120500-120509

PUBLIC UTILITIES CODE
SECTION 120500-120509




120500.  Employees shall have the right to self-organization, to
form, join, or assist labor organizations, to bargain collectively
through representatives of their own choosing, and to engage in other
concerted activities as permitted under the Federal Labor Management
Relations Act, 1947, as amended, for the purpose of collective
bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.
   It is declared to be in the public interest that the board shall
not express any preference for one union over another.



120501.  Whenever a majority of the employees employed by the board
in a unit that is the appropriate unit for collective bargaining
indicate a desire to be represented by a labor organization and upon
determining as provided in Section 120505, that such labor
organization represents the majority of the employees in that
appropriate unit, the board shall meet and confer in a good-faith
effort to agree on the terms of a written contract with the
recognized representatives of such employees governing wages,
salaries, hours, working conditions, and benefits, including, but not
limited to, health and welfare, sick leave, insurance, or pension or
retirement provisions.



120502.  In case of a labor dispute over wages, salaries, hours,
working conditions, and benefits on the making or maintaining of
collective-bargaining agreements and the terms to be included in such
agreements, which is not resolved by negotiations in good faith
between the board and the labor organization, upon the joint request
of both, the board and the labor organization may submit the dispute
to the decision of the majority of an arbitration panel.
   The arbitration panel shall be composed of one representative of
the board, and one representative of the labor organization, and they
shall endeavor to agree upon the selection of the third member. If
they are unable to agree, the names of five persons experienced in
labor arbitration shall be obtained from the State Conciliation
Service. The labor organization and the board shall, alternately,
strike a name from the list so supplied, and the name remaining,
after the labor organization and the board have stricken four names,
shall be designated as the third arbitrator. The labor organization
and the board shall determine by lot who shall first strike a name
from the list. The decision of a majority of the arbitration board
shall be final and binding upon the parties thereto. The expenses of
arbitration shall be borne equally by the parties. Each party shall
bear its own costs.


120503.  In the event the board and the representatives of the
employees do not agree to submit the dispute to an arbitration panel
as provided in Section 120502, the State Conciliation Service may be
notified by either party that a labor dispute exists and that there
is no agreement to arbitrate.
   The service shall determine whether or not the labor dispute may
be resolved by the parties and, if not, the issues concerning which
the dispute exists. Upon such determination, the service shall
certify its findings to the Governor of the State of California who
shall, within 10 days of receipt of certification, appoint a
factfinding commission consisting of three persons. The commission
shall immediately convene and inquire into and investigate the issues
involved in the dispute and shall report to the Governor within 30
days of the date of its creation.
   After the creation of such commission, and for 30 days after such
commission has made its report to the Governor, no change, except by
mutual agreement, shall be made by the parties to the controversy in
the conditions out of which the labor dispute arose and service to
the public shall be provided.



120504.  (a) A contract or agreement shall not be made with any
labor organization, association, or group that denies membership to,
or in any manner discriminates against, any employee on any basis
listed in subdivision (a) of Section 12940 of the Government Code, as
those bases are defined in Sections 12926 and 12926.1 of the
Government Code.
   (b) The board shall not discriminate with regard to employment
against any person on any basis listed in subdivision (a) of Section
12940 of the Government Code, as those bases are defined in Sections
12926 and 12926.1 of the Government Code, except as otherwise
provided in Section 12940 of the Government Code.



120505.  If there is a question of whether a labor organization
represents a majority of employees or whether the proposed unit is
the appropriate unit for collective bargaining, the question shall be
submitted to the State Conciliation Service for disposition. The
service shall promptly hold a public hearing, after due notice to all
interested parties, and shall thereupon determine the unit
appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining. In making such
determination and in establishing rules and regulations governing
petitions and the conduct of hearings and elections, the service
shall be guided by relevant federal law and administrative practice
developed under the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, as amended.
   The service shall provide for an election to determine the
question of representation and shall certify the results to the
parties. Any certification of a labor organization to represent or
act for the employees in any collective-bargaining unit shall not be
subject to challenge on the grounds that a new substantial question
of representation within such collective unit exists until the lapse
of one year from the date of certification or the expiration of any
collective-bargaining agreement, whichever is later, except that no
collective-bargaining agreement shall be construed to be a bar to
representation proceedings for a period of more than two years.



120506.  The obligation of the board to meet and confer in good
faith with the duly certified labor organization and to agree on the
terms of a written collective-bargaining agreement with such labor
organization covering the wages, hours, working conditions, and
benefits of the employees represented by such labor organization in
the appropriate unit, and to comply with the terms thereof, shall not
be limited or restricted by the provisions of the Government Code or
other laws or statutes. The obligations of the board to bargain
collectively shall extend to all subjects of collective bargaining
which are, or may be, mandatory subjects of collective bargaining
with a private employer, including retroactive provisions and
benefits for retired employees.



120507.  Notwithstanding the provisions of the Government Code,
employees of the board may authorize and, upon such authorization,
the board may make deductions from wages and salaries of such
employees:
   (a) Pursuant to a collective-bargaining agreement with a duly
designated or certified labor organization for the payment of union
dues, fees, or assessments.
   (b) For the payment of contributions pursuant to any health and
welfare plan or pension or retirement plan.
   (c) For any purpose for which deductions may be authorized by
employees of any private employer.



120508.  (a) This article also applies to the employee relations of
employees of a nonprofit entity that operates public mass transit
services and that is solely owned by the board. For employee
relations regarding these employees, "board," as used in this
article, means the board and the board of directors of the nonprofit
entity as the joint employer of the employees.
   (b) The board may, at any time in its sole discretion, abolish any
nonprofit entity or merge any nonprofit entity with another
nonprofit entity or with the board.
   (c) Upon abolishing or merging a nonprofit entity pursuant to
subdivision (b), the board shall become the sole employer of the
employees of the nonprofit entity and shall assume sole
responsibility to observe all existing labor contracts established
and maintained pursuant to this article.
   (d) Except as may be agreed upon through the collective bargaining
process, nothing in this section shall prohibit or limit the right
of the board to contract with common carriers of persons operating
under a franchise, license, or other agreement. Any provision in an
existing collective bargaining agreement made applicable to the board
in its capacity as a joint employer with a nonprofit entity pursuant
to subdivision (a) or sole successor employer pursuant to
subdivision (b) that is intended to prohibit or limit the right of a
nonprofit entity to contract out covered bargaining unit services to
another common carrier of persons shall not be binding upon the board
with respect to any contract for services entered into, renewed, or
extended by the board prior to January 1, 2004, and thereafter shall
apply only to contracts for bargaining unit services covered by an
existing collective bargaining agreement assumed by or binding upon
the board as a joint employer unless otherwise agreed upon through
the collective bargaining process. The amendments to this subdivision
made by Chapter 557 of the Statutes of 2005 are intended solely to
clarify existing law and shall not be interpreted either to enlarge
or contract the board's right to contract out for public
transportation services.


120509.  (a) Upon the request of the board, as defined in Section
120508, with the consent of any labor organization acting as the
exclusive representative of employees whose collective bargaining
rights are subject to Section 120508, the board may enter into a
contract to enroll the collectively bargained employees as members of
the Public Employees' Retirement System or another retirement
system.
   (b) A contract to enroll employees in the Public Employees'
Retirement System shall be subject to the provisions of Part 3
(commencing with Section 20000) of Division 5 of Title 2 of the
Government Code.
   (c) Employees transferred from any existing retirement system or
pension plan to the Public Employees' Retirement System or any other
retirement system by operation of this section shall receive benefits
immediately after enrollment in, or transfer to, the system that are
at least equal to, or greater than, the benefits the employees would
have been entitled to immediately before enrollment in, or transfer
to, the system.