BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó




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                                   THIRD READING 


          Bill No:  AB 874
          Author:   Santiago (D), et al.
          Amended:  8/15/16 in Senate
          Vote:     21 

           SENATE PUBLIC EMP. & RET. COMMITTEE:  3-2, 4/25/16
           AYES:  Pan, Beall, Hall
           NOES:  Morrell, Moorlach

           SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE:  5-2, 6/21/16
           AYES:  Jackson, Hertzberg, Leno, Monning, Wieckowski
           NOES:  Moorlach, Anderson

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE:  5-2, 8/11/16
           AYES:  Lara, Beall, Hill, McGuire, Mendoza
           NOES:  Bates, Nielsen 

           ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  52-25, 6/2/15 - See last page for vote

           SUBJECT:   Collective bargaining:  Judicial Council


          SOURCE:    Service Employees International Union, Local 1000
          
          DIGEST:    This bill provides collective bargaining rights to  
          Judicial Council employees who are exempt from state civil  
          service by making the Ralph C. Dills Act (Dills Act) applicable  
          to specified, judicial branch employees.  

          ANALYSIS:
          
          Existing law:
          
          1)Establishes, in the California Constitution, the Judicial  
            Council which has responsibility to survey judicial business;  








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            study the operation of the courts; adopt rules not  
            inconsistent with statute in the areas of court  
            administration, practice, and procedure; and make  
            recommendations to the courts, the Governor, and the  
            Legislature.

          2)Exempts, in the California Constitution, officers and  
            employees appointed or employed by councils, commissions or  
            public corporations in the judicial branch or by a court of  
            record or officer of the courts from civil service.

          3)Provides, under the Dills Act, collective bargaining for state  
            employees of the executive branch which establishes a process  
            for determining wages, hours and terms and conditions of  
            employment for represented employees.  Managerial,  
            supervisory, and confidential employees are excluded from  
            bargaining rights.

          4)Regulates labor relations between trial courts and trial court  
            employees under the Trial Court Employment Protection and  
            Governance Act (TCEPGA).

          5)Establishes the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), a  
            quasi-judicial administrative agency, to administer the  
            collective bargaining statutes covering public employees  
            including school, college, state, local agency, and trial  
            court employees.

          6)Requires the Governor and the recognized state employee  
            organizations to meet and confer in good faith regarding  
            wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment  
            and, if an agreement is reached, jointly prepare a written  
            memorandum of understanding which shall be presented, when  
            appropriate, to the Legislature for determination.  

          This bill:

          1)Provides that the Dills Act shall apply to employees of the  
            Judicial Council, as specified.

          2)Defines "state employee" to include any employee of the  
            Judicial Council except for managerial, supervisory, and  








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            confidential employees, as specified.  Also provides that the  
            definition of "state employee" does not include any judicial  
            officer or employee of the Supreme Court, the courts of  
            appeal, or the Habeas Corpus Resource Center.

          3)Defines "employer", for purposes of bargaining or meeting and  
            conferring in good faith, as the Administrative Director of  
            the Courts, or his or her designated representatives, acting  
            with the authorization of the chairperson of the Judicial  
            Council.

          4)Requires that references to actions or decisions by the  
            Governor, or his or her designee, in the Dills Act, shall mean  
            actions or decisions by the Administrative Director of the  
            Courts, or his or her designated representative, acting with  
            the authorization of the chairperson of the Judicial Council.

          5)Provides that provisions of the Dills Act governing  
            legislative review and approval of state Memoranda of  
            Understanding shall not apply to the Judicial Council and its  
            employees.

          6)Prohibits PERB, when determining appropriate bargaining units  
            for Judicial Council employees, from including them in a  
            bargaining unit that includes employees other than Judicial  
            Council employees.

          7)Gives the Judicial Council has the authority and discretion to  
            designate state employee positions as excluded positions  
            provided that managerial, supervisory, confidential, and  
            excluded positions not included in bargaining units under this  
            provision shall not exceed one third of the total authorized  
            Judicial Council positions as stated in the Department of  
            Finance Salaries and Wages Supplement.

          8)Provides that the designation of the excluded positions under  
            this section shall not be subject to review by PERB.

          Background


          Although TCEPGA provides collective bargaining rights to  








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          California trial court employees, their Judicial Council  
          colleagues doing similar work do not have collective bargaining  
          rights because they are constitutionally exempt from state civil  
          service and thus, not covered by the Dills Act which provides  
          collective bargaining rights to state employees.  Since Judicial  
          Council employees are state employees, the Dills Act may be an  
          appropriate framework for providing collective bargaining  
          rights. 


          FISCAL EFFECT:   Appropriation:    No          Fiscal  
          Com.:YesLocal:   No






          According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:

           Annual General Fund costs in the low hundreds of thousands of  
            dollars annually to Judicial Council to establish and maintain  
            labor and employee relations functions.

           To the extent that the bill results in salary or benefits  
            increase resulting from collective bargaining, the bill could  
            result in unknown increased ongoing employment costs.


          SUPPORT:   (Verified8/15/16)


          Service Employees International Union, Local 1000 (source)
          American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees
          California Labor Federation
          California State Council of the Service Employees International  
          Union




          OPPOSITION:   (Verified8/12/16)








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          None received

          ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT:   According to the sponsor, "since  
          Judicial Council employees are expressly exempt from state civil  
          service rules by Article 7 Section 4(b) of the California  
          Constitution, the Dills Act does not confer bargaining rights  
          for Judicial Council employees.


          "As a result, Judicial Council employees are not represented by  
          a union, but would like to be.  The Government Code cannot be  
          amended to make Judicial Council employees civil service  
          employees due to the state's constitutional prohibition.  
          However, the Dills Act can be amended to confer bargaining  
          rights to Judicial Council employees to allow them union  
          representation."
          
          ASSEMBLY FLOOR:  52-25, 6/2/15
          AYES:  Alejo, Bloom, Bonilla, Bonta, Burke, Calderon, Campos,  
            Chau, Chiu, Chu, Cooley, Cooper, Dababneh, Daly, Dodd, Eggman,  
            Frazier, Cristina Garcia, Eduardo Garcia, Gatto, Gipson,  
            Gomez, Gonzalez, Gray, Roger Hernández, Holden, Irwin,  
            Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Lopez, Low, McCarty, Medina,  
            Mullin, Nazarian, O'Donnell, Perea, Quirk, Rendon,  
            Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Santiago, Mark Stone,  
            Thurmond, Ting, Waldron, Weber, Williams, Wood, Atkins
          NOES:  Achadjian, Travis Allen, Baker, Bigelow, Brough, Chang,  
            Dahle, Beth Gaines, Gallagher, Grove, Hadley, Harper, Jones,  
            Kim, Lackey, Maienschein, Mathis, Mayes, Melendez, Obernolte,  
            Olsen, Patterson, Steinorth, Wagner, Wilk
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Brown, Chávez, Gordon

          Prepared by:Glenn Miles / P.E. & R. / (916) 651-1519
          8/15/16 20:33:18


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