BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 537|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 537
Author: Bonta (D)
Amended: 9/6/13 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT & RETIRE.COMMITTEE : 3-2, 6/24/13
AYES: Beall, Block, Yee
NOES: Walters, Gaines
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-2, 8/30/13
AYES: De León, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Gaines
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 54-24, 5/30/13 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Meyers-Milias-Brown Act: impasse procedures
SOURCE : AFSCME
California Professional Firefighters
SEIU
DIGEST : This bill 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 memorandum of understanding (MOU), mediation,
and arbitration procedures.
Senate Floor Amendments of 9/6/13 clarify the conditions
governing arbitrations between employee organizations and local
public employers and specify that the time for a governing board
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to reject or accept a MOU runs 30 days from the date of the
noticed public meeting rather than from the date of
presentation.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1. Establishes the MMBA, 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.
2. 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.
3. 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.
4. 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.
5. 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.
This bill:
1. Requires that if a tentative agreement is reached by the
authorized representatives of a public agency and a
recognized employee organization(s), that agreement is
required to be presented to the governing body for
determination and provides that the governing body has 30
days from the date it is first considered at a duly noticed
public meeting to reject the tentative agreement or it shall
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be deemed adopted.
2. Clarifies that a decision by the governing body to reject
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.
3. Requires, if the governing body adopts the tentative
agreement, the parties to jointly prepare a written MOU.
4. Specifies that an arbitration agreement contained in an MOU
is enforceable, as specified, with the following
stipulations:
A. Prohibits assertions of failing to satisfy procedural
requirements from being a basis for refusing to submit the
dispute to arbitration.
B. Requires that all procedural defenses shall be
presented to the arbitrator for resolution.
C. Prohibits a court from refusing to order arbitration
because the issue could also constitute an unfair labor
practice under the jurisdiction of PERB.
D. Clarifies that if a party to an MOU files an unfair
practice charge based on such conduct, PERB is required to
place the charge in abeyance if the dispute is subject to
final and binding arbitration pursuant to the MOU and
dismiss the charge, as specified.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, approximately
$200,000 in annual costs to the PERB (General Fund).
SUPPORT : (Verified 9/9/13)
AFSCME (co-source)
California Professional Firefighters (co-source)
SEIU (co-source)
Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs
California Association of Professional Employees
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California Labor Federation
Glendale City Employees Association
Laborers International Union of North America, Locals 777 and
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
OPPOSITION : (Verified 9/9/13)
Association of California Water Agencies
Butter County Board of Supervisors
California Association of Sanitation Agencies
California State Association of Counties
Cities of Brawley, Ceres, Del Mar, El Centro, Livingston, Lodi,
San Jose, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Barbara, Santa
Maria, and Vista
Contra Costa County
Counties of Sutter and Tehama
El Dorado Irrigation District
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
Sacramento County Board of Supervisors
Urban Counties Caucus
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to this bill's sponsor, the
California Professional Firefighters, "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."
SEIU notes that by addressing five concerns, including
arbitration agreements, mediation, ground rules, contract
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ratification, and employee relations ordinances, this bill 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 this 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."
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 this bill will result in increased costs
to counties and PERB due to the expansion of access to
mediation. CSAC questions whether this bill "can be implemented
as a practical matter" because with 58 counties, 482 cities, and
over 2,000 special districts, many with dozens of bargaining
units, it is unlikely that there are enough mediators to meet
the new demand for mediation that is created by this bill and
thus, the collective bargaining process will become long and
drawn out.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 54-24, 5/30/13
AYES: Alejo, Ammiano, Atkins, Bloom, Blumenfield, Bocanegra,
Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon,
Campos, Chau, Chesbro, Cooley, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong,
Fox, Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray,
Hall, Roger Hernández, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lowenthal,
Medina, Mitchell, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Pan, Perea, V.
Manuel Pérez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Salas, Skinner,
Stone, Ting, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Williams, Yamada,
John A. Pérez
NOES: Achadjian, Allen, Bigelow, Chávez, Conway, Dahle,
Donnelly, Beth Gaines, Gorell, Grove, Hagman, Harkey, Jones,
Linder, Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor, Melendez, Morrell,
Nestande, Olsen, Patterson, Wagner, Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Holden, Vacancy
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JL:k 9/9/13 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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