Workers’ Rights and Protection During Decertification
Regardless of your current status as a California Public Employee, whether you are a full SEIU member, a Fair-Share fee payer, or a Hudson Objector, you have the following guarantees under the law:
Wages & Benefits are Secure During Decertification
- Employees will not lose any wages or benefits during the Decertification process [1].
- Once a petition for Decertification is filed, the State may not negotiate with any party until the question of representation is settled (i.e. until the Union election is over) [1].
- During the time between the filing of a petition and the end of the election, the State is not permitted to take any action that affects employee wages or benefits [2].
This all means the State is prohibited from reducing wages or making any changes in the terms and conditions of employment, during the Decertification process. After the State employees vote in the new union, the State is required to “meet and confer” with the new union, and may not take any unilateral action on the terms and conditions of employment until after the conclusion of negotiations [3].
If SEIU loses the elections, it loses the authority to enforce the contract agreement with the State which may be in effect at the time of the election [4].
Bottom Line:
The system is designed so that no one can threaten employees with the possibility of “losing” any wages, benefits, or any other changes in working conditions, during the Decertification process. The procedure involves decertifying one union (SEIU) and certifying another union in its place. While engaged in this process, the law protects employees from losing anything. In fact, the law Guarantees there will be a smooth transition from one union to another.
Status of Contract and Collective Bargaining
The reason the “window period” for a decertification petition is 212-242 days prior to the expiration of an existing contract is to allow time for an election and then additional time to negotiate a new agreement. In the meantime, however, the State is not permitted to change employee conditions, regardless of whether the existing contract is expired or not. For all practical purposes, the new union can enforce the existing contract and, obviously, negotiate and then enforce a new contract.
References
[1] Sacramento City Unified School District (1982) PERB Dec. No. 214, 6 PERC Para. 13118, pp. 467-468.
[2] The filing of a petition for decertification does not automatically rais a question of majority support unless, of course, each of the petitions contains over 50% of each bargaining unit. When representation is unsettled (the time between the filing of a petition and an election), an employer (State) is not permitted to take any unilateral action that affects wages or benefits. Pittsburg Unified School District (1983) PERB Dec. 318, 7 PERC Para. 14176, pp. 689-690.
[3] San Joaquin State Employees Assn. v. City of Stockton (1984)161 Cal.App. 3d 813, 818-819.
[4] Retail Clerks International Assn. v. Montgomery Ward & Co. (7th Cir. 1963) 316 F.2d 754, 757.