By Bailey, Edwards H.B. No. 2677
77R12726 ATP-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the right of certain municipalities to maintain local
1-3 control over wages, hours, and other terms of employment of certain
1-4 municipal employees.
1-5 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-6 SECTION 1. Chapter 143, Local Government Code, is amended by
1-7 adding Subchapter K to read as follows:
1-8 SUBCHAPTER K. LOCAL CONTROL OF MUNICIPAL EMPLOYMENT MATTERS IN
1-9 MUNICIPALITIES WITH POPULATION OF 1.5 MILLION OR MORE
1-10 Sec. 143.401. APPLICATION. (a) This subchapter applies
1-11 only to a municipality with a population of 1.5 million or more.
1-12 (b) This subchapter does not apply to:
1-13 (1) firefighters or police officers who are covered by
1-14 Subchapter H, I, or J or by Chapter 174; or
1-15 (2) an employee association in which those employees
1-16 participate.
1-17 Sec. 143.402. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
1-18 (1) "Association" means an organization in which
1-19 municipal employees participate, that exists wholly or partly for
1-20 the purpose of dealing with one or more public or private employers
1-21 concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours
1-22 of employment, or working conditions affecting public employees,
1-23 and whose members pay dues by means of an automatic payroll
1-24 deduction.
2-1 (2) "Public employer" means any municipality or
2-2 agency, board, commission, or political subdivision controlled by a
2-3 municipality that is required to establish the wages, salaries,
2-4 rates of pay, hours of employment, working conditions, and other
2-5 terms of employment of public employees. The term may include,
2-6 under appropriate circumstances, a mayor, manager, administrator of
2-7 a municipality, municipal governing body, director of personnel, or
2-8 personnel board or one or more other officials, regardless of the
2-9 name by which they are designated.
2-10 Sec. 143.403. GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO AGREEMENTS,
2-11 RECOGNITION, AND STRIKES. (a) A municipality may not be denied
2-12 local control over wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of
2-13 employment, other terms or conditions of employment, or other
2-14 personnel issues on which the public employer and an association
2-15 recognized as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for all
2-16 nonclassified municipal employees agree. A term on which the
2-17 public employer and the association do not agree is governed by the
2-18 applicable statutes, local ordinances, and civil service rules. An
2-19 agreement between the public employer and an association must be
2-20 reduced to writing. This subchapter does not require the public
2-21 employer and the association to meet and confer or reach an
2-22 agreement on any issue.
2-23 (b) A public employer and an association recognized under
2-24 this subchapter as a sole and exclusive bargaining agent may meet
2-25 and confer only if the association does not advocate the illegal
2-26 right to strike by public employees.
2-27 (c) A municipal employee may not engage in a strike or
3-1 organized work stoppage against this state or a political
3-2 subdivision of this state. An employee who participates in a
3-3 strike forfeits all civil service rights, reemployment rights, and
3-4 other rights, benefits, or privileges the employee enjoys as a
3-5 result of the employee's employment or previous employment with the
3-6 municipality. This subsection does not affect the right of a
3-7 person to cease employment if the person is not acting in concert
3-8 with other employees.
3-9 Sec. 143.404. RECOGNITION OF ASSOCIATION. (a) A public
3-10 employer may recognize an association that submits a petition
3-11 signed by a majority of the nonclassified employees of the
3-12 municipality, excluding any department head and assistant
3-13 department head in the rank or classification immediately below
3-14 that of the department head, as the sole and exclusive bargaining
3-15 agent for all of the covered employees.
3-16 (b) An association may submit a petition requesting an
3-17 election to determine whether an association is the majority
3-18 representative of the covered employees. If the petition is signed
3-19 by 30 percent of the covered employees and the public employer
3-20 certifies to the municipality the number of employees signing the
3-21 petition, there is a question of whether an association is the
3-22 majority representative of the covered employees that must be
3-23 resolved by a fair election conducted according to procedures on
3-24 which the parties agree. If the parties are unable to agree on
3-25 election procedures, either party may request the American
3-26 Arbitration Association to conduct the election and to certify the
3-27 results. The association that receives a majority of the votes
4-1 cast at the election is the majority representative of the covered
4-2 employees. Certification of the results of an election under this
4-3 subsection resolves the question concerning representation. The
4-4 association that submits the petition shall pay the costs of the
4-5 election, except that if two or more associations seeking
4-6 recognition as the bargaining agent submit petitions signed by 30
4-7 percent or more of the covered employees, the associations shall
4-8 share equally the costs of the election.
4-9 (c) The municipality shall designate a team to represent the
4-10 public employer as its sole and exclusive bargaining agent.
4-11 Sec. 143.405. OPEN RECORDS REQUIRED. An agreement made
4-12 under this subchapter is a public record for purposes of Chapter
4-13 552, Government Code. The agreement and any document prepared and
4-14 used by the municipality in connection with the agreement are
4-15 available to the public under the open records law, Chapter 552,
4-16 Government Code, only after the agreement is ratified by the
4-17 municipality's governing body. This section does not affect the
4-18 application of Subchapter C, Chapter 552, Government Code, to a
4-19 document prepared and used by the municipality in connection with
4-20 the agreement.
4-21 Sec. 143.406. ENFORCEABILITY OF AGREEMENT. (a) A written
4-22 agreement made under this subchapter between a public employer and
4-23 an association is binding on the public employer, the association,
4-24 and employees covered by the agreement if:
4-25 (1) the municipality's governing body ratifies the
4-26 agreement by a majority vote; and
4-27 (2) the applicable association ratifies the agreement
5-1 by a majority vote of its members by secret ballot.
5-2 (b) An agreement ratified as described by Subsection (a) may
5-3 establish a procedure by which the parties agree to resolve
5-4 disputes related to a right, duty, or obligation provided by the
5-5 agreement, including binding arbitration on interpretation of the
5-6 agreement.
5-7 (c) The district court of the judicial district in which the
5-8 municipality is located has full authority and jurisdiction on the
5-9 application of either party aggrieved by an act or omission of the
5-10 other party related to a right, duty, or obligation provided by a
5-11 written agreement ratified as described by Subsection (a). The
5-12 court may issue proper restraining orders, temporary and permanent
5-13 injunctions, or any other writ, order, or process, including a
5-14 contempt order, that is appropriate to enforce the agreement.
5-15 Sec. 143.407. AGREEMENT SUPERSEDES CONFLICTING PROVISIONS.
5-16 (a) An agreement under this subchapter supersedes a previous
5-17 statute concerning wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of
5-18 employment, or other terms or conditions of employment to the
5-19 extent of any conflict with the statute.
5-20 (b) An agreement under this subchapter preempts any contrary
5-21 statute, executive order, local ordinance, or rule adopted by the
5-22 state or a political subdivision or agent of the state, including a
5-23 personnel board, a civil service commission, or a home-rule
5-24 municipality.
5-25 (c) An agreement under this subchapter may not diminish or
5-26 qualify any right, benefit, or privilege of an employee under this
5-27 subchapter or other law unless approved by a majority vote by
6-1 secret ballot of the members of the association recognized as a
6-2 sole and exclusive bargaining agent.
6-3 Sec. 143.408. REPEAL OF AGREEMENT BY ELECTORATE. Not later
6-4 than the 45th day after the date an agreement is ratified by both
6-5 the municipality and the association, a petition signed by at least
6-6 10 percent of the qualified voters of the municipality may be
6-7 presented to the municipal secretary calling an election for the
6-8 repeal of the agreement. On receipt of the petition by the
6-9 municipal secretary, the governing body shall reconsider the
6-10 agreement and either repeal the agreement or call an election of
6-11 the qualified voters to determine if they desire to repeal the
6-12 agreement. The election shall be called for the next municipal
6-13 election or a special election called by the governing body for
6-14 that purpose. If at the election a majority of the votes are cast
6-15 in favor of the repeal of the adoption of the agreement, the
6-16 agreement is void. The ballot shall be printed to permit voting
6-17 for or against the proposition: "Repeal of the adoption of the
6-18 agreement ratified by the municipality and the __________
6-19 (municipal employee) association concerning wages, salaries, rates
6-20 of pay, hours of employment, and other terms and conditions of
6-21 employment."
6-22 Sec. 143.409. PROTECTED RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUAL EMPLOYEES. An
6-23 agreement may not interfere with the right of a member of an
6-24 association to pursue allegations of discrimination based on race,
6-25 creed, color, national origin, religion, age, sex, or disability
6-26 with the Commission on Human Rights or the Equal Employment
6-27 Opportunity Commission or to pursue affirmative action litigation.
7-1 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.