The United Domestic Workers of America has filed an unfair labor practice charge against Orange County with California’s Public Employment Relations Board over the county’s new policy of informing new caregivers during their orientation session that they don’t have to join or pays dues to a labor union if they choose not to.
The Freedom Foundation led the charge earlier this year and petitioned the board to act on behalf of county residents.
The public has a right to know, and the board correctly adjusted its orientations to comply with the law under Harris vs. Quinn. Under the guise of this complaint, UDW contends its new practice of informing incoming IHSS employees of their right to not join a union will decimate the union and interfere with the union’s ability to recruit new applicants.
There’s nothing wrong with that train of logic except that the union believes the California State Public Employment Relations Board has reasonable authority and enough power to strongarm the county to go against its own residents.
The California Public Employment Relations Board is a quasi-judicial administrative agency charged with administering the eight collective bargaining statutes covering employees of California. Although the right to opt out is stated in these bargaining agreements (albeit buried within a convoluted maze of text), UDW doesn’t want incoming employees to know about their rights.
If anyone wants to argue against a waste of taxpayer resources, it’s the unions and their ability to skirt the rules when the tide shifts against their favor. According to UDW’s attorney, the union plans to take this battle statewide to further inhibit public employees knowing their rights.
The complaint remains under review, but the law remains the same, and the Freedom Foundation doesn’t plan to stop advancing its mission across the state.
