Decision A436M – Santa Cruz Central Fire Protection District
SF-IM-160-M
Decision Date: April 26, 2016
Decision Type: Administrative Appeal
Description: Charging party appealed the Office of the General Counsel’s administrative determination that Local 3605’s request for factfinding was untimely pursuant to the MMBA and PERB regulations.
Disposition: The Board affirmed the administrative determination finding that Local 3605 failed to make its request for factfinding within 30-day window outlined in the MMBA and PERB regulations.
Perc Vol: 40
Perc Index: 174
Decision Headnotes
900.02000 – Declaration/Determination of Impasse
PERB has a limited role under the MMBA in determining the bona fides of an impasse declaration in the context of a factfinding request. PERB must accept a declaration of impasse at face value, as the statutory and regulatory factfinding process under the MMBA does not authorize PERB to independently determine at this state of the proceedings whether an impasse exists. The MMBA and PERB Regulations only condition factfinding on a declaration of impasse by one of the parties.
900.04000 – During Impasse
It is up to the union to keep track of the statutory window period and to file its request for factfinding within that period. Without an actual agreement to mediate, it is incumbent on the union to file its request for factfinding during the initial 30-day window in order to avoid the risk of forfeiting its opportunity to do so. A subsequent agreement to mediate coming after the initial window period for filing a request for factfinding did not alleviate the union’s responsibility to meet the statutory and regulatory deadline to request factfinding.
900.05000 – Post-Impasse
A party may “undeclare” impasse by clearly withdrawing its declaration of impasse. The Board will not infer a withdrawal of a party’s declaration of impasse. Union failed to state its withdrawal clearly.