UNION UNFAIR PRACTICES; UNION SECURITY; AGENCY/FAIR SHARE FEE; DUES DEDUCTION/CHECK OFF – In General

Single Topic for Decision 1295E


View all topics for Decision 1295E

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

803.00000 – UNION UNFAIR PRACTICES; UNION SECURITY; AGENCY/FAIR SHARE FEE; DUES DEDUCTION/CHECK OFF
803.01000 – In General

PERB will defer to an arbitrator's award in an agency fee objection case and refuse to issue a complaint where: (1) the arbitration proceedings were fair and regular; and (2) the arbitrator's award is not clearly repugnant to the purposes of EERA. Established case law as well as PERB Regulation 32994(b)(6) specifically require the exclusive representative to bear the burden of establishing the reasonableness of the agency fee amount. Since the arbitrator placed the burden on the opposite party (the objectors), the Board agent found that the arbitrator's award is contrary to PERB regulations and is, therefore, repugnant to the purposes of EERA. Although the union bears the burden of proving reasonableness of the agency fee, absolute precision is not required in the calculation of the agency fee. agency fee, absolute precision is not required in the calculation of the agency fee. An error of less than one-tenth of one percent of total expenses does not violate union's duty to set amount of agency fee.