Enrolled  September 18, 2023
Passed  IN  Senate  September 12, 2023
Passed  IN  Assembly  September 13, 2023
Amended  IN  Senate  September 07, 2023
Amended  IN  Senate  September 01, 2023
Amended  IN  Senate  July 13, 2023
Amended  IN  Assembly  April 13, 2023
Amended  IN  Assembly  March 30, 2023
Amended  IN  Assembly  March 13, 2023

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2023–2024 REGULAR SESSION

Assembly Bill
No. 504

Introduced by Assembly Member Reyes
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Addis, Connolly, Kalra, Robert Rivas, Haney, and Schiavo)

February 07, 2023

An act to add Section 3550.1 to the Government Code, relating to public employment.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


AB 504, Reyes. State and local public employees: labor relations: strikes.
Existing law, the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act and the Ralph C. Dills Act, regulate the labor relations of employees and employers of local public agencies and the state, respectively. Those acts grant specified employees, including, among others, certain employees of fire departments, of local public agencies and the state the right to form, join, and participate in the activities of employee organizations of their choosing and require public agency employers, among other things, to meet and confer with representatives of recognized employee organizations and exclusive representatives on terms and conditions of employment. The acts grant the Public Employment Relations Board the power to hear specified disputes in relation to these provisions and to make determinations regarding them.
With regard to certain employees of fire departments, existing law provides that those persons do not have the right to strike or recognize a picket line of a labor organization while in the course of the performance of their official duties.
This bill would provide, except as specified, that it is not unlawful or a cause for discipline or other adverse action against a public employee for that public employee to refuse to enter property that is the site of a primary strike, perform work for a public employer involved in a primary strike, or go through or work behind a primary strike line. The bill would prohibit a public employer from directing a public employee to take those actions. The bill would authorize a recognized employee organization to inform employees of these rights and encourage them to exercise those rights. The bill would also state that a provision in a public employer policy or collective bargaining agreement that purports to limit or waive the rights set forth in this provision shall be void as against public policy, except that the bill would require the parties to negotiate over the bill’s provisions if the bill is in conflict with a collective bargaining agreement entered into before January 1, 2024, as prescribed. The bill would exempt certain public employees of fire departments and certain peace officers from these provisions. The bill would include related legislative findings.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   Local Program: NO  

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:


SECTION 1.

 Section 3550.1 is added to the Government Code, to read:

3550.1.
 (a) The Legislature finds and declares that the right of a public employee to demonstrate solidarity with other public employees by honoring a strike or by refusing to enter upon the premises or perform work for a public employer engaged in a primary strike is a fundamental human right protected by the California Constitution and laws of this state.
(b) Notwithstanding any other law, and except as provided in subdivision (g), it shall not be unlawful or a cause for discipline or other adverse action against a public employee for that public employee to refuse to do any of the following:
(1) Enter property that is the site of a primary strike.
(2) Perform work for a public employer involved in a primary strike.
(3) Go through or work behind any primary strike line.
(c) A public employer shall not direct a public employee to take any of the actions set forth in subdivision (b).
(d) A recognized employee organization may inform employees of their rights and encourage employees to exercise their rights under this section.
(e) (1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), a provision in a public employer policy or collective bargaining agreement that purports to limit or waive the rights set forth in this section shall be void as against public policy.
(2) If this section is in conflict with a collective bargaining agreement entered into before January 1, 2024, upon request of the employer or the exclusive representative, the parties shall negotiate over this section. A request to meet and confer pursuant to this section shall reopen the existing collective bargaining agreement solely for the purpose of negotiating an agreement regarding this section. Following the expiration of a collective bargaining agreement that was entered into before January 1, 2024, this section shall apply.
(f) This section shall not apply to any public employee who is subject to Section 1962 of the Labor Code or to any employee who is a peace officer under any of the following:
(1) Subdivision (a) or (b) of Section 830.1 of the Penal Code.
(2) Subdivision (a), (b), (c), (d), or (g) of Section 830.2 of the Penal Code.
(3) Section 830.31 of the Penal Code.
(4) Section 830.32 of the Penal Code.
(5) Section 830.33 of the Penal Code.
(6) Section 830.34 of the Penal Code.
(7) Subdivision (c) of Section 830.35 of the Penal Code.
(8) Subdivision (a), (b), or (d) of Section 830.37.
(9) Section 830.38 of the Penal Code.
(10) Subdivision (a) of Section 830.5 of the Penal Code.
(11) Section 830.15 of the Penal Code.
(g) This section does not alter existing law relating to strikes by essential employees as set forth in judicial decisions and decisions of the Public Employee Relations Board, as promulgated or revised from time to time.
(h) For the purposes of this section, “honoring a strike” means a refusal to perform work for a public employer in response to a primary strike by an exclusive representative of a public employer.