BILL ANALYSIS �
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|SENATE RULES COMMITTEE | AB 1550|
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 1550
Author: Rendon (D)
Amended: 8/19/14 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE PUBLIC EMPLOY. & RETIRE. COMM. : 3-2, 6/23/14
AYES: Torres, De Le�n, Steinberg
NOES: Walters, Gaines
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-0, 8/14/14
AYES: De Le�n, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters, Gaines
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 53-24, 5/28/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : School employees: collective bargaining
SOURCE : California School Employees Association
DIGEST : This bill makes changes to the Educational Employment
Relations Act (EERA) related to the appointment of a mediator,
the minimum time required to implement a last, best, and final
offer (LBFO), and other technical changes.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1.Establishes the EERA which provides a process by which
employees of the public schools and the community colleges may
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select an exclusive representative to represent them as part
of a bargaining unit within their district.
2.Establishes the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) as
the state agency that has broad authority to enforce the EERA
with regard to labor relations activities between a public
school and any person (except management and confidential
employees) employed by a public school employer, including
community colleges.
3.Defines "exclusive representative" for purpose of the EERA as
the employee organization recognized or certified as the
exclusive negotiating representative of certificated or
classified employees in an appropriate unit of a public school
employer.
4.Establishes impasse procedures which provide that either the
employer or the employee organization may declare that an
impasse exists; if PERB determines that is the case, it must
appoint a mediator, who must meet with the parties in an
effort to resolve the differences. Should the mediator not
effect a settlement within 15 days of his/her appointment,
PERB must appoint a fact-finding panel on request of either
party; the fact-finding panel must conduct its operations
according to statutory guidelines.
5.Specifies that the recommendations of the fact-finding panel
are advisory, but the public school employer must make public
the findings and recommendations within 10 days of receipt.
The employer must also negotiate if there is anything to
negotiate. If no agreement is reached, the employer has the
right to make the final decision on all matters within the
scope of representation. Therefore, the employer can
unilaterally implement its LBFO at the conclusion of impasse
proceedings.
6.Specifies that it is unlawful for a public school employer or
an employee organization, respectively, to refuse to
participate in good faith in the statutory impasse procedure.
This bill:
1.Extends the length of time PERB has to appoint a mediator once
they have determined an impasse exists from five to 10 working
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days after receiving the request for mediation.
2.Clarifies that the above provision shall not be construed to
prevent the parties from mutually agreeing upon their own
mediation procedure and in the event of an agreement,
prohibits PERB from appointing its own mediator, unless
failure to do so would be inconsistent with the policies of
these provisions. Specifies that if the parties agree upon
their own mediation procedure, the cost of the services of any
appointed mediator, unless appointed by PERB, including any
per-diem fees and actual and necessary travel and subsistence
expenses, is required to be borne equally by the parties.
3.Requires, after the impasse procedures have been completed and
the public school employer has made the fact-finding panel's
recommendations and findings public, as specified, and at
least 30 days before implementation of each term of the public
school employer's LBFO, the public school employer to provide
the exclusive representative with written notice of the date
certain for the implementation of and each of the terms
included in the LBFO of the public school employer.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: Yes
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee:
Unknown additional costs to school employers (General Fund).
School employers indicate unknown, but potentially significant
costs if the implementation of a LBFO is delayed due to the
30-day notice requirement.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/19/14)
California School Employees Association (source)
California Federation of Teachers
California Labor Federation Laborers International Union of
North America, Local 777
United Nurses Associations of California/Union of Health Care
Professionals
OPPOSITION : (Verified 8/19/14)
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Association of California Community College Administrators
Association of California School Administrators
California Association of School Business Officials
California Association of Suburban Schools
California School Boards Association
Community Colleges League of California
Fresno Unified School District
Los Angeles Unified School District
Office of Riverside County Superintendent of Schools
San Diego Unified School District
School Employers Association of California
Small School Districts Association
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author's office, even
though a bargaining unit can file an "Unfair Labor Practice"
with PERB, often time, employee groups are forced to accept the
new terms and working conditions to avoid lengthy or costly
filing and review process with PERB. The author's office claims
these tactics of "surface bargaining" and impasse declarations
give an unfair advantage to the employers because even though
the law allows the bargaining unit to reject the LBFO and go on
strike, going on strike is an extreme hardship for most
employees. The author's office states this bill will sunshine
the details of the LBFO and give more time (30 days) so that
school and college employers and their staff can try to work out
their differences in contract negotiations.
ARGUMENTS IN OPPOSITION : The Fresno Unified School District
(Fresno Unified) writes in opposition to this bill stating it
would significantly interfere with the ability of public school
employers to manage resources and maintain fiscal solvency.
Fresno Unified also rejects the author's assertion that
districts engage in "surface bargaining" and do not negotiate in
good faith in order to implement their LBFO. Fresno Unified
states that EERA has been constructed in such a way that it
reflects a balance between the wants and needs of employers and
employees.
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 53-24, 5/28/14
AYES: Alejo, Ammiano, Bloom, Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta,
Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian Calderon, Campos, Chau,
Chesbro, Dababneh, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox,
Frazier, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gray, Hall,
Roger Hern�ndez, Holden, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Lowenthal,
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Medina, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Nazarian, Pan, Perea, John A.
P�rez, Quirk, Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez,
Salas, Skinner, Stone, Ting, Weber, Wieckowski, Williams,
Yamada, Atkins
NOES: Achadjian, Allen, Bigelow, Ch�vez, Conway, Dahle,
Donnelly, Beth Gaines, Gorell, Grove, Hagman, Harkey, Jones,
Linder, Logue, Maienschein, Mansoor, Melendez, Nestande,
Olsen, Patterson, Wagner, Waldron, Wilk
NO VOTE RECORDED: Cooley, V. Manuel P�rez, Vacancy
JL:e 8/19/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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