Employment Litigation · Primary-source case analysis

L.A. County PPOA: Outsourcing Bargaining Rights Were Not Clearly Waived

By Aneeta Mishra and Timothy Chan

Published April 19, 2026

The decision applies the clear-and-unmistakable-waiver standard to an MOU after Los Angeles County transferred security work to a private contractor.

Security work moved outside the unit

The Los Angeles County Professional Peace Officers Association represented county security officers. When the County planned to contract security work at the Hall of Administration to a private firm, the union demanded to meet and confer. The County offered effects bargaining but said the MOU waived bargaining over the decision itself.

Outsourcing affected represented work

Under the Meyers-Milias-Brown Act, transferring bargaining-unit work to an outside contractor affects terms and conditions of employment and ordinarily triggers a meet-and-confer duty. The County bore the burden of establishing an affirmative contractual waiver.

General language was not enough

The MOU said management need not negotiate 'any reorganization' and contained standard management-rights language. The court found that wording vague as to outsourcing. A waiver of statutory bargaining rights must identify the protected right with clarity; preserving existing management prerogatives does not expand them.

Disposition

The court reversed denial of the union's writ petition and directed issuance of a writ requiring the County to meet and confer over the outsourcing decision. The ruling distinguished bargaining over the decision from the separately litigated effects of implementation.

Key takeaways

• Outsourcing bargaining-unit work can itself be negotiable.
• The employer bears the burden to prove waiver.
• A waiver of statutory bargaining rights must be clear and unmistakable.
• Generic management-rights language may not reach a specific outsourcing decision.