Union employees may not receive slary increase on top of increase ordered by court because Legislature did not explicitly approve salary ranges

October 12, 2012

Union employees may not receive salary increase on top of increase ordered by court because Legislature did not explicitly approve salary ranges.
  
California Dept. of Human Resources v. Service Employees International Union Local 1000, California Courts of Appeal-3rd District, No. C066531, Oct. 12, 2012

     In 2005, the federal court in Brown v. Plata ordered that compensation be increased for some California Dept. of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) employees. Meanwhile, the Dept. of Personnel Administration (DPA) and Service Employees International Union, Local 1000 (Union) were negotiating new memoranda of understanding (MOU). They ultimately agreed on new MOUs, which increased the salary ranges for some Union employees. the MOUs were approved by the Legislature and became effective in September 2006. However, in Oct., the Plata court ordered that those salary ranges be increased by an amount exceeding the MOUs. The DPA declined to apply the MOUS increase on top of the Plata raises. Thus, the Union filed a grievance, arguing that the MOU increases had to be calculated on top of the Plata raises. An arbitrator agreed with the Union, and the trial court confirmed the arbitrator's decision.
     Reversed in part. While this court found that the arbitrator correctly interpreted the MOUs, it nonetheless found that salary increases had to be approved by the Legislature to be effective. Here, the Legislature was advised that the Plata order could impact the ultimate outcome of its decision to approve the MOUs. However, the Legislature's awareness of an ambiguity did not equate to an approval of benefits in excess of those explicitly presented to and approved by the Legislature. The Legislature did not expressly approve of salary ranges above the amounts stated in the MOUs. Thus, the arbitrator's award violated public policy because it mandated a fiscal result that was not explicitly approved by the Legislature. Thus, the judgment confirming the arbitration was reversed.
Opinion by Justice Duarte

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