EMPLOYER REFUSAL TO BARGAIN IN GOOD FAITH; UNILATERAL CHANGE (FOR NEGOT OF SPECIFIC SUBJECTS, SEE SEC 1000, SCOPE OF REPRESENTATION) – In General

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A unilateral change to a matter within the scope of representation is a per se violation of the respondent’s duty to bargain in good faith. (Stockton Unified School District (1980) PERB Decision No. 143, p. 22.) Because a unilateral change has an inherently destabilizing and detrimental effect upon the parties’ bargaining relationship, it is unlawful irrespective of intent. (City of Montebello (2016) PERB Decision No. 2491-M, p. 10; County of Riverside (2014) PERB Decision No. 2360-M, p. 18.) To establish a prima facie case that a respondent employer made an unlawful unilateral change, a charging party union that exclusively represents a bargaining unit must prove: (1) the employer changed or deviated from the status quo; (2) the change or deviation concerned a matter within the scope of representation; (3) the change or deviation had a generalized effect or continuing impact on represented employees’ terms or conditions of employment; and (4) the employer reached its decision without first providing adequate advance notice of the proposed change to the union and bargaining in good faith over the decision, at the union’s request, until the parties reached an agreement or a lawful impasse. (Bellflower Unified School District (2021) PERB Decision No. 2796, p. 9.)