EMPLOYER REFUSAL TO BARGAIN IN GOOD FAITH; REFUSAL TO BARGAIN IN GOOD FAITH (FOR SPECIFIC SUBJECTS, SEE SCOPE OF REPRESENTATION, SEC 1000) – Persons Required to Bargain; Alter Egos, Joint Employers (See also 201)

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The Legislature’s failure to address successorship in the MMBA does not mean it intended to prohibit application of the successorship doctrine to local public agencies. Legislative silence is not the equivalent of positive legislation. (p. 18.) Because the NLRA and MMBA similarly protect employees’ rights to bargain collectively through an employee representative of their own choosing and bar employers from refusing to negotiate with their employees’ chosen representative, there is no statutory reason to preclude application of the successorship doctrine in California’s public sector. (pp. 18-19.) However, differences between private and public sector employment require a more flexible accretion policy in the public sector to ensure that bargaining units are appropriately and rationally structured. (p. 19.)