A. Petition for Recognition - Generally. An employee organization that seeks recognition as the majority representative in an appropriate unit shall file with the City Manager a petition for recognition containing all of the information set forth herein, accompanied by written proof that at least 50 percent of the employees in the unit claimed to be appropriate have designated the employee organization to represent them in their employment relations with the City. Upon receipt of the petition for recognition, the City Manager shall:
1. Determine that there has been compliance with the requirements of the petition for recognition; and
2. Determine the appropriateness of a unit. If an affirmative determination is made by the City Manager on the foregoing two matters, the City Manager shall give notice of such request for formal recognition to the employees in the unit and shall take no action on said request for 30 days thereafter; if either of the foregoing matters are not affirmatively determined, the City Manager shall inform the employee organization of the reasons therefor in writing.
B. Petition for Recognition Requirements. The petition for recognition to be filed with the City Manager shall contain the following information and documentation:
1. Name and address of the employee organization;
2. Names and titles of its officers;
3. Name(s) of employee organization representative(s) who are authorized to speak on behalf of its members;
4. A statement that the employee organization has, as one of its primary purposes, the representation of employees in their employment relations with the City;
5. A statement as to whether or not the employee organization is a chapter or local of, or affiliated directly or indirectly in any manner with a regional, state, national or international employee organization, or union, and, if so, the name and address of each such regional, state, national or international employee organization or union;
6. A designation of a person, and such person’s address, to whom notice sent by regular United States mail will be deemed sufficient notice to the employee organization for any purpose;
7. A statement that the employee organization does not discriminate or restrict membership or participation based on race, color, age, national origin, sex, religion, ethnic derivation, physical disability, cancer related medical condition, sexual orientation or marital status.
8. The job titles, names, and office or departmental affiliations of member employees in the unit claimed to be appropriate;
9. A statement that the employee organization has in its possession written proof, dated within two months of the date upon which the petition is filed, to establish that employees in the unit claimed to be appropriate, have designated the employee organization to represent them in their employment relations with the City. Such written proof shall be submitted for confirmation to the City Manager;
10. A request that the City Council recognize the employee organization as the majority representative of the employees in the unit claimed to be appropriate for the purpose of meeting and conferring in good faith on all matters within the scope of representation;
11. All petitions, including accompanying documents, shall be verified, under oath, by at least two officers of the organization that the statements are true and that the signatures are authorized and valid. All changes in such information shall be filed, forthwith, in like manner.
C. Determining Appropriateness of Units.
1. The City Manager, after reviewing the petition filed by an employee organization seeking formal recognition as majority representative, shall determine whether the proposed unit is an appropriate unit. The principal criterion in making this determination is whether there is a community of interest among such employees. The following criteria, or other related criteria, are also to be considered in making such determination:
a. The history of employee relations:
(1) In the unit,
(2) Among other employees of the City, and
(3) In similar public employment;
b. The effect of the unit on the efficient operation of the City and sound employer-employee relations;
c. The extent to which employees have functional relationships, common skills, working conditions, job duties;
d. The effect on the existing Classification Plan of dividing a single class among two or more units. Preference shall be given to the largest possible class consistent with criteria listed herein.
2. In the establishment of appropriate units, professional employees shall not be denied the right to be represented separately from nonprofessional employees. Management employees shall not be included in the same unit with non- management employees.
3. Police department employees who are “peace officers” as that term is defined in Chapter 4.5 (commencing with Section 830) of Title 3 of Part 2 of the Penal Code of the State of California, shall have the right to join or participate in an employee organization which is composed solely of such peace officers, which concerns itself solely and exclusively with the wages, hours, working conditions, welfare programs, and advancement of the academic and vocational training in furtherance of the police profession, and which is not subordinate to any other organization.
4. No employee may be represented by more than one recognized employee organization for the purposes of this chapter.
5. Notwithstanding any provisions provided herein, the City retains the right to communicate with unrepresented employees or groups of employee individuals concerning wages, hours and other terms and conditions of employment.
D. Recognition Proceedings and Election.
1. Within 30 days of the date notice of the request for formal recognition is given to employees, any other employee organization (hereinafter referred to as the “challenging organization”) may seek formal recognition in an overlapping unit by filing a petition for recognition, provided that such challenging organization submit written proof that it represents at least 50 percent of the employees in such unit. The City Manager shall hold a hearing on such overlapping petitions, at which time all affected employee organizations shall be heard. Thereafter, the City Manager shall determine the appropriate unit or units as between such proposed overlapping units in accordance with the criteria set forth herein.
2. When an employee organization in the unit found to be appropriate submits written proof that it represents at least 50 percent of the employees in such unit, the City Manager shall arrange for a secret ballot election to be conducted by the City Clerk or the State Conciliation Service. All challenging organizations who have submitted written proof that they represent at least 30 percent of the employees in the unit found to be appropriate, and have submitted a petition for recognition as required by this chapter, shall be included on the ballot. The choice of “no organization” shall be included on the ballot. Employees eligible to vote in such election shall be those persons regularly employed in permanent, full-time positions within the unit who were employed during the pay period which includes the date which is 15 days before the election, including those who did not work during such period because of illness, disability, vacation or authorized leaves of absence and who are employed by the City in the same unit on the date of election. In the case of hourly exempt employees, those employees eligible to vote shall be those persons who were employed and actively working during the pay period which includes the date which is 15 days before the election, including those who did not work because of illness or disability, and who are actively working in the same unit on the date of the election.
An employee organization shall be granted recognition following an election or runoff election if the employee organization has received the vote of a numerical majority of all the employees eligible to vote in the unit in which the election is held (i.e., 50 percent plus 1 of the votes of all eligible employees). In an election involving three or more choices, where none of the choices receives a majority, a runoff election shall be conducted between the two choices receiving the largest number of valid votes cast. The rules governing an initial election shall also apply to a runoff election.
E. Impasse in Representation Proceedings. Any unresolved complaint by an affected employee organization, advanced in good faith, concerning a decision of the City Manager made pursuant to this Section shall be processed in accordance with the procedures set forth in Section 2R.72.250 and must be filed with the City Manager within 7 days after the affected employee organization first receives notice of the decision upon which its complaint is based, or its complaint will be considered closed and not subject to the impasse procedures or to any other appeal.
F. City Council Recognition of Majority Representative.
1. After the City Manager has determined the majority representative of City employees in an appropriate unit by arranging for a secret ballot election as prescribed herein, the City Manager shall certify to the City Council the choice of the majority of the employees or the name of the employee organization found to represent a majority of the employees in an appropriate unit. The City Manager shall not preclude other recognized employee organizations, or individual employees, from consulting with management representatives on employer- employee relations matters of concern to them.
2. The City Council shall:
a. Grant formal recognition to the employee organization certified by the City Manager to represent the majority of the employees in an appropriate unit as the only employee organization entitled to meet and confer in good faith on matters within the scope of representation for employees in such unit.
b. Revoke the recognition rights of a majority representative which has been found by a secret ballot election no longer to be the majority representative.
G. Decertification of Recognized Organization.
1. Duration of Recognition. When an employee organization has been recognized, such recognition shall remain in effect until such time as the City Manager shall determine, on the basis of a secret ballot election in accordance with the foregoing rules, that the employee organization no longer represents the majority of the employees in the affected unit, provided however, that recognition of employee organizations recognized as majority representatives pursuant to a vote of the employees may be revoked by a majority vote of such employees only after a period of not less than twelve (12) months following the date that the City Council granted formal recognition to the employee organization; provided, further, that a memorandum of understanding, if any, negotiated by such a decertified employee organization shall remain in full force and effect until the expiration date provided in the existing memorandum. City shall have no obligation to negotiate a new memorandum of understanding as to any employees within the newly certified employee organization until such expiration date.
2. Petition for Decertification. A petition for decertification alleging that an employee organization granted formal recognition is no longer the majority representative of the employees in an appropriate unit may be filed with the City Manager. The petition for decertification may be filed by an employee, a group of employees or their representative, or an employee organization. The petition, including all accompanying documents, shall be verified, under oath, by the person signing it that its contents are true. It may be accompanied by a petition for recognition by a challenging organization. The petition for decertification shall contain the following information:
a. The name, address and telephone number of the petitioner and/or a designated representative authorized to receive notices or requests for further information;
b. The name of the formally recognized employee organization;
c. All allegations that the formally recognized employee organization no longer represents a majority of the employees in the appropriate unit, and any other relevant and material facts;
d. Written proof that at least 50 percent of the employees in the unit do not desire to be represented by the formally recognized employee organization. Such written proof shall be dated within three months of the date upon which the petition is filed and shall be submitted for confirmation to the City Manager. If the petition for decertification is determined to contain this information, the City Manager shall notify the employees in the unit and shall take no action on said petition for thirty (30) days thereafter. If the petition is deficient in this regard, the City Manager shall inform the employee(s) or employee organization of such deficiencies in writing. Upon the conclusion of the thirty (30) day period, the City Manager shall arrange for a secret ballot election to be administered by the City Clerk or the State Conciliation Service, to determine if the recognized employee organization shall retain its recognition rights. A recognized employee organization shall be decertified if a majority of all employees eligible to vote cast votes for decertification.
H. Modification of Established Unit. A petition for modification of an established unit may be filed by an employee organization with the City Manager. The petition for modification shall contain all of the information required by subsection B of this Section along with a statement of all relevant facts in support of the proposed modified unit. The petition shall be accompanied by written proof that at least 50 percent of the employees within the proposed modified unit have designated the employee organization to represent them in their employment relations with the City. The City Manager shall hold a hearing on the petition for modification, at which time all affected employee organizations shall be heard. Thereafter, the City Manager shall determine the appropriate unit or units between the existing unit and the proposed modified unit and shall follow the procedure set forth in subsection D of this Section for determining the formal recognition of such unit.
I. Cost of Election Proceedings. The cost of any election proceedings shall be borne equally among each of the employee organization(s) which names(s) appear on ballot and City. Provided, however, that City's maximum obligation hereunder shall be $100 per election.
(Res. No. 143 95-96, Res. No. 02 03-04)