1-1     By:  Gallegos                                          S.B. No. 379
 1-2           (In the Senate - Filed January 24, 2001; January 29, 2001,
 1-3     read first time and referred to Committee on Intergovernmental
 1-4     Relations; April 17, 2001, reported adversely, with favorable
 1-5     Committee Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 6, Nays 0;
 1-6     April 17, 2001, sent to printer.)
 1-7     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 379                     By:  Cain
 1-8                            A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 1-9                                   AN ACT
1-10     relating to conditions of employment for peace officers employed by
1-11     certain rapid transit authorities.
1-12           BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-13           SECTION 1.  Chapter 451, Transportation Code, is amended by
1-14     adding Subchapter P to read as follows:
1-15                SUBCHAPTER P.  LOCAL CONTROL OF PEACE OFFICER
1-16                  EMPLOYMENT MATTERS IN CERTAIN AUTHORITIES
1-17           Sec. 451.751.  APPLICABILITY.  This subchapter applies only
1-18     to an authority in which the principal municipality has a
1-19     population of more than 1.5 million.
1-20           Sec. 451.752.  DEFINITIONS.  In this subchapter:
1-21                 (1)  "Association" means an organization in which peace
1-22     officers employed by the authority participate and that exists for
1-23     the purpose, wholly or partly, of dealing with the authority
1-24     concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours
1-25     of work, or conditions of work affecting peace officers.
1-26                 (2)  "Public employer" means an authority that is
1-27     required to establish the wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of
1-28     work, working conditions, and other terms and conditions of
1-29     employment of peace officers employed by the authority.
1-30           Sec. 451.753.  GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO AGREEMENTS,
1-31     RECOGNITION, AND STRIKES.  (a)  An authority may not be denied
1-32     local control over the wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of
1-33     work, or other terms and conditions of employment to the extent the
1-34     public employer and the association recognized as the sole and
1-35     exclusive bargaining agent under Section 451.754 agree as provided
1-36     by this subchapter.  Applicable statutes and applicable local rules
1-37     and regulations apply to an issue not governed by the agreement.
1-38           (b)  An agreement under this subchapter must be written.
1-39           (c)  This subchapter does not require a public employer or a
1-40     recognized association to meet and confer on any issue or reach an
1-41     agreement.
1-42           (d)  A public employer and the recognized association may
1-43     meet and confer only if the association does not advocate an
1-44     illegal strike by public employees.
1-45           (e)  A peace officer of an authority may not engage in a
1-46     strike or organized work stoppage against this state or a political
1-47     subdivision of this state.  A peace officer who participates in a
1-48     strike forfeits any civil service rights, reemployment rights, and
1-49     other rights, benefits, or privileges the peace officer may have as
1-50     a result of the person's employment or prior employment with the
1-51     authority.  This subsection does not affect the right of a person
1-52     to cease work if the person is not acting in concert with others in
1-53     an organized work stoppage.
1-54           (f)  The public employer's chief executive officer or the
1-55     chief executive officer's designee shall select a group of persons
1-56     to represent the public employer as its sole and exclusive
1-57     bargaining agent for issues related to the employment of peace
1-58     officers by the authority.
1-59           Sec. 451.754.  RECOGNITION OF PEACE OFFICER ASSOCIATION.
1-60     (a)  In an authority that chooses to meet and confer under this
1-61     subchapter, the public employer shall recognize an association
1-62     submitting a petition for recognition signed by a majority of the
1-63     peace officers employed by the authority, excluding the head of the
1-64     peace officer department of the authority and the assistant
 2-1     department heads in the rank or classification immediately below
 2-2     that of the department head, as the sole and exclusive bargaining
 2-3     agent for all of the peace officers employed by the authority,
 2-4     excluding the department head and assistant department heads, until
 2-5     recognition of the association is withdrawn by a majority of the
 2-6     peace officers eligible to sign a petition for recognition.
 2-7           (b)  Whether an association represents a majority of the
 2-8     covered peace officers shall be resolved by a fair election
 2-9     conducted according to procedures agreeable to the parties.  If the
2-10     parties are unable to agree on election procedures, either party
2-11     may request the American Arbitration Association to conduct the
2-12     election and to certify the results.  Certification of the results
2-13     of an election under this subsection resolves the question
2-14     concerning representation.  The association is liable for the
2-15     expenses of the election, except that if two or more associations
2-16     seeking recognition as the bargaining agent submit petitions signed
2-17     by a majority of the peace officers eligible to sign the petition,
2-18     the associations shall share equally the costs of the election.
2-19           Sec. 451.755.  OPEN RECORDS.  (a)  A proposed agreement and a
2-20     document prepared and used by the authority in connection with a
2-21     proposed agreement are available to the public under Chapter 552,
2-22     Government Code, only after the agreement is ratified by the
2-23     governing body of the authority.
2-24           (b)  This section does not affect the application of
2-25     Subchapter C, Chapter 552, Government Code, to a document prepared
2-26     and used by the authority in connection with the agreement.
2-27           Sec. 451.756.  RATIFICATION AND ENFORCEABILITY OF AGREEMENT.
2-28     (a)  An agreement under this subchapter is enforceable and binding
2-29     on the public employer, the recognized association, and the peace
2-30     officers covered by the agreement only if:
2-31                 (1)  the authority's governing body ratified the
2-32     agreement by a majority vote; and
2-33                 (2)  the recognized association ratified the agreement
2-34     by conducting a secret ballot election at which only the peace
2-35     officers of the authority in the association were eligible to vote,
2-36     and a majority of the votes cast at the election favored ratifying
2-37     the agreement.
2-38           (b)  An agreement ratified as described by Subsection (a) may
2-39     establish a procedure by which the parties agree to resolve
2-40     disputes related to a right, duty, or obligation provided by the
2-41     agreement, including binding arbitration on a question involving
2-42     interpretation of the agreement.
2-43           (c)  A state district court of a judicial district in which
2-44     the majority of the territory within the corporate limits of the
2-45     principal municipality in the authority is located has jurisdiction
2-46     to hear and resolve a dispute under the ratified agreement on the
2-47     application of a party to the agreement aggrieved by an action or
2-48     omission of the other party when the action or omission is related
2-49     to a right, duty, or obligation provided by the agreement.  The
2-50     court may issue proper restraining orders, temporary and permanent
2-51     injunctions, or any other writ, order, or process, including
2-52     contempt orders, that are appropriate to enforcing the agreement.
2-53           Sec. 451.757.  AGREEMENT SUPERSEDES CONFLICTING PROVISIONS.
2-54     (a)  A written agreement ratified under this subchapter preempts,
2-55     during the term of the agreement and to the extent of any conflict,
2-56     all contrary state statutes, local ordinances, executive orders,
2-57     civil service provisions, or rules adopted by the state, by the
2-58     authority or another political subdivision, or by a division or
2-59     agent of the authority or other political subdivision, such as a
2-60     personnel board or a civil service commission.
2-61           (b)  An agreement ratified under this subchapter may not
2-62     interfere with the right of a member of a bargaining unit to pursue
2-63     allegations of discrimination based on race, creed, color, national
2-64     origin, religion, age, sex, or disability with the Commission on
2-65     Human Rights or the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
2-66     or to pursue affirmative action litigation.
2-67           Sec. 451.758.  ELECTION TO REPEAL AGREEMENT.  (a)  Not later
2-68     than the 60th day after the date an agreement is ratified by the
2-69     public employer and the association, a petition signed by a number
 3-1     of registered voters who reside in the authority service area equal
 3-2     to 10 percent of the votes cast at the most recent general election
 3-3     in the county in which a majority of the territory within the
 3-4     corporate limits of the principal municipality in the authority is
 3-5     located may be presented to the county clerk of that county calling
 3-6     for the repeal of the agreement.
 3-7           (b)  If a petition is presented to the county clerk under
 3-8     Subsection (a), the authority shall:
 3-9                 (1)  repeal the agreement; or
3-10                 (2)  certify that it is not repealing the agreement to
3-11     the commissioners court of the county described by Subsection (a),
3-12     which shall then call an election in the county to determine
3-13     whether to repeal the agreement.
3-14           (c)  An election called under Subsection (b)(2) may be held
3-15     as part of the next regularly scheduled general election or at a
3-16     special election called by the commissioners court for that
3-17     purpose.  The ballot shall be printed to provide for voting for or
3-18     against the proposition: "Repeal the agreement ratified on _____
3-19     (date agreement was ratified) by the __________ (name of authority)
3-20     and the peace officers employed by the authority concerning wages,
3-21     salaries, rates of pay, hours of work, and other terms of
3-22     employment."
3-23           (d)  If a majority of the votes cast at the election favor
3-24     the repeal of the agreement, the agreement is void.
3-25           SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
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