DEA, 12 OCB2d 7 (BCB 2019)
The Union alleged that the City and the NYPD violated NYCCBL § 12-306(a)(l), (4), and (5) by unilaterally installing and refusing to bargain over cameras in the work area of its Crime Scene Unit. It argued that the unilateral act of videotaping its members in the workplace bears a direct and significant relationship to their working conditions. The City argued that the installation of cameras is not a mandatory subject of bargaining because it is essential to the NYPD’s core mission, that there is a past practice of having cameras in work areas, and that any change in that practice was de minimis. The Board found that the cameras at issue are integral to the NYPD’s core mission of securing evidence and, therefore, are not a subject of mandatory bargaining. Accordingly, the petition was denied.