Article 1. Employees Relations of California Public Utilities Code >> Division 11. >> Chapter 5. >> Article 1.

Employees shall have the right to self-organization, to form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in other concerted activities as permitted under the Federal Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, as amended, for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection. It is declared to be in the public interest that the board shall not express any preference for one union over another.

Whenever a majority of the employees employed by the board in a unit that is the appropriate unit for collective bargaining indicate a desire to be represented by a labor organization and upon determining as provided in Section 120505, that such labor organization represents the majority of the employees in that appropriate unit, the board shall meet and confer in a good-faith effort to agree on the terms of a written contract with the recognized representatives of such employees governing wages, salaries, hours, working conditions, and benefits, including, but not limited to, health and welfare, sick leave, insurance, or pension or retirement provisions.

In case of a labor dispute over wages, salaries, hours, working conditions, and benefits on the making or maintaining of collective-bargaining agreements and the terms to be included in such agreements, which is not resolved by negotiations in good faith between the board and the labor organization, upon the joint request of both, the board and the labor organization may submit the dispute to the decision of the majority of an arbitration panel. The arbitration panel shall be composed of one representative of the board, and one representative of the labor organization, and they shall endeavor to agree upon the selection of the third member. If they are unable to agree, the names of five persons experienced in labor arbitration shall be obtained from the State Conciliation Service. The labor organization and the board shall, alternately, strike a name from the list so supplied, and the name remaining, after the labor organization and the board have stricken four names, shall be designated as the third arbitrator. The labor organization and the board shall determine by lot who shall first strike a name from the list. The decision of a majority of the arbitration board shall be final and binding upon the parties thereto. The expenses of arbitration shall be borne equally by the parties. Each party shall bear its own costs.

In the event the board and the representatives of the employees do not agree to submit the dispute to an arbitration panel as provided in Section 120502, the State Conciliation Service may be notified by either party that a labor dispute exists and that there is no agreement to arbitrate. The service shall determine whether or not the labor dispute may be resolved by the parties and, if not, the issues concerning which the dispute exists. Upon such determination, the service shall certify its findings to the Governor of the State of California who shall, within 10 days of receipt of certification, appoint a factfinding commission consisting of three persons. The commission shall immediately convene and inquire into and investigate the issues involved in the dispute and shall report to the Governor within 30 days of the date of its creation. After the creation of such commission, and for 30 days after such commission has made its report to the Governor, no change, except by mutual agreement, shall be made by the parties to the controversy in the conditions out of which the labor dispute arose and service to the public shall be provided.

(a) A contract or agreement shall not be made with any labor organization, association, or group that denies membership to, or in any manner discriminates against, any employee on any basis listed in subdivision (a) of Section 12940 of the Government Code, as those bases are defined in Sections 12926 and 12926.1 of the Government Code.
  (b) The board shall not discriminate with regard to employment against any person on any basis listed in subdivision (a) of Section 12940 of the Government Code, as those bases are defined in Sections 12926 and 12926.1 of the Government Code, except as otherwise provided in Section 12940 of the Government Code.

If there is a question of whether a labor organization represents a majority of employees or whether the proposed unit is the appropriate unit for collective bargaining, the question shall be submitted to the State Conciliation Service for disposition. The service shall promptly hold a public hearing, after due notice to all interested parties, and shall thereupon determine the unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. In making such determination and in establishing rules and regulations governing petitions and the conduct of hearings and elections, the service shall be guided by relevant federal law and administrative practice developed under the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, as amended. The service shall provide for an election to determine the question of representation and shall certify the results to the parties. Any certification of a labor organization to represent or act for the employees in any collective-bargaining unit shall not be subject to challenge on the grounds that a new substantial question of representation within such collective unit exists until the lapse of one year from the date of certification or the expiration of any collective-bargaining agreement, whichever is later, except that no collective-bargaining agreement shall be construed to be a bar to representation proceedings for a period of more than two years.

The obligation of the board to meet and confer in good faith with the duly certified labor organization and to agree on the terms of a written collective-bargaining agreement with such labor organization covering the wages, hours, working conditions, and benefits of the employees represented by such labor organization in the appropriate unit, and to comply with the terms thereof, shall not be limited or restricted by the provisions of the Government Code or other laws or statutes. The obligations of the board to bargain collectively shall extend to all subjects of collective bargaining which are, or may be, mandatory subjects of collective bargaining with a private employer, including retroactive provisions and benefits for retired employees.

Notwithstanding the provisions of the Government Code, employees of the board may authorize and, upon such authorization, the board may make deductions from wages and salaries of such employees:
  (a) Pursuant to a collective-bargaining agreement with a duly designated or certified labor organization for the payment of union dues, fees, or assessments.
  (b) For the payment of contributions pursuant to any health and welfare plan or pension or retirement plan.
  (c) For any purpose for which deductions may be authorized by employees of any private employer.

(a) This article also applies to the employee relations of employees of a nonprofit entity that operates public mass transit services and that is solely owned by the board. For employee relations regarding these employees, "board," as used in this article, means the board and the board of directors of the nonprofit entity as the joint employer of the employees.
  (b) The board may, at any time in its sole discretion, abolish any nonprofit entity or merge any nonprofit entity with another nonprofit entity or with the board.
  (c) Upon abolishing or merging a nonprofit entity pursuant to subdivision (b), the board shall become the sole employer of the employees of the nonprofit entity and shall assume sole responsibility to observe all existing labor contracts established and maintained pursuant to this article.
  (d) Except as may be agreed upon through the collective bargaining process, nothing in this section shall prohibit or limit the right of the board to contract with common carriers of persons operating under a franchise, license, or other agreement. Any provision in an existing collective bargaining agreement made applicable to the board in its capacity as a joint employer with a nonprofit entity pursuant to subdivision (a) or sole successor employer pursuant to subdivision (b) that is intended to prohibit or limit the right of a nonprofit entity to contract out covered bargaining unit services to another common carrier of persons shall not be binding upon the board with respect to any contract for services entered into, renewed, or extended by the board prior to January 1, 2004, and thereafter shall apply only to contracts for bargaining unit services covered by an existing collective bargaining agreement assumed by or binding upon the board as a joint employer unless otherwise agreed upon through the collective bargaining process. The amendments to this subdivision made by Chapter 557 of the Statutes of 2005 are intended solely to clarify existing law and shall not be interpreted either to enlarge or contract the board's right to contract out for public transportation services.

(a) Upon the request of the board, as defined in Section 120508, with the consent of any labor organization acting as the exclusive representative of employees whose collective bargaining rights are subject to Section 120508, the board may enter into a contract to enroll the collectively bargained employees as members of the Public Employees' Retirement System or another retirement system.
  (b) A contract to enroll employees in the Public Employees' Retirement System shall be subject to the provisions of Part 3 (commencing with Section 20000) of Division 5 of Title 2 of the Government Code.
  (c) Employees transferred from any existing retirement system or pension plan to the Public Employees' Retirement System or any other retirement system by operation of this section shall receive benefits immediately after enrollment in, or transfer to, the system that are at least equal to, or greater than, the benefits the employees would have been entitled to immediately before enrollment in, or transfer to, the system.