Amended in Senate September 6, 2013

Amended in Senate September 3, 2013

Amended in Senate August 12, 2013

Amended in Senate June 17, 2013

Amended in Assembly April 17, 2013

Amended in Assembly March 19, 2013

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 537

Introduced by Assembly Member Bonta

February 20, 2013

An act to amend begin delete Sections 3505 and end delete begin insert Section end insert 3505.1 of, and to add Section 3505.8 to, the Government Code, relating to public employment.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 537, as amended, Bonta. Meyers-Milias-Brown Act: impasse procedures.

begin delete

The Meyers-Milias-Brown Act requires the governing body of a local public agency to meet and confer in good faith regarding wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment with representatives of recognized employee organization. The act requires that, in order to meet and confer in good faith, a public agency meet personally and confer promptly, and continue for a reasonable period of time, with the employee organization in order to exchange freely prior to the agency adopting a budget for the next fiscal year.

end delete begin delete

This bill would prohibit a public agency from conditioning the meeting and conferring on a limitation on the right of employees or an employee organization to communicate with officials of the agency.

end delete

The begin insert Meyers-Milias-Brown Act requires the governing body of a local public agency to meet and confer in good faith regarding wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment with representatives of recognized employee organization. The end insert act requires, if an agreement is reached, that the parties prepare jointly a nonbinding written memorandum of understanding of the agreement that would then be presented to the governing body or its statutory representative for determination.

This bill would require begin delete that end delete begin insert that, if end insert a tentative agreement begin insert is end insert reached by the begin delete parties be presented to end delete begin insert parties, end insert the governing body begin delete for determination and, if not rejected end delete begin insert vote to accept or reject that agreement end insert within 30 begin delete days, be deemed adopted. This end delete begin insert days of the date it is first considered, as specified. The end insert bill would not bar the filing of a charge for failure to meet and confer in good faith if the governing body rejects the tentative agreement. The bill would further require the parties to jointly prepare a written memorandum of understanding upon adoption of the tentative agreement by the governing body.

Under existing law, a written agreement to submit to arbitration a specified controversy is valid, enforceable, and irrevocable, except if grounds exist for the revocation of the written agreement.

This bill would additionally provide that an arbitration agreement contained in a memorandum of understanding entered into under the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act is enforceable, as specified.

Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: no. State-mandated local program: no.

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

begin delete

SECTION 1.  

Section 3505 of the Government Code is amended
to read:

3505.  

(a) The governing body of a public agency, or the
boards, commissions, administrative officers, or other
representatives as properly designated by law or by a governing
body, shall meet and confer in good faith regarding wages, hours,
and other terms and conditions of employment with representatives
of those recognized employee organizations, as defined in
subdivision (b) of Section 3501, and shall consider fully the
presentations as are made by the employee organization on behalf
of its members prior to arriving at a determination of policy or
course of action.

(b) “Meet and confer in good faith” means that a public agency,
or such representatives as it may designate, and representatives of
recognized employee organizations, shall have the mutual
obligation personally to meet and confer promptly upon request
by either party and continue for a reasonable period of time in
order to exchange freely information, opinions, and proposals, and
to endeavor to reach agreement on matters within the scope of
representation prior to the adoption by the public agency of its
final budget for the ensuing year. A public agency shall not propose
as a condition of meeting and conferring a limitation on the right
of an employee organization or employees of the agency to
communicate with officials of the agency. The process should
include adequate time for the resolution of impasses where specific
procedures for the resolution are contained in local rule, regulation,
or ordinance, or when these procedures are utilized by mutual
consent.

end delete

begin delete SEC. 2. end delete
begin insert SECTION 1. end insert   

Section 3505.1 of the Government Code is
amended to read:

3505.1.  

If a tentative agreement is reached by the authorized
representatives of the public agency and a recognized employee
organization or recognized employee organizations, begin delete that tentative
agreement shall be presented to end delete the governing body begin delete for
determination. If the governing body does not end delete begin insert shall vote to accept
or end insert reject the tentative agreement within 30 days begin delete from its
presentation, it shall be deemed adopted end delete begin insert of the date it is first
considered at a duly noticed public meeting end insert . A decision by the
governing body to reject the tentative agreement shall not bar the
filing of a charge of unfair practice for failure to meet and confer
in good faith. If the governing body adopts the tentative agreement,
the parties shall jointly prepare a written memorandum of
understanding.

begin delete SEC. 3. end delete
begin insert SEC. 2. end insert   

Section 3505.8 is added to the Government Code, to
read:

3505.8.  

An arbitration agreement contained in a memorandum
of understanding entered into under this chapter shall be
enforceable in an action brought pursuant to Title 9 (commencing
with Section 1280) of Part 3 of the Code of Civil Procedure. An
assertion that the arbitration claim is untimely or begin delete that end delete begin insert otherwise
barred because end insert the party seeking arbitration has failed to satisfy
the procedural prerequisites to arbitration shall not be a basis for
refusing to submit the dispute to arbitration. All procedural
defenses shall be presented to the arbitrator for resolution. A court
shall not refuse to order arbitration because a party to the
memorandum of understanding contends that the conduct in
question arguably constitutes an unfair practice subject to the
jurisdiction of the board. begin insert end insert begin insert If a party to a memorandum of
understanding files an unfair practice charge based on such
conduct, the board shall place the charge in abeyance if the dispute
is subject to final and binding arbitration pursuant to the
memorandum of understanding, and shall dismiss the charge at
the conclusion of the arbitration process unless the charging party
demonstrates that the settlement or arbitration award is repugnant
to the purposes of this chapter. end insert