An interesting labor law jurisdictional issue is brewing here in Sacramento. On January 10, teachers and other employees at the St. HOPE Public Charter Schools submitted an RD Petition with Region 20 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to decertify and to no longer be represented by the Sacramento City Teachers Association (SCTA) union, an affiliate of the California Teachers Association (CTA) and the National Education Association (NEA). The teachers filing the petition have the support of the National Right to Work Legal Defense Foundation (NTW), a nonprofit organization whose declared mission is to eliminate union power and compulsory unionism abuses.
The reason this is so interesting is that the union was not certified under the National Labor Relations Act. In 2018, the SCTA was certified by the California Public Employee Relations Board (PERB) after a series of legal battles lasting over a year.
Why would the teachers seeking to decertify the union, file with the NLRB, when the petition to certify the union was with PERB? The answer is simple. PERB is seen as a pro-union body that supports unionization and generally frowns upon decertification petitions. President Trump’s newly installed NLRB has a pro-employer Republican majority (2-1) and a new General Counsel who is a former management-side attorney. The NTW has recognized that with the new NLRB, the government’s support for an RD petition will likely be much greater before the federal agency than with PERB.
The key legal issue here is which agency has jurisdiction. The NTW and teachers supporting the petition argue that under NLRB v. Nat. Gas Util. Dist. of Hawkins County, 402 U.S. 600 (1971), the National Labor Relations Board clearly has jurisdiction because St. HOPE was not created directly by the State of California and is not administered by individual s who are responsible to public officials or the general electorate.
The SCTA and St. HOPE disagree and contend that St. HOPE is a public school and political subdivision of the state because St. HOPE has oversight by the Sacramento City Unified School District (SCUSD) and the Sacramento County and California departments of education. The SCTA also argues that the St. HOPE teachers share a community of interest with other teachers at SCUSD.
For those folks who deal with employee relations at California charter schools, this will be an interesting case to keep a close eye on. For Charter School and service providers’ employment needs, please contact Mark S. Spring or Dan M. Forman for assistance. We will continue to report on it, as developments ensue.
