Decision 2916T – Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority
LA-UM-1025-T
Decision Date: August 26, 2024
Decision Type: PERB Decision
Description: AFSCME Local 3634 represents a unit of supervisory employees of the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority. The union petitioned to add Accounting Supervisors to its bargaining unit. Metro opposed AFSCME’s petition, asserting that Accounting Supervisors should be excluded from the unit because they are managerial, professional, and confidential employees. Following an investigation, PERB’s Office of the General Counsel (OGC) issued an administrative determination granting AFSCME’s petition. Metro appealed.
Disposition: The Board found, based on its text and legislative history, that the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority Transit Employer-Employee Relations Act (TEERA; Pub. Util. Code, §§ 99560-99570.4) does not exclude managerial employees. But, even considering all of Metro’s facts and arguments, Accounting Supervisors are not managerial or confidential employees. The Board also found that TEERA does not create a presumption that professional employees should be represented separately from non-professional employees. Accordingly, the Board affirmed OGC’s administrative determination and added Accounting Supervisors to the existing supervisory employee bargaining unit.
Perc Vol: 49
Perc Index: 54
Decision Headnotes
200.02000 – Managerial and Confidential
Act covering supervisory employees of Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority does not exclude managerial employees. The Board granted a petition to add Accounting Supervisors to an existing bargaining unit of supervisory employees.
200.02000 – Managerial and Confidential
Access to non-public information is not sufficient to designate an employee as confidential. Only confidential information about the employer’s labor relations, such as negotiations and the processing of grievances, is relevant to this determination.
1309.01000 – In General/Definition of Appropriate Unit
When determining whether an employee should be excluded from a unit, the Board considers the actual job duties performed, not just the job description.
1309.01000 – In General/Definition of Appropriate Unit
Absent an explicit statutory exclusion, arguments to exclude employees from a bargaining unit must be based on unit appropriateness factors or criteria.
1309.11000 – Professional Employees
Act covering supervisory employees of Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority contains no presumption that professional employees should be represented separately from non-professional employees.
1309.13000 – Supervisors
Act covering supervisory employees of Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority does not exclude managerial employees. The Board granted a petition to add Accounting Supervisors to an existing bargaining unit of supervisory employees.
1311.02000 – Procedural Issues
The Board applies an abuse of discretion standard in reviewing a Board agent’s determinations on the conduct of the investigation, including whether to hold an evidentiary hearing.
1311.02000 – Procedural Issues
Board agents have broad discretion to determine what procedures they deem necessary to decide the questions raised by the petition. Absent a material factual dispute, the Board agent may determine that a hearing is unnecessary and decide the petition based on the parties’ submissions.