The San Francisco Deputy Sheriffs’ Association (DSA) filed a severance petition that requested to remove four classifications from the SEIU Local 1021-represented bargaining unit at the City and County of San Francisco (City), and to place them into the unit that DSA exclusively represents. Both the City and SEIU opposed the petition to the Public Employment Relations Board (PERB).
PERB’s Office of the General Counsel (OGC) tentatively concluded that DSA’s petition could not go forward because severance petitions may not be used to add employees to an existing bargaining unit; a severance petition must propose a new unit consisting only of the severed employees. In response, DSA amended the petition to place the affected employees in a new bargaining unit consisting only of themselves. However, by this point, the City and SEIU had already entered into a successor MOU. OGC determined that the amended petition was untimely because PERB Regulation 61400(b) requires that severance petitions or amendments be filed during the narrow 29-day “window period” before an MOU’s expiration. The amended petition was filed outside that window period and was barred. DSA appealed.
On appeal, DSA argued that its amendment was permissible under PERB Regulation 61260(a), which allows petitions for certification or recognition to be amended to correct technical errors or adjust classifications at any time before a hearing notice is issued. DSA claimed its change was a harmless, technical correction. PERB rejected this argument, holding that the more specific Regulation 61400(b) controlled in severance cases and contained the window period rules.
PERB also found that DSA’s amendment was material rather than technical. PERB agreed with OGC that the original petition itself was invalid because it attempted to transfer employees into an already existing unit, which severance petitions cannot do. PERB reiterated that severance petitions must create a new bargaining unit “consisting of” only the employees to be severed, not reassign them to another established unit.
PERB concluded that both the initial and amended petitions failed to comply with governing regulations. PERB denied DSA’s appeal, dismissed both petitions, and closed the case.
City and County of San Francisco (2025) PERB Dec. No. A532-M.