1-1     By:  Gallegos                                          S.B. No. 621
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed February 19, 1999; February 22, 1999,
 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on Intergovernmental
 1-4     Relations; April 22, 1999, reported favorably by the following
 1-5     vote:  Yeas 5, Nays 0; April 22, 1999, sent to printer.)
 1-6                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-7                                   AN ACT
 1-8     relating to conditions of employment for peace officers employed by
 1-9     certain transportation authorities.
1-10           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11           SECTION 1.  Subchapter C, Chapter 451, Transportation Code,
1-12     is amended by adding Section 451.1085 to read as follows:
1-13           Sec. 451.1085.  PEACE OFFICER EMPLOYMENT MATTERS IN CERTAIN
1-14     AUTHORITIES.  (a)  This section applies to an authority in which
1-15     the principal municipality has a population of more than 1.5
1-16     million.
1-17           (b)  In this section:
1-18                 (1)  "Association" means an organization in which peace
1-19     officers employed by an authority participate and that exists for
1-20     the purpose, in whole or in part, of dealing with the authority
1-21     concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours
1-22     of employment, or conditions of work affecting the peace officers.
1-23                 (2)  "Public employer" means an authority that is
1-24     required to establish the wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours,
1-25     working conditions, and other terms and conditions of employment of
1-26     peace officers employed by the authority.
1-27           (c)  An authority may not be denied local control over wages,
1-28     salaries, rates of pay, hours of work, other terms and conditions
1-29     of employment, or other personnel issues on which the public
1-30     employer and an association that is recognized as the sole and
1-31     exclusive bargaining agent for all peace officers employed by the
1-32     authority agree.  A term or condition of employment on which the
1-33     public employer and the association do not agree is governed by
1-34     applicable statutes and local rules and regulations.  An agreement
1-35     must be reduced to writing.  This section does not require the
1-36     public employer and the association to meet and confer or reach an
1-37     agreement on any issue.
1-38           (d)  A public employer and an association recognized under
1-39     this subchapter as a sole and exclusive bargaining agent may meet
1-40     and confer only if the association does not advocate the illegal
1-41     right to strike by public employees.
1-42           (e)  A peace officer of an authority may not engage in a
1-43     strike or organized work stoppage against this state or a political
1-44     subdivision of this state.  A peace officer who participates in a
1-45     strike forfeits all civil service rights, reemployment rights, and
1-46     other rights, benefits, or privileges the peace officer enjoys as a
1-47     result of the person's employment or previous employment with the
1-48     authority.  This subsection does not affect the right of a person
1-49     to cease employment if the person is not acting in concert with
1-50     peace officers.
1-51           (f)  The public employer may recognize an association that
1-52     submits a petition signed by a majority of the paid peace officers
1-53     of the authority, excluding the head of the department and
1-54     assistant department heads in the rank or classification
1-55     immediately below that of the department head, as the sole and
1-56     exclusive bargaining agent for all of the covered peace officers,
1-57     unless recognition of the association is withdrawn by a majority of
1-58     the covered peace officers.
1-59           (g)  A question of whether an association is the majority
1-60     representative of the covered peace officers shall be resolved by a
1-61     fair election conducted according to procedures agreed on by the
1-62     parties.  If the parties are unable to agree on election
1-63     procedures, either party may request the American Arbitration
1-64     Association to conduct the election and to certify the results.
 2-1     Certification of the results of an election under this subsection
 2-2     resolves the question concerning representation.  The association
 2-3     shall pay the costs of the election, except that if two or more
 2-4     associations seeking recognition as the bargaining agent submit
 2-5     petitions signed by a majority of the peace officers, the
 2-6     associations shall share equally the costs of the election.
 2-7           (h)  The public employer's manager or chief executive or his
 2-8     designee shall select a team to represent the public employer as
 2-9     its sole and exclusive bargaining agent for issues related to the
2-10     employment of peace officers by the authority.
2-11           (i)  An agreement made under this section is a public record
2-12     for purposes of Chapter 552, Government Code.  The agreement and
2-13     any document prepared and used by the authority in connection with
2-14     the agreement are available to the public under the open records
2-15     law, Chapter 552, Government Code, only after the agreement is
2-16     ratified by the authority's governing body.  This section does not
2-17     affect the application of Subchapter C, Chapter 552, Government
2-18     Code, to a document prepared and used by the authority in
2-19     connection with the agreement.
2-20           (j)  A written agreement made under this section between a
2-21     public employer and an association is binding on the public
2-22     employer, the association, and peace officers covered by the
2-23     agreement if:
2-24                 (1)  the authority's governing body ratifies the
2-25     agreement by a majority vote; and
2-26                 (2)  the applicable association ratifies the agreement
2-27     by a majority vote of its members by secret ballot.
2-28           (k)  An agreement ratified as described by Subsection (j) may
2-29     establish a procedure by which the parties agree to resolve
2-30     disputes related to a right, duty, or obligation provided by the
2-31     agreement, including binding arbitration on interpretation of the
2-32     agreement.
2-33           (l)  The district court of the judicial district in which the
2-34     municipality in the authority with the largest population is
2-35     located has full authority and jurisdiction on the application of
2-36     either party aggrieved by an act or omission of the other party
2-37     related to a right, duty, or obligation provided by a written
2-38     agreement ratified as described by Subsection (j).  The court may
2-39     issue proper restraining orders, temporary and permanent
2-40     injunctions, or any other writ, order, or process, including a
2-41     contempt order, that is appropriate to enforce the agreement.
2-42           (m)  An agreement under this section supersedes a previous
2-43     statute concerning wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of work, or
2-44     other terms and conditions of employment to the extent of any
2-45     conflict with the statute.
2-46           (n)  An agreement under this section preempts any contrary
2-47     statute, executive order, local ordinance, or rule adopted by the
2-48     state or a political subdivision or agent of the state, including a
2-49     personnel board, a civil service commission, or a  home-rule
2-50     municipality.
2-51           (o)  An agreement under this section may not diminish or
2-52     qualify any right, benefit, or privilege of an employee under this
2-53     chapter or other law unless approved by a majority vote by secret
2-54     ballot of the members of the association recognized as a sole and
2-55     exclusive bargaining agent.
2-56           (p)  An agreement may not interfere with the right of a
2-57     member of a bargaining unit to pursue allegations of discrimination
2-58     based on race, creed, color, national origin, religion, age, sex,
2-59     or disability with the Commission on Human Rights or the Equal
2-60     Employment Opportunity Commission or to pursue affirmative action
2-61     litigation.
2-62           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
2-63           SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
2-64     crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
2-65     emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
2-66     constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
2-67     days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended,
2-68     and that this Act take effect and be in force from and after its
2-69     passage, and it is so enacted.
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