BILL NUMBER: SB 1960	CHAPTERED
	BILL TEXT

	CHAPTER   893
	FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE   SEPTEMBER 29, 2000
	APPROVED BY GOVERNOR   SEPTEMBER 28, 2000
	PASSED THE SENATE   AUGUST 25, 2000
	PASSED THE ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 23, 2000
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   AUGUST 7, 2000
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY   JUNE 22, 2000
	AMENDED IN SENATE   MARCH 30, 2000

INTRODUCED BY   Senators Burton, Hughes, Karnette, O'Connell, and
Ortiz
   (Coauthors: Assembly Members Havice, Hertzberg, Lempert, Machado,
Migden, Steinberg, Villaraigosa, and Washington)

                        FEBRUARY 25, 2000

   An act to amend Sections 3540.1, 3543, and 3583.5 of, and to
repeal and add Section 3546 of, the Government Code, relating to
public school employees.



	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   SB 1960, Burton.  Public school employee labor relations.
   (1) Under existing law, public school employees 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.  Pursuant to that
existing law, public school employees also may enter into an
organizational security arrangement under which they either have the
right to refuse to join or participate in the activities of employee
organizations or the right to join the recognized employee
organization or pay the organization a service fee.  Existing law,
subject to certain limitations, provides that organizational security
is within the scope of representation and defines "organizational
security" in accordance with those rights.  Existing law provides
that an organizational security arrangement, to be effective, must be
agreed upon by both parties to the agreement, and authorizes the
public employer, when the issue is being negotiated, to require that
the organizational security arrangement be severed from the remainder
of the proposed agreement and cause that arrangement to be voted
upon separately by all members in the appropriate negotiating unit.
   This bill would delete those provisions pertaining to the
effectiveness of the organizational security arrangement.  The bill
would instead require public school employees who are in a unit for
which an exclusive representative has been selected to be required,
as a condition of continued employment, either to join the recognized
employee organization or to pay the organization a fair share
service fee, and would make conforming changes in related provisions.

   The bill would establish a procedure for employees to petition for
the rescission or reinstatement of this form of arrangement, would
provide that the cost of conducting the rescission election would be
borne by the Public Employment Relations Board and that the cost of a
reinstatement election would be borne by the petitioning party, and
would require the election for reinstatement to be conducted at the
worksite by secret ballot.
   The bill would also provide that if the arrangement is rescinded,
employees could choose to negotiate either of the 2 forms of
organizational security permitted under existing law.  The bill would
require the employer to remain neutral in an election to rescind
that arrangement and would prohibit the employer from participating
in any such election conducted under those provisions unless required
to do so by the Public Employee Labor Relations Board.  By requiring
the employer to participate in the election if required to do so by
the board, the bill would impose a state-mandated local program.
   (2) Existing law requires employees of the California State
University and employees of the University of California, other than
faculty of the University of California who are eligible for
membership in the Academic Senate, to either join the employee
organization or to pay the organization a fair share service fee.
Existing law establishes a procedure for employees to petition for
rescission or reinstatement of this form of organizational security,
and provides that the cost of conducting an election to rescind or
reinstate that organizational security arrangement be borne by the
petitioning party.
   This bill would instead require the Public Employment Relations
Board to bear the cost of conducting an election to rescind that
arrangement.
  The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local
agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the
state.  Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that
reimbursement, including the creation of a State Mandates Claims Fund
to pay the costs of mandates that do not exceed $1,000,000 statewide
and other procedures for claims whose statewide costs exceed
$1,000,000.
   This bill would provide that, if the Commission on State Mandates
determines that the bill contains costs mandated by the state,
reimbursement for those costs shall be made pursuant to these
statutory provisions.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:


  SECTION 1.  Section 3540.1 of the Government Code is amended to
read:
   3540.1.  As used in this chapter:
   (a) "Board" means the Public Employment Relations Board created
pursuant to Section 3541.
   (b) "Certified organization" or "certified employee organization"
means an organization which has been certified by the board as the
exclusive representative of the public school employees in an
appropriate unit after a proceeding under Article 5 (commencing with
Section 3544).
   (c) "Confidential employee" means any employee who, in the regular
course of his or her duties, has access to, or possesses information
relating to, his or her employer's employer-employee relations.
   (d) "Employee organization" means any organization which includes
employees of a public school employer and which has as one of its
primary purposes representing those employees in their relations with
that public school employer.  "Employee organization" shall also
include any person such an organization authorizes to act on its
behalf.
   (e) "Exclusive representative" means the employee organization
recognized or certified as the exclusive negotiating representative
of certificated or classified employees in an appropriate unit of a
public school employer.
   (f) "Impasse" means that the parties to a dispute over matters
within the scope of representation have reached a point in meeting
and negotiating at which their differences in positions are so
substantial or prolonged that future meetings would be futile.
   (g) "Management employee" means any employee in a position having
significant responsibilities for formulating district policies or
administering district programs.  Management positions shall be
designated by the public school employer subject to review by the
Public Employment Relations Board.
   (h) "Meeting and negotiating" means meeting, conferring,
negotiating, and discussing by the exclusive representative and the
public school employer in a good faith effort to reach agreement on
matters within the scope of representation and the execution, if
requested by either party, of a written document incorporating any
agreements reached, which document shall, when accepted by the
exclusive representative and the public school employer, become
binding upon both parties and, notwithstanding Section 3543.7, shall
not be subject to subdivision 2 of Section 1667 of the Civil Code.
The agreement may be for a period of not to exceed three years.
   (i) "Organizational security" is within the scope of
representation, and means either of the following:
   (1) An arrangement pursuant to which a public school employee may
decide whether or not to join an employee organization, but which
requires him or her, as a condition of continued employment, if he or
she does join, to maintain his or her membership in good standing
for the duration of the written agreement.  However, no such
arrangement shall deprive the employee of the right to terminate his
or her obligation to the employee organization within a period of 30
days following the expiration of a written agreement.
   (2) An arrangement that requires an employee, as a condition of
continued employment, either to join the recognized or certified
employee organization, or to pay the organization a service fee in an
amount not to exceed the standard initiation fee, periodic dues, and
general assessments of the organization for the duration of the
agreement, or a period of three years from the effective date of the
agreement, whichever comes first.
   (j) "Public school employee" or "employee" means any person
employed by any public school employer except persons elected by
popular vote, persons appointed by the Governor of this state,
management employees, and confidential employees.
   (k) "Public school employer" or "employer" means the governing
board of a school district, a school district, a county board of
education, a county superintendent of schools, or a charter school
that has declared itself a public school employer pursuant to
subdivision (b) of Section 47611.5 of the Education Code.
   (l) "Recognized organization" or "recognized employee organization"
means an employee organization which has been recognized by an
employer as the exclusive representative pursuant to Article 5
(commencing with Section 3544).
   (m) "Supervisory employee" means any employee, regardless of job
description, having authority in the interest of the employer to
hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign,
reward, or discipline other employees, or the responsibility to
assign work to and direct them, or to adjust their grievances, or
effectively recommend such action, if, in connection with the
foregoing functions, the exercise of that authority is not of a
merely routine or clerical nature, but requires the use of
independent judgment.
  SEC. 2.  Section 3543 of the Government Code is amended to read:
   3543.  (a) Public school employees shall 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.  Public school employees who are in a
unit for which an exclusive representative has been selected, shall
be required, as a condition of continued employment, to join the
recognized employee organization or to pay the organization a fair
share services fee, as required by Section 3546.  If a majority of
the members of a bargaining unit rescind that arrangement, either of
the following options shall be applicable:
   (1) The recognized employee organization may petition for the
reinstatement of the arrangement described in subdivision (a) of
Section 3546 pursuant to the procedures in paragraph (2) of
subdivision (d) of Section 3546.
   (2) The employees may negotiate either of the two forms of
organizational security described in subdivision (i) of Section
3540.1.
   (b) Any employee may at any time present grievances to his or her
employer, and have such grievances adjusted, without the intervention
of the exclusive representative, as long as the adjustment is
reached prior to arbitration pursuant to Sections 3548.5, 3548.6,
3548.7, and 3548.8 and the adjustment is not inconsistent with the
terms of a written agreement then in effect; provided that the public
school employer shall not agree to a resolution of the grievance
until the exclusive representative has received a copy of the
grievance and the proposed resolution and has been given the
opportunity to file a response.
  SEC. 3.  Section 3546 of the Government Code is repealed.
  SEC. 4.  Section 3546 is added to the Government Code, to read:
   3546.  (a) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, any public
school employee who is in a unit for which an exclusive
representative has been selected pursuant to this chapter shall be
required, as a condition of continued employment, either to join the
recognized employee organization or to pay the organization a fair
share service fee.  The amount of the fee shall not exceed the dues
that are payable by members of the employee organization, and shall
cover the cost of negotiation, contract administration, and other
activities of the employee organization that are germane to its
functions as the exclusive bargaining representative.  Upon
notification to the employer by the exclusive representative, the
amount of the fee shall be deducted by the employer from the wages or
salary of the employee and paid to the employee organization.
   (b) The costs covered by the fee under this section may include,
but shall not necessarily be limited to, the cost of lobbying
activities designed to foster collective bargaining negotiations and
contract administration, or to secure for the represented employees
advantages in wages, hours, and other conditions of employment in
addition to those secured through meeting and negotiating with the
employer.
   (c) The arrangement described in subdivision (a) shall remain in
effect unless it is rescinded pursuant to subdivision (d).  The
employer shall remain neutral, and shall not participate in any
election conducted under this section unless required to do so by the
board.
   (d) (1) The arrangement described in subdivision (a) may be
rescinded by a majority vote of all the employees in the negotiating
unit subject to that arrangement, if a request for a vote is
supported by a petition containing 30 percent of the employees in the
negotiating unit, the signatures are obtained in one academic year.
There shall not be more than one vote taken during the term of any
collective bargaining agreement in effect on or after January 1,
2001.
   (2) If the arrangement described in subdivision (a) is rescinded
pursuant to paragraph (1), a majority of all employees in the
negotiating unit may request that the arrangement be reinstated.
That request shall be submitted to the board along with a petition
containing the signatures of at least 30 percent of the employees in
the negotiating unit.  The vote shall be conducted at the worksite by
secret ballot, and shall be conducted no sooner than one year after
the rescission of the arrangement under this subdivision.
   (3) If the board determines that the appropriate number of
signatures have been collected, it shall conduct the vote to rescind
or reinstate in a manner that it shall prescribe in accordance with
this subdivision.
   (4) The cost of conducting an election under this subdivision to
reinstate the organizational security arrangement shall be borne by
the petitioning party and the cost of conducting an election to
rescind the arrangement shall be borne by the board.
  SEC. 5.  Section 3583.5 of the Government Code is amended to read:

   3583.5.  (a) (1) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, any
employee of the California State University or the University of
California, other than faculty of the University of California who
are eligible for membership in the Academic Senate, who is in a unit
for which an exclusive representative has been selected pursuant to
this chapter, shall be required, as a condition of continued
employment, either to join the recognized employee organization or to
pay the organization a fair share service fee.  The amount of the
fee shall not exceed the dues that are payable by members of the
employee organization, and shall cover the cost of negotiation,
contract administration, and other activities of the employee
organization that are germane to its functions as the exclusive
bargaining representative.  Upon notification to the employer by the
exclusive representative, the amount of the fee shall be deducted by
the employer from the wages or salary of the employee and paid to the
employee organization.
   (2) The costs covered by the fee under this section may include,
but shall not necessarily be limited to, the cost of lobbying
activities designed to foster collective bargaining negotiations and
contract administration, or to secure for the represented employees
advantages in wages, hours, and other conditions of employment in
addition to those secured through meeting and conferring with the
higher education employer.
   (b) The organizational security arrangement described in
subdivision (a) shall remain in effect unless it is rescinded
pursuant to subdivision (c).  The higher education employer shall
remain neutral, and shall not participate in any election conducted
under this section unless required to do so by the board.
   (c) (1) The organizational security arrangement described in
subdivision (a) may be rescinded by a majority vote of all the
employees in the negotiating unit subject to that arrangement, if a
request for a vote is supported by a petition containing the
signatures of at least 30 percent of the employees in the negotiating
unit, the signatures are obtained in one academic year.  There shall
not be more than one vote taken during the term of any memorandum of
understanding in effect on or after January 1, 2000.
   (2) If the organizational security arrangement described in
subdivision (a) is rescinded pursuant to paragraph (1), a majority of
all the employees in the negotiating unit may request that the
arrangement be reinstated.  That request shall be submitted to the
board along with a petition containing the signatures of at least 30
percent of the employees in the negotiating unit.  The vote shall be
conducted at the worksite by secret ballot, and shall be conducted no
sooner than one year after the rescission of the organizational
security arrangement under this subdivision.
   (3) If the board determines that the appropriate number of
signatures have been collected, it shall conduct the vote to rescind
or reinstate in a manner that it shall prescribe in accordance with
this subdivision.
   (4) The cost of conducting an election under this subdivision to
reinstate the organizational security arrangement shall be borne by
the petitioning party, and the cost of conducting an election to
rescind the arrangement shall be borne by the board.
  SEC. 6.  Notwithstanding Section 17610 of the Government Code, if
the Commission on State Mandates determines that this act contains
costs mandated by the state, reimbursement to local agencies and
school districts for those costs shall be made pursuant to Part 7
(commencing with Section 17500) of Division 4 of Title 2 of the
Government Code.  If the statewide cost of the claim for
reimbursement does not exceed one million dollars ($1,000,000),
reimbursement shall be made from the State Mandates Claims Fund.