Section 3577 Of Article 5. Employee Organizations: Representation, Recognition, Certification And Decertification From California Government Code >> Division 4. >> Title 1. >> Chapter 12. >> Article 5.
3577
. (a) (1) (A) Upon receipt of a petition filed pursuant to
Section 3575, the board shall conduct inquiries and investigations,
or hold hearings, as it deems necessary in order to decide the
questions raised by the petition. The determination of the board may
be based upon the evidence adduced in the inquiries, investigations,
or hearings.
(B) If the board finds, on the basis of the evidence, that a
question of representation exists, or a question of representation is
deemed to exist pursuant to subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 3574,
it shall, in a case where the criteria of subparagraph (A) of
paragraph (2) are not met, order that an election shall be conducted
by secret ballot placing on the ballot all employee organizations
evidencing support of at least 10 percent of the members of an
appropriate unit, and it shall certify the results of the election on
the basis of which ballot choice received a majority of the valid
votes cast. There shall be printed on the initial ballot the choice
of "no representation."
(C) If, at any election, no choice on the ballot receives a
majority of the votes cast, a runoff election shall be conducted. The
ballot for the runoff election shall provide for a selection between
the two choices receiving the largest and second largest number of
valid votes cast in the election.
(2) (A) If the petitioning employee organization provides proof of
support of more than 50 percent of the members of the appropriate
unit, and no other employee organization has provided proof of
support of at least 30 percent of the members of the appropriate
unit, the employee organization providing the proof of support of
more than 50 percent of the appropriate unit shall be certified by
the board as the exclusive representative, as provided in subdivision
(a) of Section 3563 and, where applicable, in Section 3579. The
procedures for determining proof of support shall be defined by
regulations of the board.
(B) In the event the petitioning employee organization does not
provide proof of support of more than 50 percent of the members of
the appropriate unit, or another employee organization provides proof
of support of at least 30 percent of the members of the appropriate
unit, then the procedures of paragraph (1) shall apply.
(C) The existence of a memorandum of understanding, or current
certification as the exclusive representative, shall be the proof of
support necessary to trigger a representation election pursuant to
this section to determine majority support when a request for
recognition is made by another employee organization.
(3) An employee organization shall, at its discretion, submit
proof of support for the purposes of this section either to the board
or to a mutually agreed-upon third party.
(b) No election shall be held and the petition shall be dismissed
whenever either of the following occurs:
(1) There is currently in effect a memorandum of understanding
between the employer and another employee organization recognized or
certified as the exclusive representative of any employees included
in the unit described in the petition, unless the petition is filed
not more than 120 days and not less than 90 days prior to the
expiration date of that memorandum. If the memorandum has been in
effect for three years or more, there shall be no restriction as to
time of filing the petition.
(2) Within the previous 12 months, either an employee organization
other than the petitioner has been lawfully recognized or certified
as the exclusive representative of any employees included in the unit
described in the petition, or a majority of the votes cast in a
representation election held pursuant to subdivision (a) were cast
for "no representation."