By: Gallegos S.B. No. 621
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to conditions of employment for peace officers employed by
1-2 certain transportation authorities.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 451, Transportation Code,
1-5 is amended by adding Section 451.1085 to read as follows:
1-6 Sec. 451.1085. PEACE OFFICER EMPLOYMENT MATTERS IN CERTAIN
1-7 AUTHORITIES. (a) This section applies to an authority in which
1-8 the principal municipality has a population of more than 1.5
1-9 million.
1-10 (b) In this section:
1-11 (1) "Association" means an organization in which peace
1-12 officers employed by an authority participate and that exists for
1-13 the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with the authority
1-14 concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours
1-15 of employment, or conditions of work affecting the peace officers.
1-16 (2) "Public employer" means an authority that is
1-17 required to establish the wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours,
1-18 working conditions, and other terms and conditions of employment of
1-19 peace officers employed by the authority.
1-20 (c) An authority may not be denied local control over wages,
1-21 salaries, rates of pay, hours of work, other terms and conditions
1-22 of employment, or other personnel issues on which the public
1-23 employer and an association that is recognized as the sole and
1-24 exclusive bargaining agent for all peace officers employed by the
2-1 authority agree. A term or condition of employment on which the
2-2 public employer and the association do not agree is governed by
2-3 applicable statutes and local rules and regulations. An agreement
2-4 must be reduced to writing. This section does not require the
2-5 public employer and the association to meet and confer or reach an
2-6 agreement on any issue.
2-7 (d) A public employer and an association recognized under
2-8 this subchapter as a sole and exclusive bargaining agent may meet
2-9 and confer only if the association does not advocate the illegal
2-10 right to strike by public employees.
2-11 (e) A peace officer of an authority may not engage in a
2-12 strike or organized work stoppage against this state or a political
2-13 subdivision of this state. A peace officer who participates in a
2-14 strike forfeits all civil service rights, reemployment rights, and
2-15 other rights, benefits, or privileges the peace officer enjoys as a
2-16 result of the person's employment or previous employment with the
2-17 authority. This subsection does not affect the right of a person
2-18 to cease employment if the person is not acting in concert with
2-19 peace officers.
2-20 (f) The public employer may recognize an association that
2-21 submits a petition signed by a majority of the paid peace officers
2-22 of the authority, excluding the head of the department and
2-23 assistant department heads in the rank or classification
2-24 immediately below that of the department head, as the sole and
2-25 exclusive bargaining agent for all of the covered peace officers,
2-26 unless recognition of the association is withdrawn by a majority of
3-1 the covered peace officers.
3-2 (g) A question of whether an association is the majority
3-3 representative of the covered peace officers shall be resolved by a
3-4 fair election conducted according to procedures agreed on by the
3-5 parties. If the parties are unable to agree on election
3-6 procedures, either party may request the American Arbitration
3-7 Association to conduct the election and to certify the results.
3-8 Certification of the results of an election under this subsection
3-9 resolves the question concerning representation. The association
3-10 shall pay the costs of the election, except that if two or more
3-11 associations seeking recognition as the bargaining agent submit
3-12 petitions signed by a majority of the peace officers, the
3-13 associations shall share equally the costs of the election.
3-14 (h) The public employer's manager or chief executive or his
3-15 designee shall select a team to represent the public employer as
3-16 its sole and exclusive bargaining agent for issues related to the
3-17 employment of peace officers by the authority.
3-18 (i) An agreement made under this section is a public record
3-19 for purposes of Chapter 552, Government Code. The agreement and
3-20 any document prepared and used by the authority in connection with
3-21 the agreement are available to the public under the open records
3-22 law, Chapter 552, Government Code, only after the agreement is
3-23 ratified by the authority's governing body. This section does not
3-24 affect the application of Subchapter C, Chapter 552, Government
3-25 Code, to a document prepared and used by the authority in
3-26 connection with the agreement.
4-1 (j) A written agreement made under this section between a
4-2 public employer and an association is binding on the public
4-3 employer, the association, and peace officers covered by the
4-4 agreement if:
4-5 (1) the authority's governing body ratifies the
4-6 agreement by a majority vote; and
4-7 (2) the applicable association ratifies the agreement
4-8 by a majority vote of its members by secret ballot.
4-9 (k) An agreement ratified as described by Subsection (j) may
4-10 establish a procedure by which the parties agree to resolve
4-11 disputes related to a right, duty, or obligation provided by the
4-12 agreement, including binding arbitration on interpretation of the
4-13 agreement.
4-14 (l) The district court of the judicial district in which the
4-15 municipality in the authority with the largest population is
4-16 located has full authority and jurisdiction on the application of
4-17 either party aggrieved by an act or omission of the other party
4-18 related to a right, duty, or obligation provided by a written
4-19 agreement ratified as described by Subsection (j). The court may
4-20 issue proper restraining orders, temporary and permanent
4-21 injunctions, or any other writ, order, or process, including a
4-22 contempt order, that is appropriate to enforce the agreement.
4-23 (m) An agreement under this section supersedes a previous
4-24 statute concerning wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of work, or
4-25 other terms and conditions of employment to the extent of any
4-26 conflict with the statute.
5-1 (n) An agreement under this section preempts any contrary
5-2 statute, executive order, local ordinance, or rule adopted by the
5-3 state or a political subdivision or agent of the state, including a
5-4 personnel board, a civil service commission, or a home-rule
5-5 municipality.
5-6 (o) An agreement under this section may not diminish or
5-7 qualify any right, benefit, or privilege of an employee under this
5-8 chapter or other law unless approved by a majority vote by secret
5-9 ballot of the members of the association recognized as a sole and
5-10 exclusive bargaining agent.
5-11 (p) An agreement may not interfere with the right of a
5-12 member of a bargaining unit to pursue allegations of discrimination
5-13 based on race, creed, color, national origin, religion, age, sex,
5-14 or disability with the Commission on Human Rights or the Equal
5-15 Employment Opportunity Commission or to pursue affirmative action
5-16 litigation.
5-17 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
5-18 SECTION 3. The importance of this legislation and the
5-19 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
5-20 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
5-21 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
5-22 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
5-23 and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
5-24 passage, and it is so enacted.