California Supreme Court Upholds The Principle of the Exclusive Jurisdiction of the Public Employment Relations Board
There has been a recent flurry of cases in which public employers have attempted to ignore the statutory obligation to go to the Public Employment Relations Board with complaints about union tactics. Instead the City and County of San Francisco, the County of Contra Costa and the County of Santa Clara went directly to their local state Superior Courts in an effort to find a sympathetic judge who is not expert in public sector labor law to enjoin unions or issue writs which are inconsistent with sound legal principles. In the first reported case in this mini-epidemic the Firm reresented the Defendant in City and County of San Francisco vs. International Union of Operating Engineers, Stationary Engineers Local 39.
The Charter of the City and County of San Francisco provides for mandatory interest arbitration in the event that an agreement is not reached by a certain date. It is no secret that the Charter has been drafted by the City and County in such a way that it is virtually impossible for a union to come out on top after such an arbitration. Arbitrators have confessed to union representatives that they couldn't go against the City. Local 39, decided to take its chances with traditional bargaining and economic techniques.
The City and County, ignoring the clear statutory language that violation of local rules regarding employer-employee relations must be brought to the PERB for resolution, tried to convince a judge to issue an order compelling the union to play its game. The Union won at every level, including the Court of Appeal in a decision published on May 31, 2007. The California Supreme Court refused a petition for review and declined the request to depublish the Court of Appeal decision on August 22, 2007. It is now expected that the cases arising out of Contra Costa and Santa Clara Counties, where the superior courts held against claims of PERB's exclusive jurisdiction will be reversed based upon this precedent
