By Gallegos S.B. No. 379
77R2118 YDB-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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 to
1-10 an authority in which the principal municipality has a population
1-11 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, in whole or in part, 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 local
1-24 control over the wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of work, or
2-1 other terms and conditions of employment to the extent the public
2-2 employer and the association recognized as the sole and exclusive
2-3 bargaining agent under Section 451.754 agree as provided by this
2-4 subchapter. Applicable statutes and applicable local rules and
2-5 regulations apply to an issue not governed by the agreement.
2-6 (b) An agreement under this subchapter must be written.
2-7 (c) This subchapter does not require a public employer or a
2-8 recognized association to meet and confer on any issue or reach an
2-9 agreement.
2-10 (d) A public employer and the recognized association may
2-11 meet and confer only if the association does not advocate the
2-12 illegal right to strike by public employees.
2-13 (e) A peace officer of an authority may not engage in a
2-14 strike or organized work stoppage against this state or a political
2-15 subdivision of this state. A peace officer who participates in a
2-16 strike forfeits any civil service rights, reemployment rights, and
2-17 other rights, benefits, or privileges the peace officer may have as
2-18 a result of the person's employment or prior employment with the
2-19 authority. This subsection does not affect the right of a person
2-20 to cease work if the person is not acting in concert with others in
2-21 an organized work stoppage.
2-22 (f) The public employer's chief executive officer or the
2-23 chief executive officer's designee shall select a group of persons
2-24 to represent the public employer as its sole and exclusive
2-25 bargaining agent for issues related to the employment of peace
2-26 officers by the authority.
2-27 Sec. 451.754. RECOGNITION OF PEACE OFFICER ASSOCIATION. (a)
3-1 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,
3-27 Government Code, only after the agreement is ratified by the
4-1 governing body of the authority.
4-2 (b) This section does not affect the application of
4-3 Subchapter C, Chapter 552, Government Code, to a document prepared
4-4 and used by the authority in connection with the agreement.
4-5 Sec. 451.756. RATIFICATION AND ENFORCEABILITY OF AGREEMENT.
4-6 (a) An agreement under this subchapter is enforceable and binding
4-7 on the public employer, the recognized association, and the peace
4-8 officers covered by the agreement only if:
4-9 (1) the authority's governing body ratified the
4-10 agreement by a majority vote; and
4-11 (2) the recognized association ratified the agreement
4-12 by conducting a secret ballot election at which only the peace
4-13 officers of the authority in the association were eligible to vote,
4-14 and a majority of the votes cast at the election favored ratifying
4-15 the agreement.
4-16 (b) An agreement ratified as described by Subsection (a) may
4-17 establish a procedure by which the parties agree to resolve
4-18 disputes related to a right, duty, or obligation provided by the
4-19 agreement, including binding arbitration on a question involving
4-20 interpretation of the agreement.
4-21 (c) A state district court of a judicial district in which
4-22 the majority of the territory within the corporate limits of the
4-23 principal municipality in the authority is located has jurisdiction
4-24 to hear and resolve a dispute under the ratified agreement on the
4-25 application of a party to the agreement aggrieved by an action or
4-26 omission of the other party when the action or omission is related
4-27 to a right, duty, or obligation provided by the agreement. The
5-1 court may issue proper restraining orders, temporary and permanent
5-2 injunctions, or any other writ, order, or process, including
5-3 contempt orders, that are appropriate to enforcing the agreement.
5-4 Sec. 451.757. AGREEMENT SUPERSEDES CONFLICTING PROVISIONS.
5-5 (a) A written agreement ratified under this subchapter preempts,
5-6 during the term of the agreement and to the extent of any conflict,
5-7 all contrary state statutes, local ordinances, executive orders,
5-8 civil service provisions, or rules adopted by the authority or
5-9 other political subdivision or by a division or agent of the
5-10 authority or other political subdivision, such as a personnel board
5-11 or a civil service commission.
5-12 (b) An agreement ratified under this subchapter may not
5-13 interfere with the right of a member of a bargaining unit to pursue
5-14 allegations of discrimination based on race, creed, color, national
5-15 origin, religion, age, sex, or disability with the Commission on
5-16 Human Rights or the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
5-17 or to pursue affirmative action litigation.
5-18 SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.