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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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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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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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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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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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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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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