By Bailey H.B. No. 2153
74R6850 PEP-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to meet and confer agreements for firefighters in certain
1-3 municipalities.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Subtitle A, Title 5, Local Government Code, is
1-6 amended by adding Chapter 145 to read as follows:
1-7 CHAPTER 145. FIREFIGHTER EMPLOYMENT MATTERS
1-8 IN CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES
1-9 Sec. 145.001. APPLICABILITY. This chapter does not apply to
1-10 a municipality that has adopted Chapter 174 (The Fire and Police
1-11 Employee Relations Act).
1-12 Sec. 145.002. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
1-13 (1) "Firefighter's association" means an organization
1-14 in which firefighters participate and that exists for the purpose,
1-15 in whole or in part, of dealing with one or more employers, whether
1-16 public or private, concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages,
1-17 rates of pay, hours of employment, or conditions of work affecting
1-18 firefighters.
1-19 (2) "Public employer" means any municipality or
1-20 agency, board, commission, or political subdivision controlled by a
1-21 municipality that is required to establish the wages, salaries,
1-22 rates of pay, hours, working conditions, and other terms and
1-23 conditions of employment of, and affirmative action programs
1-24 affecting, public employees. The term may include, under
2-1 appropriate circumstances, a mayor, manager, administrator of a
2-2 municipality, municipal governing body, director of personnel, or
2-3 personnel board or one or more other officials, regardless of the
2-4 name by which they are designated.
2-5 Sec. 145.003. GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO AGREEMENTS,
2-6 RECOGNITION, AND STRIKES. (a) A municipality may not be denied
2-7 local control over wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of work,
2-8 other terms and conditions of employment, or other personnel
2-9 issues, including affirmative action programs. To ensure
2-10 resolution of these matters, the public employer and the
2-11 firefighter's association that is recognized as the sole and
2-12 exclusive bargaining agent for all firefighters in the municipality
2-13 shall meet and confer in good faith to reach a written agreement.
2-14 This chapter does not require the public employer or the
2-15 firefighter's association to agree to a proposal or concede on any
2-16 issue.
2-17 (b) A public employer and a firefighter's association
2-18 recognized under this chapter as a sole and exclusive bargaining
2-19 agent may meet and confer only if the association does not
2-20 advocate the illegal right to strike by public employees.
2-21 (c) A firefighter may not engage in a strike or organized
2-22 work stoppage against this state or a political subdivision of this
2-23 state. A firefighter who participates in a strike forfeits all
2-24 civil service rights, reemployment rights, and other rights,
2-25 benefits, or privileges the firefighter enjoys as a result of the
2-26 firefighter's employment or previous employment with the
2-27 municipality. This subsection does not affect the right of a
3-1 firefighter to cease employment if the firefighter is not acting in
3-2 concert with other firefighters.
3-3 Sec. 145.004. RECOGNITION OF FIREFIGHTER'S ASSOCIATION. (a)
3-4 The public employer shall recognize a firefighter's association
3-5 that submits a petition signed by a majority of the paid
3-6 firefighters in the municipality, excluding the head of the
3-7 department and assistant department heads in the rank or
3-8 classification immediately below that of the department head, as
3-9 the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for all of the covered
3-10 firefighters unless recognition of the association is withdrawn by
3-11 a majority of the covered firefighters.
3-12 (b) A question of whether an association is the majority
3-13 representative of the covered firefighters shall be resolved by a
3-14 fair election conducted according to procedures agreed to by the
3-15 parties. If the parties are unable to agree on election
3-16 procedures, either party may request the American Arbitration
3-17 Association to conduct the election and to certify the results.
3-18 Certification of the results of an election under this subsection
3-19 resolves the question concerning representation. The firefighter's
3-20 association shall pay the costs of the election, except that if two
3-21 or more associations seeking recognition as the bargaining agent
3-22 submit petitions signed by a majority of the covered firefighters,
3-23 the associations shall share equally the costs of the election.
3-24 Sec. 145.005. OPEN MEETINGS AND RECORDS REQUIRED. A meeting
3-25 of the public employer and a firefighter's association under
3-26 Section 145.003 is open to the public under Chapter 551, Government
3-27 Code. An agreement made under this chapter and any document
4-1 prepared and used by the municipality in connection with the
4-2 agreement are available to the public under Chapter 552, Government
4-3 Code. This section does not affect the application of Subchapter
4-4 C, Chapter 552, Government Code, to a document prepared and used by
4-5 the municipality in connection with the agreement.
4-6 Sec. 145.006. ENFORCEABILITY OF AGREEMENT. (a) A written
4-7 agreement made under this chapter between a public employer and a
4-8 firefighter's association is binding on the public employer, the
4-9 association, and the firefighters covered by the agreement.
4-10 (b) The district court in the municipality has full
4-11 authority and jurisdiction on the application of either party
4-12 aggrieved by an act or omission of the other party related to a
4-13 right, duty, or obligation provided by a written agreement under
4-14 this chapter. The court may issue proper restraining orders,
4-15 temporary and permanent injunctions, or any other writ, order, or
4-16 process, including a contempt order, that is appropriate to enforce
4-17 the agreement.
4-18 Sec. 145.007. AGREEMENT SUPERSEDES CONFLICTING PROVISIONS.
4-19 (a) A written agreement under this chapter supersedes a previous
4-20 statute concerning wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of work, or
4-21 other terms and conditions of employment or affirmative action
4-22 programs to the extent of any conflict with the statute.
4-23 (b) A written agreement under this chapter preempts any
4-24 contrary statute, executive order, local ordinance, or rule adopted
4-25 by the state or a political subdivision or agent of the state,
4-26 including a personnel board, a civil service commission, or a
4-27 home-rule municipality.
5-1 (c) An agreement under this chapter may not diminish or
5-2 qualify any right, benefit, or privilege of an employee under this
5-3 chapter or other law.
5-4 SECTION 2. The importance of this legislation and the
5-5 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-6 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-7 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-8 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
5-9 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
5-10 passage, and it is so enacted.