BILL ANALYSIS
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 553|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 553
Author: Hernandez (D)
Amended: 5/8/07 in Assembly
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC EMP. & RET. COMMITTEE : 3-2, 6/25/07
AYES: Wiggins, Migden, Negrete McLeod
NOES: Ashburn, McClintock
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 46-32, 6/5/07 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : Public Employment Relations Board
SOURCE : Service Employees International Union
DIGEST : This bill clarifies the exclusive authority of
the Public Employment Relations Board to determine, under
the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act, whether to seek from a court
of competent jurisdiction injunctive relief involving
relations between an employee organization and a public
agency.
ANALYSIS : Existing law transferred, from the Superior
Court to the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB), the
exclusive jurisdiction for resolving disputes and enforcing
the statutory duties and rights of local public agency
employers and employees covered under the
Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (MMBA).
This bill clarifies the exclusive authority of the PERB to
CONTINUED
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determine, under the MMBA, whether to seek from a court of
competent jurisdiction injunctive relief involving
relations between an employee organization and a public
agency.
What is PERB ?
According to information provided by PERB:
"The PERB is a quasi-judicial agency which oversees public
sector collective bargaining in California. PERB
administers seven collective bargaining statutes, ensure
their consistent implementation and application, and
adjudicates disputes between the parties subject to them.
"The statutes administered by PERB include the Educational
Employment Relations Act (EERA) of 1976 establishing
collective bargaining in California's public schools (K-12)
and community colleges; the State Employer-Employee
Relations Act of 1978, known as the Ralph C. Dills Act
(Dills Act), establishing collective bargaining for state
government employees; and the Higher Education
Employer-Employee Relations Act (HEEERA) of 1979 extending
the same coverage to the California State University
System, the University of California System and Hastings
College of Law.
"The MMBA of 1968 establishing collective bargaining for
California's municipal, county, and local special district
employers and employees was brought under PERB's
jurisdiction pursuant to Senate Bill 739, Chapter 901,
Statutes of 2000, effective July 1, 2001. PERB's
jurisdiction over the MMBA exclude peace officers,
management employees and the City and County of Los
Angeles.
"In addition, PERB is responsible for the administration of
the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation
Authority Transit Employer-Employee Relations Act (TEERA),
covering supervisory employees of the transit agency. In
addition, effective August 16, 2004, pursuant to Senate
Bill 1102, Chapter 227, Statutes of 2004, the Trial Court
Employment Protection and Governance Act (Trial Court Act)
and the Trial Court Interpreter Employment and Labor
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Relations Act (Court Interpreter Act) were brought under
PERB's jurisdiction."
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: No
Local: No
SUPPORT : (Verified 6/26/07)
Service Employees International Union (source)
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees, AFL-CIO
California School Employees Association
Organization of SMUD Employees
San Bernardino Public Employees Association
San Diego County Court Employees Association
San Luis Obispo County Employees Association
Santa Rosa City Employees Association
Public Employees Union, Local #1
OPPOSITION : (Verified 6/26/07)
California Association of Sanitation Agencies
California State Association of Counties
County of Santa Barbara
League of California Cities
Sanitation Districts of Los Angeles County
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to supporters, "The
point of creating the PERB and giving it the exclusive
jurisdiction it has over activities within California's
public employment labor relations laws it to bring
expertise and uniformity to labor relations, including
strikes. Superior Courts are ill-suited to this mission,
they rarely deal with labor relations issues and when they
do in strike situations are faced with emergency requests
and have little time to learn the field. The PERB, which
has an institutional memory and practice in dealing with
difficult labor issues, is much better suited to make quick
decisions about strikes."
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The California State
Association of Counties and the League of California Cities
state, in opposition, "AB 553 seeks legislative preemption
in litigation currently before three California District
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Courts of Appeals involving: the City of San Jose (6th
District), and Counties of Contra Costa (Fire District) and
Sacramento (3rd District); litigation is pending appeal
involving the County of Mendocino. Cities and counties
have broad common law and statutory authority over issues
of public health and safety including: fire, police,
psychiatric emergency services, airport operations,
detention services, child protective services, waste water
operations, landfill operations and others. PERB has no
such authority or expertise. The issues presented for
injunctive relief involve the issue of public health and
safety, not issues related to purported violations of the
MMBA. Requiring approval of the PERB usurps county and
city authority over matters relating to public health and
safety."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR :
AYES: Bass, Beall, Berg, Brownley, Caballero, Charles
Calderon, Carter, Coto, Davis, De La Torre, De Leon,
DeSaulnier, Dymally, Eng, Evans, Feuer, Fuentes,
Galgiani, Hancock, Hayashi, Hernandez, Huffman, Jones,
Karnette, Krekorian, Laird, Leno, Levine, Lieber, Lieu,
Ma, Mendoza, Mullin, Nava, Parra, Portantino, Price,
Richardson, Ruskin, Salas, Saldana, Solorio, Swanson,
Torrico, Wolk, Nunez
NOES: Adams, Aghazarian, Anderson, Arambula, Benoit,
Berryhill, Blakeslee, Cook, DeVore, Emmerson, Fuller,
Gaines, Garcia, Garrick, Horton, Houston, Huff, Jeffries,
Keene, La Malfa, Maze, Nakanishi, Niello, Plescia, Sharon
Runner, Silva, Smyth, Spitzer, Strickland, Tran,
Villines, Walters
NO VOTE RECORDED: Duvall, Soto
JJA:cm 6/26/07 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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