EMPLOYER REFUSAL TO BARGAIN IN GOOD FAITH; NEGOTIATIONS; INDICIA OF SURFACE OR BAD FAITH BARGAINING; TOTALITY OF CIRCUMSTANCES – In General

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Under the totality of circumstances, multiple indicators established that Alliance bargained in bad faith, including misrepresenting facts, employing evasive and dilatory tactics, canceling bargaining dates, failing to prepare adequately for negotiations, failing to take one’s bargaining obligation seriously, engaging in regressive bargaining. Alliance’s per se violations served as additional indicators of bad faith bargaining. The Board also considered essential the context in which the bad faith bargaining occurred, i.e., first-contract bargaining. In that context, PERB closely scrutinizes bargaining behavior because bad faith bargaining conduct during negotiations for an initial contract typically has a more deleterious effect on employee support for a nascent union than it would in a well-established collective bargaining relationship. (Gompers Preparatory Academy (2020) PERB Order No. Ad-481, pp. 5-8.) Alliance’s multiple bad faith acts were amplified in these circumstances. (pp. 31-36)