EMPLOYER INTERFERENCE, RESTRAINT, COERCION, EMPLOYER CONDUCT AFFECTING ORGANIZING, UNION ACCESS; SOLICITATION, AND OTHER UNION RIGHTS – Display of Union Insignia

Single Topic for Decision 1727E

View all topics for Decision 1727E

Full Decision Text (click on the link to view): Full Text

It is well-settled under the statutes administered by PERB that employees have a protected right to wear union buttons at the workplace. (State of California (Department of Parks and Recreation) (1993) PERB Decision No. 1026-S (Parks): see also, State of California (Department of Parks and Recreation) (1983) PERB Decision No. 328-S.) In Parks, a unanimous decision, Member Carlyle set forth the simple rule that, “the wearing of union buttons is a protected right, absent special circumstances.” (Parks at p. 4.) What constitutes a “special circumstance” depends on the setting, and “special circumstances” recognized in industrial settings may not be applicable in a classroom. Here, of the five special circumstances or considerations listed in Pay’N Save (employee dissension, safety, property damage, distraction, and public image), the District in this case argues only that distraction is an issue. The District has not shown that the classroom work at issue requires such a high degree of concentration, or that one more distraction could have dire consequences. Further, the District has not demonstrated that any of its students are particularly susceptible to distraction, which might justify banning buttons as to those students. Finally, the Board takes notice that the record establishes that the District permits other articles of clothing and activities which are as distracting, if not more, than the buttons at issue. Accordingly, the Board finds that the District has no established distraction as a special circumstance justifying its policy and regulation. In reaching this finding, the Board has not considered any evidence of actual disruption; rather, the test must be an objective one based on an examination of the buttons at issue. (pp. 8-13.)