BILL ANALYSIS Ó
Senate Appropriations Committee Fiscal Summary
Senator Kevin de León, Chair
AB 537 (Bonta) - Local Government Impasse Procedures
Amended: August 12, 2013 Policy Vote: PE&R 3-2
Urgency: No Mandate: Yes
Hearing Date: August 30, 2013
Consultant: Maureen Ortiz
SUSPENSE FILE. As proposed to be amended.
Bill Summary: AB 537 makes several changes to the
Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (MMBA) governing impasse procedures for
local agencies and their respective employee representation
organizations with respect to ground rules, ratifications of
MOUs, mediation, and arbitration procedures.
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Fiscal Impact:
Approximately $200,000 in annual costs to the Public
Employees' Relations Board (General Fund)
Background: Existing law establishes the Meyers-Milias-Brown
Act, which provides a statutory framework for local government
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.
Under MMBA, local public agencies are authorized to adopt
reasonable rules and regulations after consultation in good
faith with representatives of an employee organization or
organizations. A public agency is required 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. The Public Employment Relations Board
(PERB) is charged with resolving disputes and enforcing the
statutory duties and rights of local public agency employers and
employee organizations.
Current law further 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
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governing body or statutory representative for determination.
If, after a reasonable amount of time, representatives of the
public agency and the employee organization fail to reach an
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.
Current law 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.
A public agency is allowed to implement its last, best and final
offer once any applicable mediation and factfinding procedures
have been exhausted. Current law 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.
Proposed Law: AB 537 contains the following provisions:
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
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agreement, that the parties shall jointly prepare a written
memorandum of understanding.
e) Provides that an arbitration agreement contained in a MOU
is enforceable, as specified.
f) Extends the period of time whereby the parties must
mutually agree upon the appointment of a mediator from 5
days to 14 days of a request by one of the parties.
Related Legislation: AB 616 (Bocanegra), pending on this
committee's Suspense File also makes several changes to local
government impasse procedures.
Staff Comments: AB 537 makes changes to the MMBA that will
require additional workload to the PERB similar to its workload
under provisions of the Educational Employment Relations Act
(EERA), also under the jurisdiction of the Public Employment
Relations Board.