Student Worker Strike News: PERB Involvement

Wednesday, November 23, 2022

Various "complaints" have been issued by the state Public Employment Relations Board in the current student worker strike. From the San Francisco Chronicle:

State employment officials said Tuesday they have issued seven complaints alleging unfair labor practices against the University of California in its negotiations with the union that is leading the massive student workers’ strike across 10 campuses and UC laboratories. The complaints from the Public Employee Relations Board support union allegations that UC improperly withheld information from employees and changed their pay without negotiating. They do not mean that UC has violated state labor laws. The agency’s findings now head to an administrative law judge who will decide whether UC broke the law. The sides will also have a chance to settle their disputes before then.

“PERB has found sufficient evidence to issue several complaints in a variety of cases brought by the union,” Wendi Ross, deputy general counsel for the Public Employee Relations board, told The Chronicle. UC officials emphasized on Tuesday that they have bargained in good faith. “We disagree with (the union’s) claims, and note that to date there has been no finding of wrongdoing by the PERB against the university,” said Ryan King, a UC spokesperson.

...The new state findings cover allegations at seven campuses, including UCSF and UC Berkeley. At UC Berkeley, union officials accuse the university of improperly withholding information about wages and stipends, in one case for two years. At UCSF, the union accuses the university of unilaterally setting wages without bargaining. The other UC campuses the state complained about are in Los Angeles, Santa Barbara, Irvine and San Diego, which had two complaints. Once an administrative law judge makes a ruling in an unfair labor case, either party can appeal the decision to PERB. If a finding of an unfair labor practice is upheld, the guilty party is rarely fined. Instead, the remedy is generally to repair the problem...

Full story at https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/State-employment-officials-sidewith-union-s-17605284.php.

Just to be clear, PERB, in issuing complaints, is not acting as a mediating agency nor does it have the power of mandatory arbitration. It is not even deciding at this point the

merit of the complaints. PERB is more of a referee in the conflict. And its processes work slowly. The state does have a mediation agency, at one time separate but now a subdivision of PERB. However, the two parties to the dispute would have to agree to use its services.* And, as we have noted in previous posts about the strike, some kind of modified arbitration - agreed to by the parties - could be a route out of the current impasse. But there is no state law that imposes such arbitration.

* https://perb.ca.gov/laws-and-regulations/state-mediation-and-conciliation-servicetransfer/.

To hear the text above, click on the link below:

https://ia601402.us.archive.org/25/items/big-ten/perb%20complaints.mp3