BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT & RETIREMENT BILL NO: AB 1659
Gloria Negrete McLeod, Chair Hearing date: June 11, 2012
AB 1659 (Butler) as introduced 2/14/12 FISCAL: NO
LOS ANGELES CITY AND COUNTY: EMPLOYEE RELATIONS COMMISSIONS'
INDEPENDENCE
HISTORY :
Sponsor: American Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees, District Council 36
Other legislation: SB 1296 (Corbett),
Chapter 712, Statutes of 2008
SB 739 (Solis),
Chapter 901, Statutes of 2000
ASSEMBLY VOTES :
PER & SS 4-2 5/02/12
Assembly Floor 47-265/17/12
SUMMARY :
AB 1659 requires that the employee relations commissions
(ERCs) for the City and the County of Los Angeles be
independent of the city and county management as a condition
to exercising the powers granted them under the
Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (MMBA).
BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS :
1)Current law :
a) permits local governments under MMBA to establish
administrative procedures for employee representation
and collective bargaining agreements.
b) authorizes the state's Public Employment Relations
Board (PERB) to resolve public employee labor disputes
under MMBA but excludes the City and County of Los
Angeles from PERB oversight.
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c) grants the ERCs in the City and County of Los Angeles
authority to decide labor relation issues such as union
recognition, unit determinations, elections, and unfair
labor practices.
d) establishes through their respective local ordinances
the City of Los Angeles Employee Relations Board (ERB)
and the County of Los Angeles Employee Relations
Commission (ERCOM) to ensure that city and county
employees and their representatives are fairly treated,
that their rights are maintained, and that their
requests are fairly heard, considered and resolved. ERB
and ERCOM are independent, quasi-judicial agencies
subject to Constitutional due process requirements.
1)This bill :
a) authorizes ERCs to exercise the power and
responsibility to take actions on recognition, unit
determinations, elections, and unfair practices and to
issue determinations and orders only if the ERCs and
their staff meet the following requirements:
i. They are independent of county and city
management;
ii. The ERCs are funded separately from public
offices, departments, or agencies;
iii. The ERCs are the exclusive custodian of their
respective records;
iv. The ERCs have sole discretion to allocate funds
once city and county management have allocated the
ERCs' budgets;
v. The ERCs have control over all employment issues
related to their respective staff and hearing
officers.
COMMENTS :
1)LA County District Attorney and Association of Deputy
District Attorneys' Ongoing Labor Dispute and Litigation
This bill attempts to address, in part, an issue arising
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out of a legal dispute between the Los Angeles County
District Attorney and the Executive Director of the Los
Angeles County Employee Relations Commission (ERCOM). The
District Attorney subpoenaed ERCOM for certain e-mail
communications and documents which the Executive Director
had deleted or declined to produce as privileged documents.
Subsequently, the District Attorney subpoenaed the Los
Angeles County Office of the Chief Executive whose data
systems apparently retained copies of ERCOM materials
subject to the subpoena. The LA County General Counsel
informed ERCOM that since the County did have physical
custody of the subpoenaed records, it would have to comply
with the subpoena pending the outcome of a judicial ruling
on a Motion to Quash the subpoena by interested third
parties.
2)Arguments in Support
The sponsor states that the County's current position
asserting custody of ERCOM's records and communications
breaks a four decade ERCOM mandate "to fairly and
impartially adjudicate disputes between labor and
management and to ensure that the rights of county
employees (and their union representatives) are
maintained." Under the County's interpretation of law
"?management gains access to ERCOM's internal staff
communications/emails, clearly compromising the
commission's autonomy." "That enables the County now to
determine which employees do or do not support union
organizing, rendering them as easy targets for potential
intimidation and/or harassment."
The Association of Deputy District Attorneys echoes the
Sponsor's concerns and notes that the County's access to
ERCOM's records "would certainly have a chilling effect on
County employees' signing?confidential documents in the
future" such as Petitions for Agency Shop and Petitions for
Unit Certification. Furthermore, the County's assertion
that its management staff can modify certain ERCOM staff's
performance evaluations creates additional conflicts of
interest. "If one side of the dispute (management) is
allowed to evaluate ERCOM staff, while the other side
(unions) has no similar ability, how does this give even
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the perception that ERCOM can play an independent role?"
3)Arguments in Opposition
The County of Los Angeles contends that "?this bill would
allow the commission to ignore all County rules and
regulations related to the operation of a County agency,
hiring and firing decisions and other terms and conditions
of employment. This would remove a number of safeguards
currently in place to ensure that a local employee
relations commission is operated in a neutral and cost
efficient manner. These safeguards include proper hiring
of staff, and proper documentation of expenditures." The
County also states that it could remain liable for
statutory violations by ERCOM employees and county
employees under ERCOM's review even as the County's
oversight functions over the ERCOM would be curtailed.
The California State Association of Counties (CSAC) states
that the bill would reduce the Los Angeles County Board of
Supervisors' authority to oversee ERCOM's functions and
that it is concerned with any attempt by the Legislature to
control the make-up or procedure of local personnel or
employment boards.
4)SUPPORT :
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees (AFSCME), Sponsor
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees, District Council 36 (AFSCME)
Association of Deputy District Attorneys, AFSCME Local
2682 (ADDA)
Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs (ALADS)
International Union of Operating Engineers Local 501
Los Angeles County Probation Officers' Union, Local 685
Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Association
(PPOA)
Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction
Trades Council
Service Employees International Union (SEIU)
5)OPPOSITION :
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California State Association of Counties (CSAC)
Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors
Urban Counties Caucus (UCC)
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