By: Gallegos S.B. No. 1539
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to local control of police officer employment matters by
1-2 certain municipalities.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Subdivisions (1) and (2), Section 143.352, Local
1-5 Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-6 (1) "Bargaining ["Majority bargaining] agent" means
1-7 the police employee group selected under Section 143.354 [or
1-8 143.355] to represent all police officers employed by the
1-9 municipality, excluding the department head and assistant
1-10 department heads, during negotiations with the public employer.
1-11 (2) "Police employee group" means an organization:
1-12 (A) in which at least three percent of the
1-13 police officers of the municipality participate and pay dues via
1-14 automatic payroll deduction; and
1-15 (B) which exists for the purpose, in whole or
1-16 part, of dealing with the municipality concerning grievances, labor
1-17 disputes, wages, rates of pay, benefits other than pension
1-18 benefits, hours of employment, or conditions of work affecting
1-19 police officers.
1-20 SECTION 2. Subsections (a) and (b), Section 143.353, Local
1-21 Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-22 (a) A municipality may not be denied local control over the
1-23 wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of work, and other terms of
1-24 employment, or other state-mandated personnel issues, if the public
2-1 employer and the [majority] bargaining agent come to a mutual
2-2 agreement on any of the terms of employment. If an agreement is
2-3 not reached, the state laws, local ordinances, and civil service
2-4 rules remain unaffected. All agreements shall be written. Nothing
2-5 in this subchapter requires either party to meet and confer on any
2-6 issue or reach an agreement.
2-7 (b) A public employer may only meet and confer if the
2-8 [majority] bargaining agent does not advocate the illegal right to
2-9 strike by public employees.
2-10 SECTION 3. Section 143.354, Local Government Code, is
2-11 amended to read as follows:
2-12 Sec. 143.354. RECOGNITION OF BARGAINING AGENT; APPOINTMENT
2-13 OF PUBLIC EMPLOYER REPRESENTATIVE; REPRESENTATION OF POLICE
2-14 EMPLOYEE GROUPS. (a) The public employer in accordance with this
2-15 section may recognize a police employee group that submits a
2-16 petition signed by 40 percent of the number of police officers in
2-17 the municipality who voted in the last election held under Section
2-18 143.360 before the petition is submitted, excluding the head of the
2-19 department and assistant department heads in the rank or
2-20 classification immediately below that of the department head, as
2-21 the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for all of the police
2-22 officers in the municipality, excluding the department head and
2-23 assistant department heads, unless recognition of the police
2-24 employee group is withdrawn by a majority of those police officers
2-25 in accordance with this section. If an election under Section
2-26 143.360 has not been held in the municipality, the public employer
3-1 in accordance with this section may recognize a police employee
3-2 group that submits a petition signed by 40 percent of the paid
3-3 police officers in the municipality, excluding the head of the
3-4 department and assistant department heads in the rank or
3-5 classification immediately below that of the department head, as
3-6 the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for all of the police
3-7 officers in the municipality, excluding the department head and
3-8 assistant department heads, unless recognition of the police
3-9 employee group is withdrawn by a majority of those police officers
3-10 in accordance with this section. A fair election shall be
3-11 conducted to resolve the question of whether a police employee
3-12 group represents a majority of the police officers in the
3-13 municipality, excluding the department head and assistant
3-14 department heads.
3-15 (b) A petition submitted under Subsection (a) must clearly
3-16 show on each page the name of the police employee group circulating
3-17 the petition. A police officer who signs a petition submitted
3-18 under Subsection (a) may not be counted towards the 40 percent
3-19 requirement under that subsection unless that officer's printed
3-20 name and payroll number and the date of the signature are included
3-21 on the petition. The petition must be submitted to the municipal
3-22 secretary not later than the 60th day after the first date on which
3-23 a police officer signs the petition.
3-24 (c) Within the 30 days after the date the petition is
3-25 submitted, the municipal secretary shall verify the signatures on
3-26 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
5-1 majority bargaining agent before January 31, 1998, the selection of
5-2 a majority bargaining agent will be governed by Section 143.355].
5-3 SECTION 4. Section 143.357, Local Government Code, is
5-4 amended to read as follows:
5-5 Sec. 143.357. PAYROLL DUES DEDUCTIONS. After a [majority]
5-6 bargaining agent is recognized, the public employer may not stop or
5-7 prevent automatic payroll deductions for dues paid to a police
5-8 employee group because the group is or is not the [majority]
5-9 bargaining agent.
5-10 SECTION 5. Section 143.358, Local Government Code, is
5-11 amended to read as follows:
5-12 Sec. 143.358. OPEN RECORDS REQUIRED. All documents relating
5-13 to an agreement between a [majority] bargaining agent and a public
5-14 employer shall be available to the public in accordance with state
5-15 statutes.
5-16 SECTION 6. Subsection (a), Section 143.359, Local Government
5-17 Code, is amended to read as follows:
5-18 (a) A written agreement made under this subchapter between a
5-19 public employer and a [majority] bargaining agent [and approved by
5-20 the bargaining team] is enforceable and binding on the public
5-21 employer, the [majority] bargaining agent, police employee groups,
5-22 and the police officers covered by the agreement if:
5-23 (1) the municipality's governing body ratified the
5-24 agreement by a majority vote; and
5-25 (2) the agreement is ratified under Section 143.360.
5-26 SECTION 7. Section 143.360, Local Government Code, is
6-1 amended to read as follows:
6-2 Sec. 143.360. ELECTION TO RATIFY AGREEMENT. (a) The
6-3 [majority] bargaining agent shall call an election to ratify any
6-4 agreement reached with the public employer [if the agreement has
6-5 been approved by a majority of the bargaining team].
6-6 (b) All police officers of the municipality, other than the
6-7 department head and assistant department heads, are eligible to
6-8 vote in the election.
6-9 (c) The bargaining agent [team] shall establish procedures
6-10 for the election [by unanimous consensus].
6-11 (d) [If the bargaining team is unable to agree on procedures
6-12 for the election, any group represented on the bargaining team may
6-13 request that the American Arbitration Association conduct the
6-14 election and certify the results. Certification of the results of
6-15 an election resolves the question concerning ratification of an
6-16 agreement. All police employee groups represented on the
6-17 bargaining team shall share equally the expenses of the election.]
6-18 [(e)] A majority of all votes cast is required to ratify an
6-19 agreement.
6-20 SECTION 8. Subsections (a) and (c), Section 143.361, Local
6-21 Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
6-22 (a) A written agreement ratified under this subchapter
6-23 between a public employer and the [majority] bargaining agent
6-24 supersedes a previous statute concerning wages, salaries, rates of
6-25 pay, hours of work, and other terms of employment other than
6-26 pension benefits to the extent of any conflict with the previous
7-1 statute.
7-2 (c) An agreement under this subchapter may not diminish or
7-3 qualify any right, benefit, or privilege of an employee under this
7-4 chapter or other law unless approved by a majority of the votes
7-5 cast at the secret ballot election held by the [majority]
7-6 bargaining agent to ratify the agreement.
7-7 SECTION 9. Section 143.362, Local Government Code, is
7-8 amended to read as follows:
7-9 Sec. 143.362. REPEAL OF AGREEMENT BY ELECTORATE. Within 45
7-10 days after the date an agreement is ratified and signed by the
7-11 municipality and the [majority] bargaining agent, a petition signed
7-12 by a number of registered voters equal to 10 percent of the votes
7-13 cast at the most recent mayoral general election in the
7-14 municipality may be presented to the municipal secretary calling an
7-15 election for the repeal of the agreement, in which event the
7-16 governing body shall reconsider the agreement, and, if it does not
7-17 repeal the agreement, it shall call an election of the qualified
7-18 voters to determine if they desire to repeal the agreement. The
7-19 election shall be held as part of the next regularly scheduled
7-20 municipal election or at a special election called by the governing
7-21 body for that purpose. If at the election a majority of the votes
7-22 are cast in favor of the repeal of the adoption of the agreement,
7-23 the agreement becomes void. The ballot shall be printed to provide
7-24 for voting for or against the proposition:
7-25 "Repeal of the adoption of the agreement ratified by the
7-26 municipality and the police officers of the municipality concerning
8-1 wages, salaries, rates of pay, certain benefits, hours of work, and
8-2 other terms of employment."
8-3 SECTION 10. Subsection (a), Section 143.363, Local
8-4 Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
8-5 (a) For the purpose of any disciplinary appeal to either the
8-6 civil service commission or a hearing examiner, all police officers
8-7 have the right to choose to be represented by any person of their
8-8 choice or by the police employee group selected as the [majority]
8-9 bargaining agent.
8-10 SECTION 11. Sections 143.355 and 143.356, Local Government
8-11 Code, are repealed.
8-12 SECTION 12. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
8-13 (b) The change in law made by this Act does not affect the
8-14 validity of an election held, agreement made, or action taken under
8-15 Subchapter J, Chapter 143, Local Government Code, before the
8-16 effective date of this Act.
8-17 (c) A police employee group that is a majority bargaining
8-18 agent, as defined by Section 143.352, Local Government Code,
8-19 immediately before the effective date of this Act becomes the
8-20 bargaining agent for the purposes of Section 143.352, Local
8-21 Government Code, as amended by this Act, on the effective date of
8-22 this Act, and is considered the recognized sole and exclusive
8-23 bargaining agent under Section 143.354, Local Government Code, as
8-24 amended by this Act, until another sole and exclusive bargaining
8-25 agent is recognized in accordance with Section 143.354.
8-26 SECTION 13. The importance of this legislation and the
9-1 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
9-2 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
9-3 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
9-4 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.