REPRESENTATION ISSUES; CERTIFICATION/VOLUNTARY RECOGNITION – Request for Recognition

Single Topic for Decision A430M

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MMBA employer may not refuse to recognize an employee organization that has shown majority support based on an asserted reasonable doubt that the employee organization has majority support. There is no basis for treating petitions that oppose proof of majority support as revocations of employee authorizations when none of the employees whose signatures appear on the opposition petitions establish the requisite intent to revoke a previously-given authorization. Absent proof of fraud or coercion, MMBA or PERB regulations do not authorize revocations of authorizations for representation. Because there was no showing that parties mutually agreed to permit revocations, PERB rejected the opposition petitions and the employee declarations as valid revocations of previously signed authorization cards. Permitting a party to cure a defect such as a lack of signature on a document that has no particular timeline for filing does not evince bias. The regulatory scheme in representation cases favors the petitioner in the more substantive matter of perfecting its showing of support. PERB Regulation 61240, subd. (b) provides that if the initial proof of support is insufficient, the Board may allow up to 10 days to perfect the proof of support. If the Board may allow extra time to submit additional support, it cannot be said that the more innocuous act of informing a petitioner that the petition lacks a required signature evidences bias.