BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 686
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Date of Hearing: July 15, 2015
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Jimmy Gomez, Chair
SB 686
(Pan) - As Amended April 6, 2015
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Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: NoReimbursable: No
SUMMARY:
This bill provides full collective bargaining rights, pursuant
to the Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act (HEERA),
to supervisory sworn peace officers of the University of
California (UC) or the Hastings College of the Law (Hastings).
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Specifically, this bill:
1)Makes HEERA provisions that limit the collective bargaining
rights of supervisory employees inapplicable to the
supervisory sworn peace officers, such that they would receive
full collective bargaining rights pursuant to HEERA.
2)Provides that HEERA provisions to prohibit supervisory
employees from participating on behalf of nonsupervisory
employees in the handling of grievances, in meet and confer
sessions, or in voting on questions of ratification or
rejection of memoranda of understanding governing
nonsupervisory employees shall still apply.
3)Prohibits these supervisory sworn peace officers from being
placed in the same collective bargaining unit as
nonsupervisory employees.
FISCAL EFFECT:
1)UC estimates initial costs of about $500,000 (General Fund)
associated with collective bargaining, to include holding
bargaining sessions, planning, researching, drafting language,
responding to union formation requests, and travel expenses
associated with negotiators/assistant negotiators, faculty
representatives and campus labor relations representatives.
Each of the UC's 10 campuses has a police department that
employs fully sworn law enforcement officers with full arrest
powers and primary jurisdiction for law enforcement on their
campus.
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There are approximately 60-70 employees throughout UC, with
the classification of Sergeant, who could be affected by the
provisions in this bill. The systemwide salaries for these
individuals are currently $7.1 million. To the extent
collective bargaining negotiations result in larger salary
increases for these employees, the additional costs would be
$71,000 for each additional percentage increase.
4)Hastings indicates its security function is staffed by peace
officers represented by the Hastings Public Safety Officers
Association, but they are not "sworn" peace officers and thus
may not be affected by SB 686. If this collective bargaining
right were to be extended to the two positions supervising
nine full-time public safety officers, collective bargaining
costs would be around $100,000. The cost impact of higher
salaries resulting from collective bargaining would be minor.
COMMENTS:
Background and Purpose. Under HEERA, UC and California State
University (CSU) police sergeants do not possesses the same
collective bargaining rights, though they perform the same
duties. CSU sergeants are not designated as supervisors, and,
per a former Public Employees Relations Board (PERB) decision,
police sergeants who are employed by the UC Police Department
are classified as "supervisory employees" and are granted only
limited collective bargaining rights.
According to the author, "UC police officers heavily contribute
to the safety of UC campuses. They protect our UC students and
deserve the right to have their voices fairly and honestly
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considered when discussing the terms and conditions of their
employment." The author contends that allowing UC police
sergeants who are supervisory employees the ability to
adequately represent themselves and negotiate the term of their
employment provide a right already afforded to their CSU
counterparts.
There is no opposition to this bill.
Analysis Prepared by:Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916)
319-2081