Labor Relations Fundamentals for Community College Districts

 A right to be treated consistently with all other solicitors, even

employees who solicit co-workers for sales to support a local school or non-profit agency. For example, a requirement that nonemployee union organizers obtain identification cards was found to be unreasonable because the requirement did not apply to all visitors. 28

A district may regulate union activity in a non-work area during non-working time only if the regulation is necessary to maintain order, production or discipline. 29 When an employer has produced a legitimate business reason for conduct that interferes with employee or union rights, PERB will balance the competing interests to determine whether a violation has occurred. 30 It is unlawful for a labor organization to threaten, discriminate or retaliate against an employee, or to restrain or coerce an employee, for reasons relating to the exercise of employee rights under EERA. 31 2. E MPLOYEES ’ R IGHT TO E NGAGE IN C ONCERTED A CTIVITY Employees have the right to engage in concerted activity, such as participation in informational picketing during non-work hours; signing pro-union petitions and authorization cards; and dressing in union insignia or wearing union buttons at work. 32 Employees may also have the right to engage in a legal strike. A legal strike is one which (a) does not cause a total breakdown of basic education or a total breakdown of negotiations free from coercive tactics that hold education hostage, 33 (b) does not create a substantial and imminent threat to the health or safety of the public, 34 and (c) does not constitute an unfair labor practice. 35 The wearing of union clothing, buttons, or insignia is a protected right, absent special circumstances. 36 If special circumstances exist, then the employer may be within its rights to reasonably limit or prohibit the wearing of buttons by employees. 37 In some instances, schools may prohibit teachers from wearing political buttons while teaching, although special circumstances are not necessarily inherent in all instructional settings. 38 Yet even where such a prohibition is enforceable in instructional settings, the prohibition does not extend to non- instructional settings, such as a back-to-school night. 39 PERB has also recognized specific special circumstances, delineated in private sector labor law, justifying a prohibition of union buttons or insignia. Such special circumstances may exist where buttons could jeopardize an employee’s safety; damage machinery or products; exacerbate employee dissension; cause distraction from work demanding great concentration; disrupt the uniformity, discipline or appearance of neutrality among paramilitary law enforcement employees, or damage the image to the public by the employees coming into contact with the public in the absence of a protected purpose. 40 While a district’s burden to demonstrate special circumstances is not a heavy one, it does require demonstrating the existence of special circumstances. 41 Thus, where a button is allegedly unduly distracting or disruptive, PERB will undertake an objective examination of the button to

Labor Relations Fundamentals for Community College Districts © 2019 (c) Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 12