IMPASSE PROCEDURES; IN GENERAL; DUTY TO PARTICIPATE IN GOOD FAITH – Mediation

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“Appointment or selection of a mediator” in MMBA section 3505.4 and PERB Regulation 32802 means appointment or selection of a post-impasse mediator. Where an employer and a union agree to use a pre-impasse mediator to fulfill a post-impasse mediation process required pursuant to local rules or negotiation ground rules, the mediator selected pre-impasse takes on a legally significant new role after impasse, which amounts to a constructive reappointment or reselection. In contrast, where mediation is purely voluntary, PERB will not find constructive reappointment when a mediator chosen pre-impasse meets with the parties post-impasse. In that circumstance, the window for requesting factfinding is the 30 days after a written declaration of impasse. (pp. 6-7.)