Los Angeles County Employees Ass'n, Local 660 v. County of Los Angeles

Petitioners, Local 660 of the Los Angeles County Employees Association and Local 535 of the Social Workers Union, sought a peremptory writ of mandate ordering the defendant County of Los Angeles and two of its departments, the department of public social services (DPSS) and the department of personnel, to undertake certain negotiations with the petitioners. The trial court granted the writ, and the defendants have appealed.

The factual and legal background of the dispute is: In 1968, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed Ordinance No. 9646. entitled the Employee Relations Ordinance.'

The county ordinance contains a comprehensive scheme for the handling of labor disputes between county management and county employees. It provides for the certification of employee representatives for the purpose of conducting negotiations with management representatives of the county. In section 3(o), the negotiation process is defined as the “performance by duly authorized management representatives and duly authorized representatives of a certified employee organization of their mutual obligation to meet at reasonable times and to confer in good faith with respect to wages,…