* issue: Employer-employee relations ordinance, decertification
rules, reasonableness of rules
The
Orange County Superior Court has 1,300 employees.
*
The Orange County Employees Association (OCEA) has since 1989 been
the recognized employee organization for the court’s employees.
*
Prior to 1987, the County of Orange (not the courts) had an employee
relations ordinance applicable to court employees which required
decertification petitions to have signatures from 30% in the
bargaining unit, with these signatures obtained within 90 days of
submitted the petition.
*
In July 1984, the time period for collecting signatures for a
decertification petition was reduced from 90 to 30 days.
*
In February 1990, OCEA’s assistant general manager contacted the
county’s chief of employee relations, and they agreed on (and the
Board of Supervisors in May 1990 adopted) a rule requiring 50% of
employees to sign a decertification petition before it would be
considered.
*
In 1998, each court became responsible for labor relations with its
employees. The Orange
County Superior Court adopted as its own rules the existing county
employee relations rules, with the 50 percent/30-day requirement for
decertification petitions.
*
SEIU in August 2000 submitted a decertification petition with less
than 50% of bargaining unit signatures.
*
The court rejected the petition; SEIU filed a petition for writ of
mandate with the appellate court.
*
The appellate court ruled that the 50% signature requirement was
unreasonable and therefore invalid.
SEIU Analysis
