AB 1603

Bill Subjects

Abstract

Under the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (MMBA) , employees of local public agencies have the right to form, join, and participate in the activities of employee organizations of their own choosing for the purpose of representation on all matters of employer-employee relations. The MMBA authorizes a local public agency to adopt reasonable rules and regulations after consultation in good faith with representatives of a recognized employee organization or organizations for the administration of employer-employee relations under the act. The Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) has jurisdiction over certain disputes arising pursuant to the MMBA. The MMBA defines "public employee" to mean any person employed by a public agency, in addition to other specified employees. The MMBA rules and regulations may include exclusive recognition of employee organizations formally recognized pursuant to a vote of the employees of the agency or an appropriate unit thereof, subject to the right of an employee to represent himself or herself. This bill would revise the definition of "public employee" for the purpose of the act to also include persons jointly employed by a public agency and any other employer at specified clinics and hospitals. The bill instead would specify that those rules and regulations may provide for exclusive recognition of employee organizations formally recognized pursuant to a vote of the employees of the agency or an appropriate unit thereof, subject to the employee's right to represent himself or herself, and provided that determination of an otherwise appropriate unit of, or including, these jointly employed public employees is not contingent upon, and does not otherwise require the agency or joint employer's consent. Under the MMBA, unit determinations and representation elections are determined and processed in accordance with rules adopted by a public agency in accordance with the MMBA. Existing law requires, in a representation election, a majority vote of the employees in the appropriate bargaining unit. This bill also would specify that the appropriate bargaining unit includes a unit that consists of, or includes, the jointly employed public employees described above. The MMBA requires a public agency to grant exclusive or majority recognition to an employee organization based on a signed petition, authorization cards, or union membership cards showing that the majority of the employees in the appropriate bargaining unit desire the representation, unless another labor organization has previously been lawfully recognized as exclusive or majority representative or all or part of the same unit. This bill would specify that the requirement that a majority of the employees in an appropriate bargaining unit desire the representation also includes an appropriate bargaining unit that consists of, or includes, the jointly employed public employees described above.