Judge Orders County of Monterey to Stop Interfering with Workers’ Right to Representation

When Office Assistant Lourdes Mercado felt that she was being unfairly treated by her supervisor, she asked for a union representative to help her appeal a negative evaluation rating. When Lourdes arrived at the appeal meeting, her manager refused to meet in the presence of her union representative, which is against the law. So SEIU filed an unfair practice charge with the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB). In a 13-page decision adopted by PERB last December, a judge concluded that the County’s arguments have no merit, and he ordered the County to cease and desist from engaging in any further unlawful conduct.

In a separate case, 911 Dispatcher Joanne Lopez was denied the assistance of an SEIU representative by her managers when she tried to carry out her steward duties in the Communications department. Joanne asked our Contract Enforcement Department for support to make sure a co-worker facing serious discipline was well-represented. When Joanne arrived at the investigatory meeting, her manager refused to meet in the presence of her SEIU representative. So, Joanne filed a grievance. In a 16-page decision, a neutral arbitrator concluded that the County erected unnecessary barriers to the Union’s legitimate goal of providing steward training, and she ordered the County to cease and desist prohibiting SEIU staff from attending investigatory interviews where a steward requires additional training.

You can read the full decision here:
http://www.seiu521.org/files/2018/03/PERB-Decision-11-30-17.pdf

Help spread the word – print and distribute this flyer:
http://www.seiu521.org/files/2018/03/KYR-MoCo-flyer.pdf


http://www.seiu521.org/2018/03/judge-orders-county-of-monterey-to-stop-interfering-with-workers-right-to-representation/