REPRESENTATION ISSUES; SEVERANCE – In General

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A severance petitioner has the burden to show that the current unit structure is incapable of addressing unique interests of the classifications is seeks to sever. (Los Angeles Unified School District (1998) PERB Decision No. 1267, adopting proposed decision at pp. 55-56 [a “readily identifiable minority of unit members is not required to relinquish its issues regularly to the more powerful majority”].) Employees cannot meet this standard merely by showing a “history of dissension and lack of alternatives to mediate legitimate conflicts” marked by “two or three issues” that their union has “failed to address to [their] satisfaction.” (Id., adopting proposed decision at p. 58.) Even evidence that an incumbent union has provided poor representation does not indicate that the established unit structure neglects the needs of one sub-group, unless the evidence shows that representational efforts skew against the group in question and/or in favor of other groups. (City of Pasadena (2021) PERB Decision No. 2788-M, p. 12.) (pp. 32, 38.)