The union representing Los Angeles County prosecutors announced Thursday that it has filed an unfair labor practice charge against Los Angeles County and the District Attorney’s Office, alleging repeated failures to bargain in good faith during contract negotiations that have continued for more than a year.
The Association of Deputy District Attorneys (ADDA), which represents more than 800 deputy district attorneys, said it filed the charge with the Los Angeles County Employee Relations Commission.
According to the union, the dispute centers on a proposal that agreements reached through Joint Labor Management Committee meetings be reduced to writing. ADDA contends that documenting agreements reached by both sides is necessary to ensure transparency, accountability and continuity across changing administrations.
The union alleges that county and District Attorney’s Office representatives repeatedly rejected the proposal despite revisions and compromise efforts. ADDA also said negotiators rejected proposals that referenced the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act, the California law governing collective bargaining for public employees.
“Filing a UFC is a last resort,” ADDA Executive Director Melanie Bartlett said in a statement. “Our goal throughout this process has always been to negotiate a fair agreement for the prosecutors who serve Los Angeles County. After more than a year of negotiations and repeated efforts to find common ground, we concluded that outside intervention has become necessary to restore a lawful bargaining process.”
According to the union, it repeatedly narrowed proposals, accepted compromise positions and adjusted its priorities in an effort to reach an agreement. The filing alleges those efforts were met with a pattern of bad-faith bargaining tactics that prevented meaningful resolution of the parties’ remaining issues.
“Our members were hopeful that a change in leadership would bring a renewed commitment to collaboration and transparency,” ADDA President Ryan Erlich said in a statement. “Instead, we have spent more than a year making concession after concession while watching reasonable proposals be rejected without compromise.”
Erlich said District Attorney Nathan Hochman campaigned on restoring trust and integrity within the office and argued those principles should extend to labor negotiations.
“That commitment should begin with honoring the law at the bargaining table,” Erlich said. “ADDA has made every effort to resolve these issues collaboratively and outside the public spotlight. Unfortunately, those efforts have not been reciprocated.”
The District Attorney’s Office disputed the allegations, saying in a statement, “We take our obligations to participate in bargaining with the Association of Deputy District Attorneys seriously, and we disagree with the characterization that we have failed to bargain in good faith. Our team has engaged with the union consistently and constructively and will continue to do so. We remain committed to reaching a deal with our deputy district attorneys.”
The union said it remains willing to continue negotiations, but maintained that resolution will require the county and the District Attorney’s Office to honor what it described as the principles of transparency, accountability and California collective bargaining law.