BILL NUMBER: SB 614 CHAPTERED 10/13/01 CHAPTER 805 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE OCTOBER 13, 2001 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR OCTOBER 12, 2001 PASSED THE SENATE SEPTEMBER 13, 2001 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 6, 2001 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY SEPTEMBER 5, 2001 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 23, 2001 INTRODUCED BY Senator Burton FEBRUARY 22, 2001 An act to amend Sections 3543 and 3546 of the Government Code, relating to school employees. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 614, Burton. School employees: labor relations. Existing law provides that public school employees who are in a unit for which an exclusive representative has been selected, are required, as a condition of continued employment, either to join the recognized employee organization or to pay the organization a fair share service fee. Existing law further provides that upon notification to the employer by the exclusive representative, the amount of the fee is required to be deducted by the employer from the wages or salary of the employee and paid to the employee organization, and prescribes related matters. This bill would instead require that, notwithstanding any other provision of law, upon receiving notice from the exclusive representative of a public school employee who is in a unit for which an exclusive representative has been selected, the employer would be required to deduct the amount of a fair share service fee from the wages and salary of the employee and pay that amount to the employee organization. The bill would also provide that the employee would, thereafter, be required, as a condition of employment, either to join the recognized employee organization or pay that fair share service fee, would prescribe related matters, and would make conforming changes in related provisions. The bill would require the employer of a public school employee to provide the exclusive representative of a public employee with the home address of each member of a bargaining unit, regardless of when that employee commences employment, in order to satisfy specified notification requirements. By imposing new duties on school districts, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement, including the creation of a State Mandates Claims Fund to pay the costs of mandates that do not exceed $1,000,000 statewide and other procedures for claims whose statewide costs exceed $1,000,000. This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these statutory provisions. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 3543 of the Government Code is amended to read: 3543. (a) Public school employees shall have the right to form, join, and participate in the activities of employee organizations of their own choosing for the purpose of representation on all matters of employer-employee relations. If the exclusive representative of a unit provides notification, as specified by subdivision (a) of Section 3546, public school employees who are in a unit for which an exclusive representative has been selected, shall be required, as a condition of continued employment, to join the recognized employee organization or to pay the organization a fair share services fee, as required by Section 3546. If a majority of the members of a bargaining unit rescind that arrangement, either of the following options shall be applicable: (1) The recognized employee organization may petition for the reinstatement of the arrangement described in subdivision (a) of Section 3546 pursuant to the procedures in paragraph (2) of subdivision (d) of Section 3546. (2) The employees may negotiate either of the two forms of organizational security described in subdivision (i) of Section 3540.1. (b) Any employee may at any time present grievances to his or her employer, and have such grievances adjusted, without the intervention of the exclusive representative, as long as the adjustment is reached prior to arbitration pursuant to Sections 3548.5, 3548.6, 3548.7, and 3548.8 and the adjustment is not inconsistent with the terms of a written agreement then in effect; provided that the public school employer shall not agree to a resolution of the grievance until the exclusive representative has received a copy of the grievance and the proposed resolution and has been given the opportunity to file a response. SEC. 2. Section 3546 of the Government Code is amended to read: 3546. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, upon receiving notice from the exclusive representative of a public school employee who is in a unit for which an exclusive representative has been selected pursuant to this chapter, the employer shall deduct the amount of the fair share service fee authorized by this section from the wages and salary of the employee and pay that amount to the employee organization. Thereafter, the employee shall, as a condition of continued employment, be required either to join the recognized employee organization or pay the fair share service fee. The amount of the fee shall not exceed the dues that are payable by members of the employee organization, and shall cover the cost of negotiation, contract administration, and other activities of the employee organization that are germane to its functions as the exclusive bargaining representative. Agency fee payers shall have the right, pursuant to regulations adopted by the Public Employment Relations Board, to receive a rebate or fee reduction upon request, of that portion of their fee that is not devoted to the cost of negotiations, contract administration, and other activities of the employee organization that are germane to its function as the exclusive bargaining representative. (b) The costs covered by the fee under this section may include, but shall not necessarily be limited to, the cost of lobbying activities designed to foster collective bargaining negotiations and contract administration, or to secure for the represented employees advantages in wages, hours, and other conditions of employment in addition to those secured through meeting and negotiating with the employer. (c) The arrangement described in subdivision (a) shall remain in effect unless it is rescinded pursuant to subdivision (d). The employer shall remain neutral, and shall not participate in any election conducted under this section unless required to do so by the board. (d) (1) The arrangement described in subdivision (a) may be rescinded by a majority vote of all the employees in the negotiating unit subject to that arrangement, if a request for a vote is supported by a petition containing 30 percent of the employees in the negotiating unit, the signatures are obtained in one academic year. There shall not be more than one vote taken during the term of any collective bargaining agreement in effect on or after January 1, 2001. (2) If the arrangement described in subdivision (a) is rescinded pursuant to paragraph (1), a majority of all employees in the negotiating unit may request that the arrangement be reinstated. That request shall be submitted to the board along with a petition containing the signatures of at least 30 percent of the employees in the negotiating unit. The vote shall be conducted at the worksite by secret ballot, and shall be conducted no sooner than one year after the rescission of the arrangement under this subdivision. (3) If the board determines that the appropriate number of signatures have been collected, it shall conduct the vote to rescind or reinstate in a manner that it shall prescribe in accordance with this subdivision. (4) The cost of conducting an election under this subdivision to reinstate the organizational security arrangement shall be borne by the petitioning party and the cost of conducting an election to rescind the arrangement shall be borne by the board. (e) The recognized employee organization shall indemnify and hold the public school employer harmless against any reasonable legal fees, legal costs, and settlement or judgment liability arising from any court or administrative action relating to the school district's compliance with this section. The recognized employee organization shall have the exclusive right to determine whether any such action or proceeding shall or shall not be compromised, resisted, defended, tried, or appealed. This indemnification and hold harmless duty shall not apply to actions related to compliance with this section brought by the exclusive representative of district employees against the public school employer. (f) The employer of a public school employee shall provide the exclusive representative of a public employee with the home address of each member of a bargaining unit, regardless of when that employee commences employment, so that the exclusive representative can comply with the notification requirements set forth by the United States Supreme Court in Chicago Teachers Union v. Hudson (1986) 89 L.Ed. 2d 232. SEC. 3. Notwithstanding Section 17610 of the Government Code, if the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7 (commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the Government Code. If the statewide cost of the claim for reimbursement does not exceed one million dollars ($1,000,000), reimbursement shall be made from the State Mandates Claims Fund.