UNION UNFAIR PRACTICES; UNION BARGAINING CONDUCT – Strike as Unlawful Pressure Tactic

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Picketing by building inspectors directed at private employers with the object of inducing private employees to refuse to work, shutting down private construction sites, was an unfair pressure tactic in violation of the MMBA. Tactics were particularly coercive given that the inspectors possessed direct regulatory control over the construction projects they picketed. The disruption of the business of neutral third parties is inconsistent with the public interest in promoting harmonious labor relations as well as the efficient delivery of public services. The absence of specific language in the MMBA prohibiting secondary picketing does not preclude finding that picketing by building inspectors directed at private employers with the object of inducing private employees to refuse to work, shutting down private construction sites, constituted an unlawful pressure tactic in violation of the MMBA. PERB has broad authority to identify unfair pressure tactics that undermine the collective bargaining process, even if such conduct is not specifically prohibited by the governing statute.