1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to conditions of employment for peace officers employed by
1-3 certain rapid transit authorities.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Chapter 451, Transportation Code, is amended by
1-6 adding Subchapter P to read as follows:
1-7 SUBCHAPTER P. LOCAL CONTROL OF PEACE OFFICER
1-8 EMPLOYMENT MATTERS IN CERTAIN AUTHORITIES
1-9 Sec. 451.751. APPLICABILITY. This subchapter applies only
1-10 to an authority in which the principal municipality has a
1-11 population of more than 1.5 million.
1-12 Sec. 451.752. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
1-13 (1) "Association" means an organization in which peace
1-14 officers employed by the authority participate and that exists for
1-15 the purpose, wholly or partly, of dealing with the authority
1-16 concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours
1-17 of work, or conditions of work affecting peace officers.
1-18 (2) "Public employer" means an authority that is
1-19 required to establish the wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of
1-20 work, working conditions, and other terms and conditions of
1-21 employment of peace officers employed by the authority.
1-22 Sec. 451.753. GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO AGREEMENTS,
1-23 RECOGNITION, AND STRIKES. (a) An authority may not be denied
1-24 local control over the wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of
1-25 work, or other terms and conditions of employment to the extent the
2-1 public employer and the association recognized as the sole and
2-2 exclusive bargaining agent under Section 451.754 agree as provided
2-3 by this subchapter. Applicable statutes and applicable local rules
2-4 and regulations apply to an issue not governed by the agreement.
2-5 (b) An agreement under this subchapter must be written.
2-6 (c) This subchapter does not require a public employer or a
2-7 recognized association to meet and confer on any issue or reach an
2-8 agreement.
2-9 (d) A public employer and the recognized association may
2-10 meet and confer only if the association does not advocate an
2-11 illegal strike by public employees.
2-12 (e) A peace officer of an authority may not engage in a
2-13 strike or organized work stoppage against this state or a political
2-14 subdivision of this state. A peace officer who participates in a
2-15 strike forfeits any civil service rights, reemployment rights, and
2-16 other rights, benefits, or privileges the peace officer may have as
2-17 a result of the person's employment or prior employment with the
2-18 authority. This subsection does not affect the right of a person
2-19 to cease work if the person is not acting in concert with others in
2-20 an organized work stoppage.
2-21 (f) The public employer's chief executive officer or the
2-22 chief executive officer's designee shall select a group of persons
2-23 to represent the public employer as its sole and exclusive
2-24 bargaining agent for issues related to the employment of peace
2-25 officers by the authority.
2-26 Sec. 451.754. RECOGNITION OF PEACE OFFICER ASSOCIATION.
3-1 (a) In an authority that chooses to meet and confer under this
3-2 subchapter, the public employer shall recognize an association
3-3 submitting a petition for recognition signed by a majority of the
3-4 peace officers employed by the authority, excluding the head of the
3-5 peace officer department of the authority and the assistant
3-6 department heads in the rank or classification immediately below
3-7 that of the department head, as the sole and exclusive bargaining
3-8 agent for all of the peace officers employed by the authority,
3-9 excluding the department head and assistant department heads, until
3-10 recognition of the association is withdrawn by a majority of the
3-11 peace officers eligible to sign a petition for recognition.
3-12 (b) Whether an association represents a majority of the
3-13 covered peace officers shall be resolved by a fair election
3-14 conducted according to procedures agreeable to the parties. If the
3-15 parties are unable to agree on election procedures, either party
3-16 may request the American Arbitration Association to conduct the
3-17 election and to certify the results. Certification of the results
3-18 of an election under this subsection resolves the question
3-19 concerning representation. The association is liable for the
3-20 expenses of the election, except that if two or more associations
3-21 seeking recognition as the bargaining agent submit petitions signed
3-22 by a majority of the peace officers eligible to sign the petition,
3-23 the associations shall share equally the costs of the election.
3-24 Sec. 451.755. OPEN RECORDS. (a) A proposed agreement and a
3-25 document prepared and used by the authority in connection with a
3-26 proposed agreement are available to the public under Chapter 552,
4-1 Government Code, only after the agreement is ratified by the
4-2 governing body of the authority.
4-3 (b) This section does not affect the application of
4-4 Subchapter C, Chapter 552, Government Code, to a document prepared
4-5 and used by the authority in connection with the agreement.
4-6 Sec. 451.756. RATIFICATION AND ENFORCEABILITY OF AGREEMENT.
4-7 (a) An agreement under this subchapter is enforceable and binding
4-8 on the public employer, the recognized association, and the peace
4-9 officers covered by the agreement only if:
4-10 (1) the authority's governing body ratified the
4-11 agreement by a majority vote; and
4-12 (2) the recognized association ratified the agreement
4-13 by conducting a secret ballot election at which only the peace
4-14 officers of the authority in the association were eligible to vote,
4-15 and a majority of the votes cast at the election favored ratifying
4-16 the agreement.
4-17 (b) An agreement ratified as described by Subsection (a) may
4-18 establish a procedure by which the parties agree to resolve
4-19 disputes related to a right, duty, or obligation provided by the
4-20 agreement, including binding arbitration on a question involving
4-21 interpretation of the agreement.
4-22 (c) A state district court of a judicial district in which
4-23 the majority of the territory within the corporate limits of the
4-24 principal municipality in the authority is located has jurisdiction
4-25 to hear and resolve a dispute under the ratified agreement on the
4-26 application of a party to the agreement aggrieved by an action or
5-1 omission of the other party when the action or omission is related
5-2 to a right, duty, or obligation provided by the agreement. The
5-3 court may issue proper restraining orders, temporary and permanent
5-4 injunctions, or any other writ, order, or process, including
5-5 contempt orders, that are appropriate to enforcing the agreement.
5-6 Sec. 451.757. AGREEMENT SUPERSEDES CONFLICTING PROVISIONS.
5-7 (a) A written agreement ratified under this subchapter preempts,
5-8 during the term of the agreement and to the extent of any conflict,
5-9 all contrary state statutes, local ordinances, executive orders,
5-10 civil service provisions, or rules adopted by the state, by the
5-11 authority or another political subdivision, or by a division or
5-12 agent of the authority or other political subdivision, such as a
5-13 personnel board or a civil service commission.
5-14 (b) An agreement ratified under this subchapter may not
5-15 interfere with the right of a member of a bargaining unit to pursue
5-16 allegations of discrimination based on race, creed, color, national
5-17 origin, religion, age, sex, or disability with the Commission on
5-18 Human Rights or the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
5-19 or to pursue affirmative action litigation.
5-20 Sec. 451.758. ELECTION TO REPEAL AGREEMENT. (a) Not later
5-21 than the 60th day after the date an agreement is ratified by the
5-22 public employer and the association, a petition signed by a number
5-23 of registered voters who reside in the authority service area equal
5-24 to 10 percent of the votes cast at the most recent general election
5-25 in the county in which a majority of the territory within the
5-26 corporate limits of the principal municipality in the authority is
6-1 located may be presented to the county clerk of that county calling
6-2 for the repeal of the agreement.
6-3 (b) If a petition is presented to the county clerk under
6-4 Subsection (a), the authority shall:
6-5 (1) repeal the agreement; or
6-6 (2) certify that it is not repealing the agreement to
6-7 the commissioners court of the county described by Subsection (a),
6-8 which shall then call an election in the county to determine
6-9 whether to repeal the agreement.
6-10 (c) An election called under Subsection (b)(2) may be held
6-11 as part of the next regularly scheduled general election or at a
6-12 special election called by the commissioners court for that
6-13 purpose. The ballot shall be printed to provide for voting for or
6-14 against the proposition: "Repeal the agreement ratified on _____
6-15 (date agreement was ratified) by the __________ (name of authority)
6-16 and the peace officers employed by the authority concerning wages,
6-17 salaries, rates of pay, hours of work, and other terms of
6-18 employment."
6-19 (d) If a majority of the votes cast at the election favor
6-20 the repeal of the agreement, the agreement is void.
6-21 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
_______________________________ _______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 379 passed the Senate on
April 26, 2001, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 0, one
present, not voting.
_______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 379 passed the House on
May 4, 2001, by a non-record vote.
_______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
_______________________________
Date
_______________________________
Governor