Public employment: notifications and right of intervention.

Assembly Member Caloza's public employment legislation establishes new notification requirements and intervention procedures for labor disputes involving California's public employees. The measure requires plaintiffs seeking injunctive relief against public employee strikes or work stoppages to notify the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) via email when filing civil actions or temporary restraining order applications, if PERB is not already party to the case.

The bill grants PERB authority to intervene in civil actions stemming from labor disputes that involve public employees under its jurisdiction, provided the board asserts the case affects the constitutionality, interpretation, or enforcement of statutes it administers. For cases involving trial court employees specifically, the legislation directs the Judicial Council to create a panel of Court of Appeal justices qualified to hear injunction requests. Under the proposed rules, a single justice from outside the filing district would be assigned to hear these matters in superior court, with appeals heard in the original filing district.

These provisions add formal notification channels between parties pursuing labor injunctions and PERB while creating a standardized judicial process for handling public employee labor disputes. The measure requires no new appropriations but remains subject to fiscal committee review regarding implementation costs for affected agencies.