Labor Relations: The Meet and Confer Process

The fact-finding takes place before a three-member fact-finding panel. The panel issues non- binding findings of fact and recommended terms of settlement if the parties do not settle the issues in dispute. Although the Legislature failed to specify whether an employee organization may request fact- finding for any dispute arising from mandatory bargaining or only for disputes arising when the parties are bargaining over a new or successor MOU, PERB determined that the fact-finding procedures apply to the former. 303 In 2016, the Fourth District Court of Appeal agreed, holding, in two cases, that fact-finding is available for any “impasses arising during the negotiation of any bargainable matter.” 304 Accordingly, employee organizations may request fact-finding under the MMBA for any negotiable dispute, including effects bargaining and other disputes arising from or outside of negotiations for an MOU. c. Negotiations in an Interest Arbitration Environment Charter cities and counties with provisions providing for the binding arbitration of negotiating impasses should take some special steps to prepare for negotiations. i. Research Issues to be Negotiated Conduct careful advance preparation on economic and non-economic issues. The line between economic and non-economic issues is blurry, so it is essential to conduct thorough planning regarding all issues in the event that they are resolved by an arbitrator. Your advocate cannot effectively represent your agency at the interest arbitration if your agency does not have this supporting survey information. Even if your agency does not go to interest arbitration, this information will assist your agency to make better-informed proposals and counter proposals. It is therefore best to go through this process before negotiations even begin.  Collect evidence and arrange for expert witnesses prior to negotiations. For example, if your agency does not have a list of comparable agencies, it might be necessary to retain a professional survey consultant to determine a favorable list that will be accepted as legitimate by an arbitrator. The expertise that a professional survey consultant brings adds some expense to the negotiations, but will give your agency a head start, in the event of interest arbitration, as to the appropriateness of the selected agencies, the method of surveying the agencies, and the manner in which wages and other economics were calculated. Assessment of what the most representative “market” consists of is often a subject for expert testimony, study and analysis. Typically, the factors given the most weight are: Preparation should include:

 Job duties and nature of the employment;

 Geographical spread of the “relevant labor market”;

 Size of the employer (typically, the similarity of job duties of public employees working for different employers turns in part on the size of the employer);



Similarity in working conditions; and

Labor Relations: The Meet and Confer Process ©2019 (s) Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 69