Monday, December 3, 2001
Page 3
Superior Court Employees Vote to Create Agency Shop
By a MetNews Staff Writer
Three Los Angeles Superior Court employee units, including the one that represents the court’s research attorneys, have approved an “agency shop” measure, meaning that all employees represented by those units in collective bargaining must either join the union or pay a fee.
Karleen George of District Council 36 of the Association of Federal, State, County and Municipal Employees said the unit representing the recently unionized research lawyers voted 69 percent to 31 percent, the court clerks 67 percent to 32 percent, and the professional unit 75 percent to 25 percent.
George said a fourth vote, among administrative employees not already represented by a union, approved the “accretion” of those employees into existing bargaining units.
The Superior Court confirmed the vote but officials declined comment.
Voting took place last month amid a protest from AFSCME that the court improperly interfered with the balloting by sending employees a memo that explained the vote.
George said her union sought a ruling from the Attorney General’s Office, but that the state prosecutors found that the action did not violate the law.
George said last year’s Assembly Bill 1889 barred the use of public funds for anti-union activities and formed the basis of AFSCME’s request for a probe.
Copyright 2001, Metropolitan News Company