BILL ANALYSIS �
SENATE PUBLIC EMPLOYMENT & RETIREMENT BILL NO: AB 2419
Norma Torres, Chair HEARING DATE: June 9, 2014
AB 2419 (Garcia) as amended 3/12/14 FISCAL: NO
PUBLIC EMPLOYEE RELATIONS: AGENCY SHOP ARRANGEMENTS
HISTORY :
Sponsor: American Federation of State, County and
Municipal Employees (AFSCME)
Other legislation:AB 1141 (Diaz),
Chapter 311, Statutes of 2003
SB 739 (Solis),
Chapter 901, Statutes of 2000
ASSEMBLY VOTES :
PER & SS 5-1 4/23/14
Assembly Floor 51-22 5/15/14
SUMMARY :
AB 2419 exempts the County and City of Los Angeles from a
prohibition against agency shop arrangements for management
employees.
BACKGROUND AND ANALYSIS :
1)Existing law :
a) establishes the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (MMBA), which
provides a statutory framework for local government
employer-employee relations by providing a reasonable
method of resolving disputes regarding wages, hours, and
other terms and conditions of employment between local
public employers and public employee organizations.
b) defines, in the MMBA, "agency shop" to mean an
arrangement that requires an employee, as a condition of
continued employment, either to join the recognized
employee organization or to pay the organization a
service fee in an amount not to exceed the standard
Glenn A. Miles
Date: June 4, 2014 Page
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initiation fee, periodic dues, and general assessments
of the organization.
b) authorizes a local public agency and an employee
organization that has been recognized as the exclusive
or majority bargaining agent to negotiate an agency shop
fee arrangement.
c) prohibits an agency shop arrangement from applying to
management employees.
2)This bill would exempt the County and City of Los Angeles
from the existing prohibition against agency shop
arrangements for management employees.
COMMENTS :
1)Arguments in Support :
According to the author,
Recognized public employee organizations, including
those that represent managerial public employees, must
carry out various duties and obligations to duly
represent their membership and to reach agreements with
their public agency employers on all matters within the
scope of their representation.
As such, recognized employee organizations that
represent public managerial employees have the same
legal obligations and must exercise the same duty of
care in representing their membership, as those
organizations that represent non-managerial employees,
and must likewise incur and absorb the many varied costs
associated with those representation duties and
obligations.
According to the sponsor,
These costs are particularly high for public agencies in
the County of Los Angeles and City of Los Angeles, as
they are some of the largest public agencies in the
state, and they operate outside the Public Employment
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Date: June 4, 2014 Page
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Relations Board's jurisdiction. In acknowledging these
particular issues, this bill would guarantee better
representation for LA's public managerial employees.
2) Arguments in Opposition :
According to the City of Los Angeles,
State law prohibits an agency shop arrangement from
including management employees. Your legislation would
carve out a special exceotion for Los Angeles making the
city unequal under the law.
Los Angeles' employee relations laws and regulations are
in full compliance with the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act and
other state laws regulating labor relations. To the
extent there are issues in Los Angeles, we should seek a
collaborative local solution rather than pursue a
top-down approach that runs afoul of local control
agreements. I look forward to working with you to
address any such concerns.
1)SUPPORT :
American Federation of State, County and Municipal
Employees (AFSCME), AFL-CIO, Sponsor
Association for Los Angeles Deputy Sheriffs
California Association of Professional Employees
California School Employees Association (CSEA), AFL-CIO
Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Association
Los Angeles Deputy Probation Officers Union, AFSCME Local
#685
Los Angeles Police Protective League
Service Employee International Union (SEIU)
2)OPPOSITION :
City of Los Angeles
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