effect,
either party or the board may file an action to enforce the order of
the board, in the superior court for the County of Sacramento or in
the county where either party's principal place of business is
located. No final order of the board shall be stayed during any
appeal under this section, unless the court finds that (1) the
appellant will be irreparably harmed by the implementation of the
board's order, and (2) the appellant has demonstrated a likelihood of
success on appeal.
SEC. 3. Section 1164.11 of the Labor Code, as added by Senate Bill
No. 1156 of the 2001-02 Regular Session, is amended to read:
1164.11. A demand made pursuant to paragraph (1) of subdivision
(a) of Section 1164 may be made only in cases which meet all of the
following criteria: (a) the parties have failed to reach agreement
for at least one year after the date on which the labor organization
made its initial request to bargain, (b) the employer has committed
an unfair labor practice, and (c) the parties have not previously had
a binding contract between them.
SEC. 4. Section 1164.12 is added to the Labor Code, immediately
following Section 1164.11 of the Labor Code, as added by Senate Bill
No. 1156 of the 2001-02 Regular Session, to read:
1164.12. To ensure an orderly implementation of the mediation
process ordered by this chapter, a party may not file a total of more
than 75 declarations with the board. In calculating the number of
declarations so filed, the identity of the other party with respect
to whom the declaration is filed, shall be irrelevant.
SEC. 5. Section 1164.14 is added to the Labor Code, immediately
following Section 1164.13 of the Labor Code, as added by Senate Bill
No. 1156 of the 2001-02 Regular Session, to read:
1164.14. This chapter shall remain in effect only until January 1,
2008, and as of that date is repealed, unless a later enacted
statute, that is enacted before January 1, 2008, deletes or extends
that date.
SEC. 6. This act shall become operative only if this bill and
Senate Bill No. 1156 is enacted and becomes effective on or before
January 1, 2003.