City of El Cajon v. El Cajon Police Officers' Ass'n

The El Cajon Police Officers’ Association (ECPOA) and the El Cajon Municipal Employees’ Association (ECMEA) appeal a declaratory judgment for the City of El Cajon (City) declaring that the duration clauses within the negotiated labor memoranda of understanding (MOU) rendered the MOU’s of “indeterminate duration,” subject to termination upon reasonable notice, and such notice for each MOU had been given and received. ECPOA and ECMEA contend the duration clause within each of their MOU’s was the result of negotiations pursuant to the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act (MMBA, Gov. Code, § 3500 et seq.) and are enforceable; the MOU’s are not contracts of indeterminate duration and may not be terminated upon reasonable notice; and City never proposed a change to the duration clauses and thus cannot proceed to implement its last, best and final offer which in effect modifies the duration clauses. As we shall explain, we conclude the meet and conferral process as provided in the duration clauses, if unsuccessful, renders the MOU’s to be contracts of indeterminate duration terminable upon reasonable notice; the unions’ notices to meet and confer did not constitute notices of termination;…