BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó






          SENATE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT & RETIREMENT    BILL NO:  AB 537
          Jim Beall, Chair             HEARING DATE:  June 24, 2013
          AB 537 (Bonta)    as amended  6/17/13        FISCAL:  YES

           PUBLIC AGENCIES:  COLLECTIVE BARGAINING
           
           HISTORY  :

            Sponsor: American Federation of State, County and Municipal  
            Employees (AFSCME)
                   California Professional Firefighters (CPF)
                   Service Employees International Union California  
                   (SEIU)


            Other legislation:AB 616 (Bocanegra) 2013
                          Currently in Senate PE&R Committee
                           AB 1181(Gray) 2013
                          Currently in Senate PE&R Committee
                         AB 1606 (Perea),
                          Chapter 314, Statutes of 2012
                           AB 646 (Atkins),
                          Chapter 680, Statues of 2011

           ASSEMBLY VOTES  :

            PER & SS                 5-2       4/24/13
            Appropriations           12-5      5/24/13
            Assembly Floor           54-24     5/30/13
           
          SUMMARY  :

          AB 537 makes changes to the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (MMBA)  
          governing collective bargaining between local public agencies  
          and their employees with respect to ground rules,  
          ratifications of MOUs, mediation, arbitration and  
          factfinding.

           BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS  :
          
           1)Existing law  :

            a)  establishes the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (MMBA), which  
              provides a statutory framework for local government  
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          Date:  June 24, 2013                                    Page  
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              employer-employee relations by providing a reasonable  
              method of resolving disputes regarding wages, hours, and  
              other terms and conditions of employment between local  
              public employers and public employee organizations.

            b)  under MMBA, authorizes local public agencies to adopt  
              reasonable rules and regulations after consultation in  
              good faith with representatives of an employee  
              organization or organizations.

            c)  requires a public agency to meet and confer in good  
              faith with the representatives of a recognized employee  
              organization regarding wages, hours, and other terms and  
              conditions of employment.

            d)  delegates jurisdiction over the employer-employee  
              relationship to the Public Employment Relations Board  
              (PERB) and charges PERB with resolving disputes and  
              enforcing the statutory duties and rights of local public  
              agency employers and employee organizations.

            e)  provides that an agreement between the parties shall  
              not be final and binding upon the parties to the  
              negotiations until it is presented to the public agency's  
              governing body or statutory representative for  
              determination.

            f)  provides that if, after a reasonable amount of time,  
              representatives of the public agency and the employee  
              organization fail to reach agreement,  either  party may  
              request mediation.  Within 5 days of the mediation  
              request, existing law requires  both  parties to agree on  
              the appointment of a mediator and equally share the cost.  
               However, there is no provision for when the parties  
              cannot agree on a mediator.

            g)  authorizes an employee organization to request that the  
              parties' differences be submitted to a factfinding panel  
              following the appointment of a mediator or entering into  
              a mediation process, or following a written notice of a  
              declaration of impasse.

            h)  allows a public agency to implement its last, best and  
              final offer once any applicable mediation and factfinding  
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          Date:  June 24, 2013                                    Page  
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              procedures have been exhausted and provides that even  
              with  implementation of the best and final offer a  
              recognized employee organization has the right each year  
              to meet and confer with the public agency.

           2)This bill  :  
           
            a)  prohibits a public agency from proposing, as a  
              condition for meeting and conferring, ground rules that  
              limit the right of an employee or employee organization  
              to communicate with officials of the public agency.

            b)  requires that if a  tentative  agreement is reached by  
              the authorized representatives of the public agency and a  
              recognized employee organization or recognized employee  
              organizations, that agreement shall be presented to the  
              governing body for determination and provides that the  
              governing body has thirty (30) days to reject the  
              tentative agreement or it shall be deemed adopted.

            c)  clarifies that a decision by the governing body not to  
              adopt the tentative agreement shall not bar the filing of  
              an unfair practice charge for failure to have met and  
              bargained in good faith through authorized  
              representatives.

            d)  requires, if the governing body adopts the tentative  
              agreement, that the parties shall jointly prepare a  
              written memorandum of such understanding.

            e)  authorizes  either  party to request mediation if they  
              fail to reach agreement, with the following stipulations:

            i)     requires both parties to agree upon the appointment  
                 of a mediator within five days of the request.

            ii)    specifies that if the parties fail to agree on the  
                 appointment of a mediator, either party may request  
                 PERB appoint a mediator.

            iii)   requires PERB to appoint a mediator within five days  
                 of receiving the request.

            f)  specifies that an arbitration agreement contained in a  
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          Date:  June 24, 2013                                    Page  
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              MOU is enforceable, as specified, with the following  
              stipulations:

            i)     prohibits assertions of failing to satisfy  
                 procedural requirements from being a basis for  
                 refusing to submit the dispute to arbitration.

            ii)    requires that all procedural defenses shall be  
                 presented to the arbitrator for resolution.

            iii)   prohibits a court from refusing to order arbitration  
                 because the issue could also constitute an unfair  
                 labor practice under the jurisdiction of PERB.

            g)  requires a public agency to engage in the meet and  
              confer process before adopting reasonable rules and  
              regulations governing the administration of  
              employer-employee relations and specifies that disputes  
              arising under this provision will be resolved pursuant to  
              the factfinding procedures of the MMBA.

            h)  provides that if the Commission on State Mandates  
              determines that this bill contains costs mandated by the  
              state, reimbursement to local agencies and school  
              districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to  
              current law governing state mandated local costs.

           FISCAL  :

          According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, the  
          fiscal impact of administering the provisions of this bill  
          is:  1)  approximately $750,000 for necessary staffing as  
          estimated by PERB; and 2)  potential state mandated  
          reimbursement of local costs that would depend on the number  
          of requests for arbitration and mediation but could be in the  
          millions of dollars.

          The Commission on State Mandates has approved a test claim  
          for any local government subject to the jurisdiction of PERB  
          that incurs increased costs as a result of a mandate, meaning  
          their costs are eligible for reimbursement.  There are  
          several thousand local governments, many with dozens of  
          bargaining units that would be subject to the bill.

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          Date:  June 24, 2013                                    Page  
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           COMMENTS  :

           1)Arguments in Support  :

          According to the California Professional Firefighters (CPF),  
          "AB 537 proposes to enact changes that will advance the  
          parties' mission of protecting the health and welfare of the  
          public, providing impasse remedies necessary to afford public  
          employers the opportunity to safely alleviate the effects of  
          labor strife that would otherwise lead to the disruption of  
          the efficient delivery of public services to the people of  
          California."

          The Service Employees International Union (SEIU) notes that  
          by addressing 5 concerns,  including arbitration agreements,  
          mediation, ground rules, contract ratification, and employee  
          relations ordinances, AB 537 is intended " to ensure  
          meaningful dialogue between employers and employees, as well  
          as provide a reasonable method for resolving disputes."

          The Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs states the  
          bill "clarifies that a public agency must meet and confer in  
          good faith with recognized employee organizations before  
          adopting reasonable rules and regulations governing the  
          administration of employer-employee relations."

           2)Arguments in Opposition  :  
           
          The California State Association of Counties (CSAC) argues  
          that "AB 537 ignores decades of local rulemaking on  
          collective bargaining procedures and undermines counties'  
          constitutional right to provide for the compensation of  
          employees."

          CSAC also believes that the bill would result in increased  
          costs to counties and PERB due to the expansion of access to  
          mediation.  CSAC questions whether AB 537 "can be implemented  
          as a practical matter" because with 58 counties, 482 cities,  
          and over 2000 special districts, many with dozens of  
          bargaining units, it is unlikely that there are enough  
          mediators to meet the new demand for mediation that would be  
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          Date:  June 24, 2013                                    Page  
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          created by the bill and thus, the collective bargaining  
          process would become long and drawn out.  "Factfinding and  
          mandatory mediation will add 90 days or more each to the  
          bargaining timeline, a process that can already take 6 months  
          or more."

           3)SUPPORT  :

            American Federation of State, County and Municipal  
             Employees (AFSCME), AFL-CIO, Co-Sponsor
            California Professional Firefighters (CPF), Co-Sponsor
            Service Employees International Union California (SEIU),  
            Co-Sponsor
            Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs (ALADS)
            California Association of Professional Employees (CAPE)
            California Labor Federation (CLF)
            Glendale City Employees Association (GCEA)
            Laborers International Union of North America (LIUNA),  
            Locals 777 & 792
            Los Angeles Probation Officers' Union, AFSCME, Local 685
            Organization of SMUD Employees
            Riverside Sheriffs' Association
            San Bernardino Public Employees Association
            San Luis Obispo County Employees Association
            Santa Rosa City Employees Association

           4)OPPOSITION  :

            Association of California Water Agencies (ACWA)
            Butter County Board of Supervisors
            California Association of Sanitation Agencies (CASA)
            California State Association of Counties (CSAC)
            City of Brawley
            City of Ceres
            City of Del Mar
            City of El Centro
            City of Livingston
            City of Lodi
            City of San Luis Obispo
            City of San Mateo
            City of Santa Barbara
            City of Santa Maria
            City of Vista
            Contra Costa County
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          Date:  June 24, 2013                                    Page  
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            County of Sutter
            County of Tehama
            El Dorado Irrigation District (EID)
            League of California Cities
            Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
            Marin County Board of Supervisors
            Napa County Board of Supervisors
            Orange County Board of Supervisors
            Placer County Board of Supervisors
            Rural County Representatives of California (RCRC)
            Sacramento County Board of Supervisors
            Urban Counties Caucus (UCC)




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          Glenn A. Miles
          Date:  June 24, 2013                                    Page  
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