76R14409 AJA-D
By Talton H.B. No. 3375
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 3375:
By Bailey C.S.H.B. No. 3375
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to local control of police officer employment matters by
1-3 certain municipalities.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Sections 143.352(1) and (2), Local Government
1-6 Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-7 (1) "Bargaining ["Majority bargaining] agent" means
1-8 the police employee group selected under Section 143.354 [or
1-9 143.355] to represent all police officers employed by the
1-10 municipality, excluding the department head and assistant
1-11 department heads, during negotiations with the public employer.
1-12 (2) "Police employee group" means an organization:
1-13 (A) in which at least three percent of the
1-14 police officers of the municipality participate and pay dues via
1-15 automatic payroll deduction; and
1-16 (B) which exists for the purpose, in whole or
1-17 part, of dealing with the municipality concerning grievances, labor
1-18 disputes, wages, rates of pay, benefits other than pension
1-19 benefits, hours of employment, or conditions of work affecting
1-20 police officers.
1-21 SECTION 2. Sections 143.353(a) and (b), Local Government
1-22 Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-23 (a) A municipality may not be denied local control over the
1-24 wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of work, and other terms of
2-1 employment, or other state-mandated personnel issues, if the public
2-2 employer and the [majority] bargaining agent come to a mutual
2-3 agreement on any of the terms of employment. If an agreement is
2-4 not reached, the state laws, local ordinances, and civil service
2-5 rules remain unaffected. All agreements shall be written. Nothing
2-6 in this subchapter requires either party to meet and confer on any
2-7 issue or reach an agreement.
2-8 (b) A public employer may only meet and confer if the
2-9 [majority] bargaining agent does not advocate the illegal right to
2-10 strike by public employees.
2-11 SECTION 3. Section 143.354, Local Government Code, is
2-12 amended to read as follows:
2-13 Sec. 143.354. RECOGNITION OF BARGAINING AGENT; APPOINTMENT
2-14 OF PUBLIC EMPLOYER REPRESENTATIVE; REPRESENTATION OF POLICE
2-15 EMPLOYEE GROUPS. (a) The public employer in accordance with this
2-16 section may recognize as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent
2-17 for all of the police officers in the municipality, excluding the
2-18 department head and assistant department heads, a police employee
2-19 group that submits a petition signed by a number of paid police
2-20 officers in the municipality, excluding the head of the department
2-21 and assistant department heads in the rank or classification
2-22 immediately below that of the department head, that equals at least
2-23 40 percent of the number of police officers who voted in the last
2-24 election held under Section 143.360 before the petition is
2-25 submitted, unless recognition of the police employee group is
2-26 withdrawn in accordance with this section by a majority of police
2-27 officers eligible to sign the petition. If an election under
3-1 Section 143.360 has not been held in the municipality, the public
3-2 employer in accordance with this section may recognize as the sole
3-3 and exclusive bargaining agent for all of the police officers in
3-4 the municipality, excluding the department head and assistant
3-5 department heads, a police employee group that submits a petition
3-6 signed by 40 percent of the paid police officers in the
3-7 municipality, excluding the head of the department and assistant
3-8 department heads in the rank or classification immediately below
3-9 that of the department head unless recognition of the police
3-10 employee group is withdrawn by a majority of those police officers
3-11 in accordance with this section. A fair election shall be
3-12 conducted to resolve the question of whether a police employee
3-13 group represents a majority of the police officers in the
3-14 municipality, excluding the department head and assistant
3-15 department heads.
3-16 (b) A petition submitted under Subsection (a) must clearly
3-17 show on each page the name of the police employee group circulating
3-18 the petition. A police officer who signs a petition submitted
3-19 under Subsection (a) may not be counted towards the 40 percent
3-20 requirement under that subsection unless that officer's printed
3-21 name and payroll number and the date of the signature are included
3-22 on the petition. The petition must be submitted to the municipal
3-23 secretary not later than the 60th day after the first date on which
3-24 a police officer signs the petition.
3-25 (c) Within the 30 days after the date the petition is
3-26 submitted, the municipal secretary shall verify the signatures on
3-27 the petition and, if the petition complies with this section, call
4-1 for the election. The election shall be conducted within 45 days
4-2 after the date on which the municipal secretary calls for the
4-3 election.
4-4 (d) An election required by this section shall be conducted
4-5 according to procedures agreed on by the parties. If the parties
4-6 are unable to agree on election procedures by the 15th day after
4-7 the date the municipal secretary calls for the election, the
4-8 American Arbitration Association shall conduct the election and
4-9 certify the results. Certification of the results of an election
4-10 under this subsection resolves the question concerning
4-11 representation.
4-12 (e) All costs associated with conducting the election shall
4-13 be shared equally by all employee groups that are seeking
4-14 recognition as the bargaining agent in the election. A police
4-15 employee group must make payments required by this subsection not
4-16 later than the 10th day before the date on which the election
4-17 begins.
4-18 (f) The public employer's chief executive officer shall
4-19 designate a team to represent the public employer as its sole and
4-20 exclusive bargaining agent for issues related to the police
4-21 department [SELECTION OF MAJORITY BARGAINING AGENT. (a) Not later
4-22 than January 31, 1998, representatives from each police employee
4-23 group shall meet to select the majority bargaining agent. The
4-24 majority bargaining agent must be selected unanimously.]
4-25 [(b) If the representatives of the police employee groups
4-26 fail to meet or are unable to reach a unanimous consensus as to a
4-27 majority bargaining agent before January 31, 1998, the selection of
5-1 a majority bargaining agent will be governed by Section 143.355].
5-2 SECTION 4. Section 143.357, Local Government Code, is
5-3 amended to read as follows:
5-4 Sec. 143.357. PAYROLL DUES DEDUCTIONS. After a [majority]
5-5 bargaining agent is recognized, the public employer may not stop or
5-6 prevent automatic payroll deductions for dues paid to a police
5-7 employee group because the group is or is not the [majority]
5-8 bargaining agent.
5-9 SECTION 5. Section 143.358, Local Government Code, is
5-10 amended to read as follows:
5-11 Sec. 143.358. OPEN RECORDS REQUIRED. All documents relating
5-12 to an agreement between a [majority] bargaining agent and a public
5-13 employer shall be available to the public in accordance with state
5-14 statutes.
5-15 SECTION 6. Section 143.359(a), Local Government Code, is
5-16 amended to read as follows:
5-17 (a) A written agreement made under this subchapter between a
5-18 public employer and a [majority] bargaining agent [and approved by
5-19 the bargaining team] is enforceable and binding on the public
5-20 employer, the [majority] bargaining agent, police employee groups,
5-21 and the police officers covered by the agreement if:
5-22 (1) the municipality's governing body ratified the
5-23 agreement by a majority vote; and
5-24 (2) the agreement is ratified under Section 143.360.
5-25 SECTION 7. Section 143.360, Local Government Code, is
5-26 amended to read as follows:
5-27 Sec. 143.360. ELECTION TO RATIFY AGREEMENT. (a) The
6-1 [majority] bargaining agent shall call an election to ratify any
6-2 agreement reached with the public employer [if the agreement has
6-3 been approved by a majority of the bargaining team].
6-4 (b) All police officers of the municipality, other than the
6-5 department head and assistant department heads, are eligible to
6-6 vote in the election.
6-7 (c) The bargaining agent [team] shall establish procedures
6-8 for the election [by unanimous consensus].
6-9 (d) [If the bargaining team is unable to agree on procedures
6-10 for the election, any group represented on the bargaining team may
6-11 request that the American Arbitration Association conduct the
6-12 election and certify the results. Certification of the results of
6-13 an election resolves the question concerning ratification of an
6-14 agreement. All police employee groups represented on the
6-15 bargaining team shall share equally the expenses of the election.]
6-16 [(e)] A majority of all votes cast is required to ratify an
6-17 agreement.
6-18 SECTION 8. Sections 143.361(a) and (c), Local Government
6-19 Code, are amended to read as follows:
6-20 (a) A written agreement ratified under this subchapter
6-21 between a public employer and the [majority] bargaining agent
6-22 supersedes a previous statute concerning wages, salaries, rates of
6-23 pay, hours of work, and other terms of employment other than
6-24 pension benefits to the extent of any conflict with the previous
6-25 statute.
6-26 (c) An agreement under this subchapter may not diminish or
6-27 qualify any right, benefit, or privilege of an employee under this
7-1 chapter or other law unless approved by a majority of the votes
7-2 cast at the secret ballot election held by the [majority]
7-3 bargaining agent to ratify the agreement.
7-4 SECTION 9. Section 143.362, Local Government Code, is
7-5 amended to read as follows:
7-6 Sec. 143.362. REPEAL OF AGREEMENT BY ELECTORATE. Within 45
7-7 days after the date an agreement is ratified and signed by the
7-8 municipality and the [majority] bargaining agent, a petition signed
7-9 by a number of registered voters equal to 10 percent of the votes
7-10 cast at the most recent mayoral general election in the
7-11 municipality may be presented to the municipal secretary calling an
7-12 election for the repeal of the agreement, in which event the
7-13 governing body shall reconsider the agreement, and, if it does not
7-14 repeal the agreement, it shall call an election of the qualified
7-15 voters to determine if they desire to repeal the agreement. The
7-16 election shall be held as part of the next regularly scheduled
7-17 municipal election or at a special election called by the governing
7-18 body for that purpose. If at the election a majority of the votes
7-19 are cast in favor of the repeal of the adoption of the agreement,
7-20 the agreement becomes void. The ballot shall be printed to provide
7-21 for voting for or against the proposition:
7-22 "Repeal of the adoption of the agreement ratified by the
7-23 municipality and the police officers of the municipality concerning
7-24 wages, salaries, rates of pay, certain benefits, hours of work, and
7-25 other terms of employment."
7-26 SECTION 10. Section 143.363(a), Local Government Code, is
7-27 amended to read as follows:
8-1 (a) For the purpose of any disciplinary appeal to either the
8-2 civil service commission or a hearing examiner, all police officers
8-3 have the right to choose to be represented by any person of their
8-4 choice or by the police employee group selected as the [majority]
8-5 bargaining agent.
8-6 SECTION 11. Sections 143.355 and 143.356, Local Government
8-7 Code, are repealed.
8-8 SECTION 12. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
8-9 (b) The change in law made by this Act does not affect the
8-10 validity of an election held, agreement made, or action taken under
8-11 Subchapter J, Chapter 143, Local Government Code, before the
8-12 effective date of this Act.
8-13 (c) A police employee group that is a majority bargaining
8-14 agent, as defined by Section 143.352, Local Government Code,
8-15 immediately before the effective date of this Act becomes the
8-16 bargaining agent for the purposes of Section 143.352, Local
8-17 Government Code, as amended by this Act, on the effective date of
8-18 this Act, and is considered the recognized sole and exclusive
8-19 bargaining agent under Section 143.354, Local Government Code, as
8-20 amended by this Act, until another sole and exclusive bargaining
8-21 agent is recognized in accordance with Section 143.354.
8-22 SECTION 13. The importance of this legislation and the
8-23 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
8-24 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
8-25 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
8-26 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.