Decision 2354M – City of Sacramento
SA-UM-795-M
Decision Date: February 14, 2014
Decision Type: PERB Decision
Description: A PERB Hearing Officer denied the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) petition to modify its bargaining unit to include a newly-established classification.
Disposition: The Board upheld the PERB Hearing Officers’ proposed decision denying IAM’s unit modification request because the duties performed by the newly-established classification were only incidental to the kind of work routinely performed by members of IAM’s bargaining unit and more closely resembled the clerical and customer service duties of employees in another unit.
Perc Vol: 38
Perc Index: 118
Decision Headnotes
1309.03000 – Community of Interest
The MMBA does not specify the criteria to be used when making unit determinations in cases of a dispute. In determining whether a community of interest exists among employees within a unit, both the courts and the Board analyze a variety of factors, including job function and duties, wages, method of compensation, hours, employment benefits, supervision, qualifications, training and skills, contact/interchange with other employees, integration of work functions, and common goals.
1310.05000 – Initial Representation Procedures and Unit Modification
In the absence of local rules governing unit determination issues, PERB’s unit modification procedure is the appropriate forum to determine the unit placement of a newly-established classification. The Board considered but declined to adopt private sector authority that recognizes a rebuttable presumption that a newly-created classification resides in the bargaining unit where its primary duties have historically been performed; in this case, the clerical and customer service duties assigned to the new classification were merely incidental to the mechanic classifications in the petitioned-for unit.