C.A. 1st;
A144987

The First Appellate District affirmed a judgment. The court held that a labor union failed to show bad faith bargaining by a municipal employer.

Prior to 2008, the City of Vallejo, under its labor agreement with the Vallejo Police Officers Association (VPOA), paid the full premium cost for retirees and employees of any medical plan offered through the California Public Employees' Retirement System (CalPERS) Health Plan Services Division. In 2008, the city filed for bankruptcy. In 2009, it reached an agreement with VPOA to reduce members' benefits from full coverage for any CalPERS plan's insurance premiums to coverage capped at 100 percent of the cost of a Kaiser health plan. In June 2012, the city and VPOA entered into negotiations regarding an agreement to supersede the 2009 agreement. After months of discussions and negotiations, the city declared impasse in September 2013 and gave its “last, best, and final offer” to VPOA. When further negotiations were unavailing, the city unilaterally imposed some of the terms of its final offer, including cutting to $300 its payment of health insurance premiums for retirees.