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County Appeals Decision in Fight With Court Union

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

San Diego County officials Monday appealed a ruling by a hearing officer who found that the county violated a county labor ordinance by refusing to negotiate non-economic issues with the union representing Superior Court employees.

Deputy County Counsel John J. Sansone said the county maintains that it is obligated to negotiate only economic issues with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, Local 3300. Under state law, non-economic issues are under the domain of the Superior Court judges and administrators, county officials have said.

AFSCME Business Agent Ed Lehman said the decision by hearing officer Kenneth A. Perea on Feb. 26 may have eliminated the last obstacle in the union’s efforts to complete contract negotiations for the court’s 425 workers.

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According to Lehman, Perea said the county and Superior Court have to consult each other during the county’s labor negotiations with the union. “The hearing officer said that’s what the Legislature intended when it passed laws affecting court employees,” said Lehman.

Sansone had a different interpretation of Perea’s proposed decision. Perea did not say that the county and court were obligated to consult during the county’s negotiations with the union, said Sansone.

“The hearing officer wants the county to bargain over these (non-economic issues) and then present them to the Superior Court for adoption. But the Superior Court is saying that non-economic issues are solely their authority,” Sansone said.

AFSCME negotiators have countered throughout the talks that the county is obligated to negotiate all issues because both parties reached a bargaining agreement on behalf of non-supervisory court employees.

The judges were not a party to the agreement. However, both the judges and county officials argued that state law put the responsibility for personnel matters under the judges and the court’s personnel rules.

The impasse led to an unfair labor practice grievance filed by the union with the county’s labor relations office. Last month, Perea found that the county had engaged in an unfair labor practice and ordered the county to “cease and desist,” Lehman said.

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The Superior Court workers’ two-year contract with the county expires in June, 1992.

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