As used in this chapter, the following words have the following meanings:
(a) “Arbitration” means a method of resolving a rights dispute under which the parties to a controversy must accept the award of a third party.
(b) “Board” means the Public Employment Relations Board established pursuant to Section 3541 of the Education Code.
(c) “Certified organization” means an employee organization that has been certified by the board as the exclusive representative of the public transit district employees in an appropriate unit after a proceeding under Article 5 (commencing with Section 99564).
(d) “Confidential employee” means any employee who is required to develop or present management positions with respect to meeting and conferring or whose duties normally require access to confidential information that contributes significantly to the development of those management positions.
(e) “Employee” or “transit district employee” means any supervisory employee of any public transit district employer except for confidential employees.
(f) (1) “Employee organization” means any organization of any kind in which public transit district employees participate and that exists for the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with public transit district employers concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of employment of employees.
(2) “Employee organization” shall also include any person that an employee organization authorizes to act on its behalf.
(g) (1) “Employer” or “transit district employer” means the governing board of a public transit district, including any person acting as an agent of an employer.
(2) “Employer” or “transit district employer” shall also include the Public Transportation Services Corporation established by the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority, including any person acting as an agent of the employer.
(3) “Employer” or “transit district employer” shall also include any organizational unit established pursuant to paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 130051.11, including any person acting as an agent of the employer.
(4) “Employer” or “transit district employer” shall also include any transportation zone established pursuant to paragraph (8) of subdivision (a) of Section 130051.12, including any person acting as an agent of the employer.
(h) “Employer representative” means any person or persons authorized to act on behalf of the employer.
(i) “Exclusive representative” means any recognized or certified employee organization or person it authorizes to act on its behalf.
(j) “Impasse” means that the parties have reached a point in meeting and conferring at which their differences in positions are such that further meetings would be futile.
(k) “Managerial employee” means any employee having significant responsibilities for formulating or administering policies and programs of the public transit district.
(l) “Meet and confer” means the performance of the mutual obligation of the public transit district employer and the exclusive representative of the public transit district employees to meet at reasonable times and to confer in good faith with respect to matters within the scope of representation and to endeavor to reach agreement on matters within the scope of representation. The process shall include adequate time for the resolution of impasses. If agreement is reached between representatives of the public transit district employer and the exclusive representative, they shall jointly prepare a written memorandum of the understanding, which shall be presented to the transit district employer for concurrence. However, these obligations shall not compel either party to agree to any proposal or require the making of a concession.
(m) “Person” means one or more individuals, organizations, associations, corporations, boards, committees, commissions, agencies, or their representatives.
(n) “Recognized organization” means an employee organization that has been recognized by an employer as the exclusive representative of the employees in an appropriate unit pursuant to Article 5 (commencing with Section 99564).
(o) “Supervisory employee” means any employee of a public transit district, regardless of job description, having authority in the interest of the employer to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, recall, promote, discharge, assign, reward, or discipline other employees, or the responsibility to assign work to and direct them, or to adjust their grievances, or effectively recommend such action if, in connection with these functions, the exercise of that authority is not of a merely routine or clerical nature, but requires the use of independent judgment.
(Added by Stats. 2003, Ch. 833, Sec. 1. Effective January 1, 2004.)