County of Contra Costa v. Public Employees Union Local One
Filed May 22, 2008
Court of Appeals of the State of California, First Appellate
District Division of One
Cite as 2008 SOS 3105

PERB’s Legal Jurisdiction On Nurses’ Strike Denied

Pertinent facts:

On June 23, 2006, the County of Contra Costa filed a complaint against several public employee unions, seeking to enjoin certain essential employees from participating in a one-day strike. Of the 5800 employees threatening to strike, the County argued that 270 employees were essential to maintaining public health and safety.

The County also sought to enjoin all the members of a nurses’ union from engaging in a sympathy strike.

Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) intervened in the court proceedings to assert that it had exclusive initial jurisdiction over the dispute since the unions’ proposed strike would arguably be protected or prohibited by the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (MMBA).

The PERB is the state agency charged with resolving disputes and enforcing statutes that pertain to several categories of public employees, such as the Educational Employment Relations Act (EERA), the State Employee-Employee Relations Act, and, as of 2001, the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (MMBA), which applies to local government agencies and their employees.

Over Local One’s objections, the court found that Labor Code section 1138 et seq., did not apply to the proceedings.

On June 30, 2006, the court held a hearing and determined that the MMBA did not apply to the County’s complaint or was not implicated by the county’s application for an injunction and ruling that the PERB did not have exclusive jurisdiction.

Thus, these consolidated appeals in the Court of Appeals of the State of California, First Appellate District Division of One followed.

The Court of Appeals affirmed the trial court’s decision ruling that PERB did not have jurisdiction over the dispute.

The court acknowledged that because of legislative changes in 2001, “PERB now has jurisdiction over strikes under the MMBA insofar as the strikes constitute unfair labor practices.” However, the court noted that neither the courts nor PERB has ever held that all strikes implicate unfair labor practices.

Examining the facts in this case, the court found no allegation that either party had committed an unfair practice. There was no unfair practice alleged in the complaint.

In full the appellate court held that where county sought to enjoin a lawful labor strike by county nurses on the ground that the strike would present a substantial and imminent threat to public health and safety, the Public Employment Relations Board did not have exclusive initial jurisdiction over the issue in the absence of any indication that the nurses were committing an unfair labor practice or that the county was committing an unfair labor practice in seeking the injunction.