1-1 By: Gallegos S.B. No. 1539
1-2 (In the Senate - Filed March 12, 1999; March 15, 1999, read
1-3 first time and referred to Committee on Intergovernmental
1-4 Relations; April 8, 1999, reported favorably by the following vote:
1-5 Yeas 4, Nays 0; April 8, 1999, sent to printer.)
1-6 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-7 AN ACT
1-8 relating to local control of police officer employment matters by
1-9 certain municipalities.
1-10 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-11 SECTION 1. Subdivisions (1) and (2), Section 143.352, Local
1-12 Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-13 (1) "Bargaining ["Majority bargaining] agent" means
1-14 the police employee group selected under Section 143.354 [or
1-15 143.355] to represent all police officers employed by the
1-16 municipality, excluding the department head and assistant
1-17 department heads, during negotiations with the public employer.
1-18 (2) "Police employee group" means an organization:
1-19 (A) in which at least three percent of the
1-20 police officers of the municipality participate and pay dues via
1-21 automatic payroll deduction; and
1-22 (B) which exists for the purpose, in whole or
1-23 part, of dealing with the municipality concerning grievances, labor
1-24 disputes, wages, rates of pay, benefits, hours of employment, or
1-25 conditions of work affecting police officers.
1-26 SECTION 2. Subsections (a) and (b), Section 143.353, Local
1-27 Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-28 (a) A municipality may not be denied local control over the
1-29 wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of work, and other terms of
1-30 employment, or other state-mandated personnel issues, if the public
1-31 employer and the [majority] bargaining agent come to a mutual
1-32 agreement on any of the terms of employment. If an agreement is
1-33 not reached, the state laws, local ordinances, and civil service
1-34 rules remain unaffected. All agreements shall be written. Nothing
1-35 in this subchapter requires either party to meet and confer on any
1-36 issue or reach an agreement.
1-37 (b) A public employer may only meet and confer if the
1-38 [majority] bargaining agent does not advocate the illegal right to
1-39 strike by public employees.
1-40 SECTION 3. Section 143.354, Local Government Code, is
1-41 amended to read as follows:
1-42 Sec. 143.354. RECOGNITION OF POLICE EMPLOYEE GROUP.
1-43 (a) The public employer may recognize a police employee group that
1-44 submits a petition signed by a majority of the paid police officers
1-45 in the municipality, excluding the head of the department and
1-46 assistant department heads in the rank or classification
1-47 immediately below that of the department head, as the sole and
1-48 exclusive bargaining agent for all of the police officers in the
1-49 municipality, excluding the department head and assistant
1-50 department heads, unless recognition of the police employee group
1-51 is withdrawn by a majority of those police officers.
1-52 (b) Whether a police employee group represents a majority of
1-53 the police officers in the municipality, excluding the department
1-54 head and assistant department heads, shall be resolved by a fair
1-55 election conducted according to procedures agreed on by the
1-56 parties. If the parties are unable to agree on election
1-57 procedures, either party may request the American Arbitration
1-58 Association to conduct the election and to certify the results.
1-59 Certification of the results of an election under this subsection
1-60 resolves the question concerning representation. The police
1-61 employee group shall pay the costs of the election, except that if
1-62 two or more police employee groups seeking recognition as the
1-63 bargaining agent submit petitions signed by a majority of the
1-64 police officers eligible to sign the petition, the police employee
2-1 groups shall share equally the costs of the election.
2-2 (c) The public employer's chief executive officer shall
2-3 designate a team to represent the public employer as its sole and
2-4 exclusive bargaining agent for issues related to the police
2-5 department [SELECTION OF MAJORITY BARGAINING AGENT. (a) Not later
2-6 than January 31, 1998, representatives from each police employee
2-7 group shall meet to select the majority bargaining agent. The
2-8 majority bargaining agent must be selected unanimously.]
2-9 [(b) If the representatives of the police employee groups
2-10 fail to meet or are unable to reach a unanimous consensus as to a
2-11 majority bargaining agent before January 31, 1998, the selection of
2-12 a majority bargaining agent will be governed by Section 143.355].
2-13 SECTION 4. Section 143.357, Local Government Code, is
2-14 amended to read as follows:
2-15 Sec. 143.357. PAYROLL DUES DEDUCTIONS. After a [majority]
2-16 bargaining agent is recognized, the public employer may not stop or
2-17 prevent automatic payroll deductions for dues paid to a police
2-18 employee group because the group is or is not the [majority]
2-19 bargaining agent.
2-20 SECTION 5. Section 143.358, Local Government Code, is
2-21 amended to read as follows:
2-22 Sec. 143.358. OPEN RECORDS REQUIRED. All documents relating
2-23 to an agreement between a [majority] bargaining agent and a public
2-24 employer shall be available to the public in accordance with state
2-25 statutes.
2-26 SECTION 6. Subsection (a), Section 143.359, Local Government
2-27 Code, is amended to read as follows:
2-28 (a) A written agreement made under this subchapter between a
2-29 public employer and a [majority] bargaining agent [and approved by
2-30 the bargaining team] is enforceable and binding on the public
2-31 employer, the [majority] bargaining agent, police employee groups,
2-32 and the police officers covered by the agreement if:
2-33 (1) the municipality's governing body ratified the
2-34 agreement by a majority vote; and
2-35 (2) the agreement is ratified under Section 143.360.
2-36 SECTION 7. Section 143.360, Local Government Code, is
2-37 amended to read as follows:
2-38 Sec. 143.360. ELECTION TO RATIFY AGREEMENT. (a) The
2-39 [majority] bargaining agent shall call an election to ratify any
2-40 agreement reached with the public employer [if the agreement has
2-41 been approved by a majority of the bargaining team].
2-42 (b) All police officers of the municipality, other than the
2-43 department head and assistant department heads, are eligible to
2-44 vote in the election.
2-45 (c) The bargaining agent [team] shall establish procedures
2-46 for the election [by unanimous consensus].
2-47 (d) [If the bargaining team is unable to agree on procedures
2-48 for the election, any group represented on the bargaining team may
2-49 request that the American Arbitration Association conduct the
2-50 election and certify the results. Certification of the results of
2-51 an election resolves the question concerning ratification of an
2-52 agreement. All police employee groups represented on the
2-53 bargaining team shall share equally the expenses of the election.]
2-54 [(e)] A majority of all votes cast is required to ratify an
2-55 agreement.
2-56 SECTION 8. Subsections (a) and (c), Section 143.361, Local
2-57 Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
2-58 (a) A written agreement ratified under this subchapter
2-59 between a public employer and the [majority] bargaining agent
2-60 supersedes a previous statute concerning wages, salaries, rates of
2-61 pay, hours of work, and other terms of employment to the extent of
2-62 any conflict with the previous statute.
2-63 (c) An agreement under this subchapter may not diminish or
2-64 qualify any right, benefit, or privilege of an employee under this
2-65 chapter or other law unless approved by a majority of the votes
2-66 cast at the secret ballot election held by the [majority]
2-67 bargaining agent to ratify the agreement.
2-68 SECTION 9. Section 143.362, Local Government Code, is
2-69 amended to read as follows:
3-1 Sec. 143.362. REPEAL OF AGREEMENT BY ELECTORATE. Within 45
3-2 days after the date an agreement is ratified and signed by the
3-3 municipality and the [majority] bargaining agent, a petition signed
3-4 by a number of registered voters equal to 10 percent of the votes
3-5 cast at the most recent mayoral general election in the
3-6 municipality may be presented to the municipal secretary calling an
3-7 election for the repeal of the agreement, in which event the
3-8 governing body shall reconsider the agreement, and, if it does not
3-9 repeal the agreement, it shall call an election of the qualified
3-10 voters to determine if they desire to repeal the agreement. The
3-11 election shall be held as part of the next regularly scheduled
3-12 municipal election or at a special election called by the governing
3-13 body for that purpose. If at the election a majority of the votes
3-14 are cast in favor of the repeal of the adoption of the agreement,
3-15 the agreement becomes void. The ballot shall be printed to provide
3-16 for voting for or against the proposition:
3-17 "Repeal of the adoption of the agreement ratified by the
3-18 municipality and the police officers of the municipality concerning
3-19 wages, salaries, rates of pay, benefits, hours of work, and other
3-20 terms of employment."
3-21 SECTION 10. Subsection (a), Section 143.363, Local
3-22 Government Code, is amended to read as follows:
3-23 (a) For the purpose of any disciplinary appeal to either the
3-24 civil service commission or a hearing examiner, all police officers
3-25 have the right to choose to be represented by any person of their
3-26 choice or by the police employee group selected as the [majority]
3-27 bargaining agent.
3-28 SECTION 11. Sections 143.355 and 143.356, Local Government
3-29 Code, are repealed.
3-30 SECTION 12. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999. The
3-31 change in law made by this Act does not affect the validity of an
3-32 election held, agreement made, or action taken under Subchapter J,
3-33 Chapter 143, Local Government Code, before the effective date of
3-34 this Act.
3-35 SECTION 13. The importance of this legislation and the
3-36 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-37 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-38 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-39 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.
3-40 * * * * *