UNFAIR PRACTICE ISSUES; STRIKES, SLOWDOWNS AND WORK STOPPAGES – Pre-Impasse

Single Topic for Decision 2906E

View all topics for Decision 2906E

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

Determining whether an unfair practice at least partially motivated a strike requires reviewing the totality of circumstances. (Rio Hondo Community College District (1983) PERB Decision No. 292, p. 23.) The most important category of evidence comprises the content of a union’s strike announcement or notice, picket signs, leaflets, press releases, social media posts, and other messaging, as well as witness testimony explaining the strike’s context and purposes. (Ibid.) A strike’s timing relative to the employer’s alleged violation can also be relevant. (Ibid.) However, close temporal proximity is not necessary to rebut the presumption against a pre-impasse strike; it is more important to consider whether the alleged violation remains unresolved at the time of the strike, because frustration may build the longer an unfair practice remains unresolved. Other factors that may be relevant if they are lacking include a union’s failure to file an unfair practice charge or to protest serious or material unfair conduct. (Ibid.) (p. 25.)