Various versions of this question are popping up on inland empire blogs.  If this question was being posed by SBPEA members I would not waste the keystrokes because there is not even one pair of testicles among the 17,000 members.  However, you guys have shown some backbone and I’m proud of you.  So, let me give you a little insight.  But I’m prefacing this with it is 10:30 at night, I am only vaguely familiar with your Memorandum of Understanding, and it has been a very long time since I read either the San Bernardino County Labor Relations Ordinance or Government Code Section 3500 et seq.  I cannot remember off of the top of my head if SEBA is covered under the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act or not, but I have little doubt if I’m wrong here, Erwin will let me know in the morning.

This is the way I see it.  SEBA is not the problem.  SEBA leadership IS the problem.  While Jim was president, he built a powerhouse union because he was more interested in building a powerhouse union than in becoming a lieutenant.  SEBA’s focus has changed and as I already said, that is a leadership problem, not a union problem.  There are a number of ways to address the problem.

The most drastic is, of course, decertifying SEBA, and forming a new union or joining another union.  First, the County Labor Relations Ordinance was changed a few years ago by the Board of Supervisors (think lots of campaign donations by SBPEA and SEBA management) to make it nearly impossible to decertify a union.  Second, you only have a 30-day window to make this happen.  I suspect that window is not far off (360 days prior to the expiration of your contract).  I would not even bother to try except as a last resort. Continue reading →