EVS LIVES MATTER

This Article is for the times when Leadership makes it’s (in)famous announcements in huddle. They read what is written on a publication written by some Administrator down the hall. Sometimes Upper Management will even come in and make the announcement themselves. They can’t answer your questions or elaborate on details. You are told they will discuss it with you later, but later never comes. And just like that, it has been put in place as though it were engraved in stone.
We feel powerless to challenge it. They drop names of Divisional Directors and authoritative policies, it all sounds so official. They use big words, broad authority, vague phrases that sound totally impenetrable (that is until you actually read them under a light). The truth is Management Rights are extremely limited in matters to do with your working conditions, hours, wages, assignments, bidding systems, reclassification pathways, and workload transparency as these are all considered “terms and conditions of employment” which are controlled by AFSCME Unit #11 SX Coverage. Not only is this governed and controlled by our bargaining unit, it is locked in and fortified by PERB (Public Employment Relations Board) & HEERA (Higher Education Employee Act).
The California Public Employment Relations Board (PERB) is an independent state agency within the Labor and Workforce Development Agency (LWDA) responsible for overseeing labor relations between most California’s public employers and their employees. As a quasi-judicial body, PERB administers and enforces collective bargaining laws, promotes fair labor practices, and resolves disputes to support stable and harmonious labor-management relations across the public sector.
The Higher Education Employer-Employee Relations Act (HEERA) is the state law that regulates labor relations between the University of California and California State University systems, their employees, and the labor organizations that represent their employees.
If this is the first time you are ever hearing of PERB and HEERA, don’t feel bad. This isn’t something that employers don’t want anyone to know.. this is their achilles heel.
Managerial manifestations usually show up as declarations. They announce them to you as though they are established and indisputable. “We have discretion. We determine operations. We decide assignments. We retain the right”. On paper, it looks absolute. In practice, those statements are balloons, not bricks. They only stay inflated if no one touches them with facts, knowledge, or the rest of the contract.
Here’s the trick they don’t advertise: Article 2 never exists by itself. It is always hemmed in. Every “management right” is conditioned by phrases like subject to, consistent with, in accordance with, or except as otherwise provided. Those words are not filler- they are pressure valves. Once you connect Article 2 to other articles—seniority, accommodation, due process, past practice, or statutory law—the air starts leaking out.
Managerial Manifestations also collapse when they try to act like policies outrank contracts. They don’t. A policy is a house rule. A contract is the Law of the Land. When management cites Article 2 to justify a decision that contradicts another article, they aren’t exercising authority—they’re misreading the hierarchy. Article 2 grants administration, not immunity.
Another deflation point is consistency. Article 2 does not authorize improvisation. If management enforces a rule one way on Monday and a different way on Friday, that “right” becomes arbitrary. Arbitrary decisions are where grievances are born. The moment you can show uneven application, selective enforcement, or conflicting instructions, the “Manifestation” deflates on contact.
Then there’s the biggest pin of all: documentation. Article 2 sounds strongest when it’s spoken. It weakens when it’s written down and time-stamped. When management has to explain how a decision aligns with the contract, why it deviates from past practice, or where the authority actually lives, the language shrinks. Vague power does not survive specifics.
The takeaway is simple and dangerous (for them): Article 2 is not a weapon. It’s a framework. It allows management to manage—but only inside the box they agreed to. The moment they step outside that box and try to call it “rights,” the Mighty Manifestation castle you saw in front of you is suddenly revealed for what it is.. a house of cards that so much as a light draft of air could topple- and that is because that castle was not built on rights, policies, or legalities.. it was built on fear and intimidation.
You don’t have to argue Article 2. You cross-reference it. You line it up against other articles. You compare what they say now to what they did before. You let your contract do the work. It has already been agreed to. All you have to do is know that it exists. The truth is, the only reason these “Manifestations” are even being attempted, is because they are banking on the fact that you don’t know your contract. #DontBelieveTheHype
To learn more about PERB and HEERA, visit their websites provided below.
/https://perb.ca.gov/
Higher Education Employee Relations Act – HEERA

#DontBelieveTheHype