Posts tagged California Public Employment Relations Board
Newsom used telework as a bargaining chip. State worker unions see opportunity
August 22, 2025 // With this win over telework, an issue which unions previously had little leverage over, labor groups hope they can gain even more traction in future negotiations, to secure even stronger protections over when employees can work from home. On top of that, labor’s argument against requiring state employees to be in the office four days a week received a boost from the independent audit released last week. “Now we actually have an audit that backs up what we have been saying,” said Susan Rodriguez, the chief negotiator for SEIU Local 1000. Auditors surveyed departments, many of which reported their employees were just as or more productive working from home, which Rodriguez said the union has been touting all along. Telework “saves money for the state so they can use it towards more meaningful programs,” she said.
Bill enabling unionization of ride-hail drivers takes big step
June 17, 2025 // Under the bill, the state would require Uber, Lyft and other such companies on a quarterly basis to give to the Public Employment Relations Board a list of all California ride-hail drivers who have provided at least 20 rides in the preceding six months. The board would use that data to determine the median number of rides given by that pool of drivers. Under AB 1340 as it’s currently written, any driver who gave at least the median number of rides would be considered an active driver. An organization seeking to form a drivers union could then start the process by getting at least 10% of active drivers to authorize it to act as their representative.
CA Public Employees and Unions Whining about Returning to the Office 5 Years Later
April 29, 2025 // Gavin Newsom created this mess. He sent state employees home when he locked the state down March 2020 ostensibly over a flu. And he let state employees work from home for 5 years. Many have done well, and are accountable employees, But many more are not, and need supervision and accountability. President Trump’s back-to-the-office order and hiring freeze has elicited a lot of kvetching in D.C., but is designed to suss out the deadwood in the federal government – something Governor Newsom should also be doing, figuratively and literally.
Freedom Foundation Sues California Public Employment Relations Board
March 18, 2025 // “The Public Employment Relations Board is trampling on free speech and workers’ rights, all to protect union interests,” said Freedom Foundation CEO Aaron Withe. “By enforcing these unconstitutional statutes, they are silencing the Shasta County Board and preventing public employees from receiving crucial information about their rights.” “These laws do a real disservice to public employees, forcing them to rely solely on unions for information that the unions have no intention of providing,” said Freedom Foundation Litigation Counsel Ravi Prasad. “Workers deserve the truth about their options. But these statutes ensure that workers only hear unions’ perspectives on the merits of union membership, while silencing any public employer who disagrees. This is textbook viewpoint discrimination.”
Thousands of workers from AFSCME 3299 and UPTE-CWA 9119 to strike across UC
February 27, 2025 // The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3299, which represents patient care, service and skilled craft workers, called for its second strike against the UC this academic year for Wednesday and Thursday. University Professional and Technical Employees-Communications Workers of America 9119, which represents researchers and technical workers, will also strike from Wednesday to Friday. UCLA Housing said in a Monday email that it will consolidate dining locations and adjust menus in response to AFSCME 3299’s strike. Bathroom cleaning schedules will also be modified, and some carriers may not deliver mail to UCLA, housing staff added in the email.
Teachers in California’s Blochman District oust CTA
January 31, 2025 // Because the process involves a legal proceeding before a state agency and may involve opposition from the incumbent union, it can be a little tricky for non-lawyers to navigate. In Blochman, for instance, CTA initially attempted to get the teachers’ petition dismissed. But with help from Freedom Foundation attorneys, the Blochman teachers politely stood their ground, defeated the CTA’s frivolous objection and democracy eventually won the day.
AFSCME union organizes state-wide rally over UC patient care contract
October 15, 2024 // Employees at the UCI Health Lakewood and Placentia Linda hospitals picketed similarly in front of their workplaces. Rallies were held simultaneously at all 10 UC campuses, including UC San Francisco and the UC San Diego, UC Davis and UCLA medical centers. Participants at UCI gathered at 8:30 a.m. to protest an ongoing impasse between the union and the UC system on negotiations for patient care technical and service employees, according to an Oct. 9 press release from AFSCME Local 3299.
How did Clovis Unified’s Faculty Senate violate labor rules? What’s next for teachers?
June 30, 2024 // At some point – the district said it’s not sure exactly when – Clovis Unified started financially supporting the Faculty Senate, and controlling it in other ways, which made it less of an employee representative body and more an employee relations arm of management, according to state labor officials. This included paying for supplies, a car and cell phone for leadership, stipends and other expenses. The state said that Clovis spent $610,000 on its Faculty Senate from 2020-2022. Meanwhile, none of these resources and access was granted to the Association of Clovis Educators (ACE), a teacher group attempting to unionize since 2020, or other groups attempting to unionize or form other representative groups.
OPINION: UAW loses at Mercedes, but are they done with Alabama?
June 18, 2024 // The question for the UAW is where to turn next in their campaign to organize Southern auto plants. Speculation has focused on Georgia, Missouri, South Carolina, or even another crack at other factories in Alabama. But it’s not at all clear that the union has much support in any of these locations. It’s also unlikely that any of the potential target companies will sign a neutrality agreement, but rather will make sure workers have both sides of the story. So, while the UAW puts on a brave face and claims that Southern autoworkers will “Stand Up!” ꟷ it appears that what workers are standing up against is the UAW.
OPINION Unionized academic workers go on strike, for what?
June 4, 2024 // The union, which states on its website that it “will not negotiate on behalf of encampment organizers,” has filed multiple complaints against the University of California with the state’s Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) since the beginning of May, when the university called in law enforcement to break down the “Palestine Solidarity Encampment” at UCLA. By then the initial 30 tents had grown into a massive, self-barricaded site that attracted angry counter-protesters in a violent overnight clash. The union’s complaint listed “workplace demands” that included the “right to opt out of participation in military-funded research,” and the “disclosure and divestment of University funds from Israel’s war effort.” The UAW local also complained that a new discipline policy of an “applicable review process” for employees who are arrested or cited was imposed without “notice or opportunity to bargain.” Further, the union wants the university to “make whole” any employees who were reported for criminal activity by paying their civil fines, attorney fees, bail and damage expenses.