Labor Relations Fundamentals for Community College Districts

4. R IGHT TO BE F REE FROM S URVEILLANCE OF U NION A CTIVITY There is also understandable sensitivity on the part of employee organizations as to what they consider to be surveillance of protected activity by supervisors. If there is evidence the surveillance is designed to discourage union activities, the employer may be said to be in violation of basic union rights. However, isolated acts of misconduct by management are not generally viewed as a violation of union rights. Unless egregious, an act which is non-recurring, and which only poses a minor infraction, is generally not the basis for a successful unfair labor practice charge. 5. R IGHT TO I NFORMATION An employer must provide an exclusive representative with all information that is necessary and relevant to the union’s duty to represent employees in their employment relations, unless there is a compelling reason why the information should not be provided. 80 In defining the parameters of “necessary and relevant information” PERB has ruled that if the requested information pertains directly to a mandatory subject of bargaining, it is presumptively relevant. 81 6. R IGHT TO E NGAGE IN C ONCERTED A CTIVITY Protected concerted activity occurs when two or more employees act together to protest or complain about terms and conditions of employment, such as wages and benefits. The EERA protects an individual employee’s right to engage in, or not to engage in, protected, concerted activities. Many forms of concerted activity are legally protected. Distribution of information, engaging in speech that is critical of the employer, filing a complaint or grievance, and peaceful, informational picketing on off-duty time are considered protected concerted activity. 82 Another form of concerted activity is a labor strike or work stoppage. Labor agreements commonly contain no-strike clauses. An employee might be subject to discipline for violating this provision during the term of the labor agreement. Once the labor agreement expires, a strike will only be considered protected activity if it follows exhaustion of statutory impasse procedures, or if evidence demonstrates that the strike was provoked by the employer’s unfair practices. 83 In either instance, the strike must not result in the “total breakdown of education.” 84 Districts should always consult with legal counsel prior to disciplining employees for strikes or related activities due to complex legal issues that might arise. A district should consider several variables when deciding how to react to a strike, sickout, or other work stoppage. It should consider whether the public can go without the strikers’ services or whether the district can hire replacement workers, determine the effect on service delivery, and ascertain community and press reactions to the labor dispute. Sometimes it is best to let strikers stay out until they are ready to resume work. In other circumstances, it might be advisable to propose mediation or some other form of dispute resolution, to revise proposals to draw the strikers back to the bargaining table, or to seek injunctive relief from PERB to compel the employees to return to work.

Labor Relations Fundamentals for Community College Districts © 2019 (c) Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 19