Section 130051.24 Of Chapter 2. Creation Of Commissions From California Public Utilities Code >> Division 12. >> Chapter 2.
130051.24
. (a) For the purposes of this section, the following
terms have the following meanings, unless the context requires
otherwise:
(1) The "authority" is the Los Angeles County Metropolitan
Transportation Authority.
(2) A "transportation zone" is a public agency or a public benefit
corporation of which public agencies are the sole members
established on or after January 1, 1999, that assumes any of the
operating responsibilities described in paragraph (2) of subdivision
(a) of Section 130051.11 on or after that date, regardless of whether
the transportation zone is an included municipal operator, as
defined in Section 99207, or an included transit district, as defined
in Section 99208.
(b) (1) Except as authorized under paragraph (2), a transportation
zone shall assume and be bound by the terms and conditions of
employment set forth in any collective bargaining agreements between
the authority and any labor organizations affected by the creation of
the transportation zone as well as the duties, obligations, and
liabilities arising from, or relating to, labor obligations imposed
by state or federal law upon the authority.
(2) Notwithstanding paragraph (1), if the authority is engaged in
collective bargaining with labor organizations representing employees
who are subject to transfer to the transportation zone between the
date of approval of the transportation zone and the date of the
transfer of service to the transportation zone, the authority may
consult with the transportation zone regarding matters within the
scope of labor representation.
(c) (1) For a period of four years, commencing with the date of
transfer of service by the authority to the transportation zone, or
at the expiration date of any collective bargaining agreement that is
in effect during that four-year period, whichever is later,
employees of the transportation zone, together with like employees of
the authority, shall constitute appropriate collective bargaining
units. However, the transportation zone may be a separate employer
for other purposes.
(2) Upon expiration of the period described in paragraph (1),
employees of the transportation zone, at the option of the
transportation zone, may constitute appropriate collective bargaining
units that are independent of the collective bargaining units of the
authority.
(3) If independent bargaining units are established as authorized
under paragraph (2), the transportation zone may enter into
agreements with labor organizations as a separate employer, regarding
wages, benefits, and other terms and conditions of employment.
(4) The transportation zone shall maintain single employer
collective bargaining units for transportation operations and
maintenance employees. Those bargaining units shall contain
classifications for employees that are identical to those that
existed for the joint collective bargaining units of the authority
and the transportation zone under paragraph (1), unless modified by
mutual agreement between the transportation zone and the affected
labor organizations.
(d) (1) The authority shall retain, for the period described in
paragraph (1) of subdivision (c), the power of final approval of
labor contracts negotiated by it and a transportation zone with those
labor organizations representing collective bargaining units
consisting of both employees of the authority and the employees of
the transportation zone. However, the authority may not grant any
final approval of a labor agreement unless it has first consulted
with the transportation zone.
(2) Upon expiration of the period described in paragraph (1) of
subdivision (c), the authority shall have no final approval power
over any labor contract negotiated between a transportation zone and
a labor organization representing the employees of the transportation
zone.
(e) (1) A transportation zone shall maintain, as a cosponsor with
the authority, any retirement system established and maintained under
subdivision (b) of Section 130110, until participation in the
retirement system or retirement benefits are modified under the
collective bargaining process.
(2) The transportation zone may appoint at least one member to the
retirement board of the retirement system. If the size of the board
is increased pursuant to this section, an equivalent number of
representatives of the labor organization representing the employees
shall be appointed to the board to ensure that the board maintains an
equal number of employer and labor organization members.
(3) Prior to the transfer of any service to a transportation zone,
the plan administrator for the retirement system shall permit the
transportation zone to perform an actuarial financial examination of
the assets and liabilities of the retirement system and the benefits
accrued under it.
(4) The liability of the transportation zone for obligations under
the retirement system shall be limited to benefits accruing to
employees of the transportation zone.
(f) (1) The transportation zone shall maintain the health care
provisions contained in any assumed collective bargaining agreement,
until those provisions are modified through the collective bargaining
process.
(2) The transportation zone may not be held liable for financial
obligations to any health care provider that arose prior to the
direct transfer of employees from the authority to the transportation
zone.
(g) Labor relations in a transportation zone shall be governed
under Article 10 (commencing with Section 30750) of Chapter 4 of Part
3 of Division 10, except that whenever a duty or power is imposed
upon or granted to the authority under those provisions, the duty or
power, for the purposes of this section, shall be deemed to be
imposed upon or granted to the transportation zone as well as the
authority.
(h) Nothing in this section prohibits a transportation zone from
contracting for managerial services that are not provided by any
classification of any bargaining unit.
(i) A transportation zone is not an organizational unit of the
authority.