State and local public employees: labor relations: strikes.

The Meyers-Milias-Brown Act and the Ralph C. Dills Act regulate the labor relations of employees and employers of local public agencies and the state, respectively. The acts grant specified employees of local public agencies and the state the right to form, join, and participate in the activities of employee organizations of their choosing. This bill would provide, except as specified, that it is not unlawful or a cause for discipline or other adverse action against a public employee for that public employee to refuse to enter property that is the site of a primary strike, perform work for a public employer involved in a primary strike, or go through or work behind a primary strike line. The bill would prohibit a public employer from directing a public employee to take those actions. The bill would authorize a recognized employee organization to inform employees of these rights and encourage them to exercise those rights. The bill would also state that a provision in a public employer policy or collective bargaining agreement that purports to limit or waive the rights set forth in this provision shall be void as against public policy, except that the bill would require the parties to negotiate over the bill's provisions if the bill is in conflict with a collective bargaining agreement entered into before January 1, 2025, as prescribed. The bill would exempt certain public employees of fire departments and certain peace officers from these provisions.