Decision 2492M – County of Butte
SA-CE-871-M
Decision Date: June 30, 2016
Decision Type: PERB Decision
Description: The complaint alleged that the County violated the MMBA by (1) unreasonably enforcing its local rules regarding determinations of appropriate units; (2) unreasonably enforcing its local rule regarding unit modification petitions; (3) ceasing dues and agency fee deductions and remittance thereof to the Association for the employees in a proposed new bargaining unit; (4) withdrawing recognition of BCEA as the exclusive representative of the subject employees and refusing to bargain in good faith with BCEA; and (5) interfering with the rights of employees and the employee organizations when it failed to maintain strict neutrality during a decertification election.
Disposition: The County excepted to the merits of the ALJ’s proposed decision, but the County excepted only to the proposed order requiring it, as opposed to its employees, to pay back dues to BCEA. The Board affirmed the ALJ’s remedy and held that ordering the County to restore to the union dues improperly withheld was appropriate.
Perc Vol: 41
Perc Index: 31
Decision Headnotes
102.03000 – Enforcement of Settlement Agreements and Contracts 3541.5(b); 3514.5(b); 3563.2(b)
PERB’s remedial authority is determined by statute, not by a contractual agreement between parties, and this authority cannot be limited or constrained by stipulation of the parties.
104.01000 – Authority of Board In General; Validity and Application of Regulations (See also 102.01)
PERB’s remedial authority is determined by statute, not by a contractual agreement between parties, and this authority cannot be limited or constrained by stipulation of the parties.
401.11000 – Dues Deductions/Check Off/Agency Fee
Employer violated MMBA by withdrawing recognition and refusing to remit employee dues to exclusive representative prior to election certified in unit modification. Employer ordered to remit unlawfully withheld dues to the exclusive representative, with interest.
700.01000 – In General
The harm that MMBA section 3506.5(d) intends to prohibit includes employers financially assisting one union in preference for another; employers establishing an employee organization to compete with or undermine an exclusive representative; or attempting to influence employee free choice by providing other non-financial assistance to an employee organization.
700.09000 – Solicitation; Dues Collection
Board order that employer make union whole for wrongful failure to remit dues to which union was entitled does not constitute forcing the employer to “contribute financial support” to union because the employer is not giving the union anything of value to which the union was not already entitled under the MMBA.
700.11000 – Loans; Dues Payments, Etc.
Board order that employer make union whole for wrongful failure to remit dues to which union was entitled does not constitute forcing the employer to “contribute financial support” to union because the employer is not giving the union anything of value to which the union was not already entitled under the MMBA.
1202.02000 – Agreement Between. the Parties
PERB’s remedial authority is determined by statute, not by a contractual agreement between parties, and this authority cannot be limited or constrained by stipulation of the parties. MOU language was not a “clear and unmistakable” waiver of union’s right to a remedial order that the employer remit unlawfully withheld dues to union when the employer presented no evidence that the parties intended this agreement to apply in such a way to supersede PERB’s remedial authority in the event the employer unlawfully refused to remit dues and fees.
1205.10000 – Other Affirmative Relief
Where employer unlawfully withdrew recognition from exclusive representative, thereby denying employees representation by any employee organization, it was the employer’s responsibility to make the union whole for unremitted dues and fees, especially since employees were denied representation as a result of the employer’s wrongful act. The appropriate remedy for an employer’s unlawful failure to remit dues is to order that it, not employees, make the employee organization whole. Ordering the employer to make union whole for the employer’s wrongful failure to remit dues to which union was entitled is not requiring the employer to “contribute financial support” to union in violation of the MMBA because the employer is not giving the union anything of value to which the union was not already entitled under the MMBA.