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AB-1484 School employees: labor relations: fair share services fee or alternative fee: deduction: recognized employee organization decertification and recertification.(2021-2022)

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Date Published: 04/20/2021 09:00 PM
AB1484:v98#DOCUMENT

Amended  IN  Assembly  April 20, 2021

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 1484

Introduced by Assembly Member Kiley

February 19, 2021

An act to amend Section Sections 3540 and 3546 of the Government Code, relating to school employees.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 1484, as amended, Kiley. School employees: labor relations: fair share services fee or alternative fee: deduction. deduction: recognized employee organization decertification and recertification.
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. Existing law requires public school employers, as defined, upon receiving notice from an exclusive representative of public school employees who are in a unit for which an exclusive representative has been selected, to deduct the amount of the fair share service fee from the wages and salary of affected employees and pay those amounts to the employee organization. Existing law prohibits an employee who is a member of a religious body whose traditional tenets or teachings include objections to joining or financially supporting employee organizations from being required to join, maintain membership in, or financially support any employee organization as a condition of employment, except that the employee may be required, in lieu of a fair share service fee, to pay sums equal to the fair share service fee either to a nonreligious, nonlabor organization, or a charitable fund exempt from taxation, as provided. Existing law requires the employer of a public school employee to provide the exclusive representative of the employee with the home address of each bargaining unit member.
This bill would prohibit a public school employer from deducting the amount of the fair share service fee or the alternative fee described above from the wages and salary of a public school employee unless the employer has received permission explicit written permission from the employee, as specified, and would require an employee’s authorization to only be valid for the calendar year in which it is given unless terminated, as provided. The bill would repeal the above provision requiring a public school employer to provide the exclusive representative with the home address of each bargaining unit member.
Existing law authorizes an employee organization to become the exclusive representative for the employees of an appropriate unit for purposes of meeting and negotiating by filing a request with a public school employer alleging that a majority of the employees in an appropriate unit wish to be represented by the organization and asking the public school employer to recognize it as the exclusive representative. Existing law requires a public school employer to grant a request for recognition, except as specified.
This bill would authorize the decertification of a recognized employee organization if a majority of all the employees in the negotiating unit vote to decertify, the request for a vote is supported by a petition containing signatures of 30% of the employees in the negotiating unit, and the signatures are obtained in one academic year. The bill would authorize the recertification of an employee organization as the exclusive bargaining representative by a similar petition and voting process no sooner than one year after decertification. The bill would require the Public Employment Relations Board to bear the cost of conducting decertification and recertification elections.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: NOYES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 (a) The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(1) On June 27, 2018, the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Mun. Employees, Council 31 (2018) 138 S.Ct. 2448 (hereafter Janus) that collection of agency fees from public employees was an unconstitutional violation of their rights under the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and should cease immediately.
(2) The Supreme Court of the United States also held in Janus that employers need affirmative consent to collect dues from union members: “[N]either an agency fee nor any other form of payment to a public-sector union may be deducted from an employee, nor may any other attempt be made to collect such a payment unless the employee affirmatively consents to pay.”
(3) The Supreme Court of the United States further clarified in Janus the constitutional rights of public employees, including teachers, when it wrote, “The First Amendment [of the United States Constitution] is violated when money is taken from nonconsenting employees for a public-sector union; employees must choose to support the union before anything is taken from them.”
(4) Though the State of California has stopped collecting agency fees on behalf of unions, it continues to deduct union dues from employees who have not given affirmative consent or opted into union membership post-Janus.
(5) To comply with the Supreme Court of the United States’ decision in Janus, the State of California must stop collecting union dues from public school employees until those employees have been made aware of their right to decline union membership or join a union freely, and have provided this decision after the Janus decision was issued, as workers cannot waive constitutional rights they do not know they have.
(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that amendments made by this act to paragraph (1) of subdivision (d) of Section 3546 of the Government Code apply retroactively to any collective bargaining agreement in effect on or after January 1, 2001.

SEC. 2.

 Section 3540 of the Government Code is amended to read:

3540.
 (a) It is the purpose of this chapter to promote the improvement of personnel management and employer-employee relations within the public school systems in the State of California by providing a uniform basis for recognizing the right of public school employees to join or refuse to join organizations of their own choice, to be represented by the organizations in their professional and employment relationships with public school employers, to select one employee organization as the exclusive representative of the employees in an appropriate unit, and to afford certificated employees a voice in the formulation of educational policy. This chapter shall not supersede other provisions of the Education Code and the rules and regulations of public school employers which that establish and regulate tenure or a merit or civil service system or which that provide for other methods of administering employer-employee relations, so long as the rules and regulations or other methods of the public school employer do not conflict with lawful collective agreements.

It

(b) It is the further intention intent of the Legislature that this chapter shall not restrict, limit, or prohibit the full exercise of the functions of any academic senate or faculty council established by a school district in a community college to represent the faculty in making recommendations to the administration and governing board of the school district with respect to district policies on academic and professional matters, so long as the exercise of the functions does not conflict with lawful collective agreements.

It

(c) It is the further intention intent of the Legislature that any legislation enacted by the Legislature governing employer-employee relations of other public employees shall be incorporated into this chapter to the extent possible. The Legislature also finds and declares that it is an advantageous and desirable state policy to expand the jurisdiction of the board created pursuant to this chapter to cover other public employers and their employees, in the event that this legislation is enacted, and if this policy is carried out, the name of the Educational Employment Relations Board shall be changed to the “Public Employment Relations Board.” employees.
(d) It is the intent of the Legislature that government officials not collect union dues from public school employees until they have opted in to union membership and given affirmative consent for dues collection. It is the intent of the Legislature that affirmative consent is dated after June 27, 2018, the date of the Supreme Court of United States’ ruling in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Mun. Employees, Council 31 (2018) 138 S.Ct. 2448. The Legislatures finds and declares that workers cannot waive constitutional rights they did not know they had, and their rights under the First Amendment of the United States and California Constitutions must be protected.

SECTION 1.SEC. 3.

 Section 3546 of the Government Code is amended to read:
3546.

(a)(1)Notwithstanding any other law, upon receiving notice from the exclusive representative of a public school employee who is in a unit for which an exclusive representative has been selected pursuant to this chapter, the employer shall deduct the amount of the fair share service fee authorized by this section from the wages and salary of the employee and pay that amount to the employee organization. Thereafter, the employee shall, as a condition of continued employment, be required either to join the recognized employee organization or pay the 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. Agency fee payers shall have the right, pursuant to regulations adopted by the Public Employment Relations Board, to receive a rebate or fee reduction upon request, of that portion of their fee that is not devoted to the cost of negotiations, contract administration, and other activities of the employee organization that are germane to its function as the exclusive bargaining representative.

(2)Notwithstanding paragraph (1) or any other law, an

3546.
 (a) (1) An employer shall not deduct the amount of the fair share service fee authorized by this section or fee, the alternative fee described in Section 3546.3 3546.3, or any compulsory membership dues from the wages and salary of an employee unless the employer has received permission from the employee. An explicit written permission from the employee, with the employee’s signature, affirming the employee’s decision to forgo their First Amendment right to refuse to join an employee organization, as affirmed by the Supreme Court of United States’ ruling in Janus v. American Federation of State, County, and Mun. Employees, Council 31 (2018) 138 S.Ct. 2448.
(2) An opt-in form to join an employee organization may be provided to employees either online or in a paper format. To ensure that an employee’s affirmative consent is freely given, it is the intent of the Legislature that employee organization involvement in the distribution of the form and the collection process is limited. The employer shall collect the opt-in form and verify the employee’s signature.
(3) The statement of affirmative consent to join an employee organization generated by the employer or the employee shall contain the following in 14-point boldface font ____:

“I am aware that I have a First Amendment right, as recognized by the United States Supreme Court, to refrain from joining and paying dues to a labor union (employee organization). I further realize that membership and payment of dues are voluntary and that I may not be discriminated against for my refusal to join or financially support a union. I hereby waive my First Amendment right to refrain from union membership and dues payments and authorize my employer to deduct union dues from my salary in the amounts specified in accordance with my employee organization’s bylaws. I understand that I may revoke this authorization at any time ____.”

(4) An employee’s affirmative consent to join a union shall not be presumed, shall be given freely and knowingly, and shall be shown by clear and convincing evidence.
(b) An employee’s authorization under this paragraph subdivision (a) shall only be valid for the calendar year in which it is given, and may be terminated at any time by the employee.

(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. section.
(d) (1) The arrangement described in subdivision (a) An employee organization certified as the exclusive bargaining representative may be rescinded decertified by a majority vote of all the employees in the negotiating unit subject to that arrangement, unit, if a request for a vote is supported by a petition containing signatures of 30 percent of the employees in the negotiating unit, and the signatures are obtained in one academic year. There shall not be more than one vote no limit on the number of votes 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 a recognized employee organization is decertified pursuant to paragraph (1), a majority of all employees in the negotiating unit may request that the arrangement be reinstated. employee organization be recertified as the exclusive bargaining representative. 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 decertification of an employee organization 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 decertify or recertify 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 recertify an employee organization as the exclusive bargaining representative shall be borne by the petitioning party board and the cost of conducting an election to rescind the arrangement decertify a recognized employee organization shall be borne by the board.
(e) The recognized employee organization shall indemnify and hold the public school employer harmless against any reasonable legal fees, legal costs, and settlement or judgment liability arising from any court or administrative action relating to the school district’s compliance with this section. The recognized employee organization shall have the exclusive right to determine whether any such action or proceeding shall or shall not be compromised, resisted, defended, tried, or appealed. This indemnification and hold harmless duty shall not apply to actions related to compliance with this section brought by the exclusive representative of district employees against the public school employer.

(f)The employer of a public school employee shall provide the exclusive representative of a public employee with the home address of each member of a bargaining unit, regardless of when that employee commences employment, so that the exclusive representative can comply with the notification requirements set forth by the United States Supreme Court in Chicago Teachers Union v. Hudson (1986) 89 L.Ed. 2d 232.