By Gallegos S.B. No. 1693
77R5050 YDB-D
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to local control of police officer employment matters by
1-3 certain municipalities.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Sections 143.352(1) and (2), Local Government
1-6 Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-7 (1) "Bargaining ["Majority bargaining] agent" means
1-8 the police employee group selected under Section 143.354 [or
1-9 143.355] to represent all police officers employed by the
1-10 municipality, excluding the department head and assistant
1-11 department heads, during negotiations with the public employer.
1-12 (2) "Police employee group" means an organization:
1-13 (A) in which at least three percent of the
1-14 police officers of the municipality participate and pay dues via
1-15 automatic payroll deduction; and
1-16 (B) which exists for the purpose, in whole or
1-17 part, of dealing with the municipality concerning grievances, labor
1-18 disputes, wages, rates of pay, benefits other than pension
1-19 benefits, hours of employment, or conditions of work affecting
1-20 police officers.
1-21 SECTION 2. Sections 143.353(a) and (b), Local Government
1-22 Code, are amended to read as follows:
1-23 (a) A municipality may not be denied local control over the
1-24 wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of work, and other terms of
2-1 employment, or other state-mandated personnel issues, if the public
2-2 employer and the [majority] bargaining agent come to a mutual
2-3 agreement on any of the terms of employment. If an agreement is
2-4 not reached, the state laws, local ordinances, and civil service
2-5 rules remain unaffected. All agreements shall be written. Nothing
2-6 in this subchapter requires either party to meet and confer on any
2-7 issue or reach an agreement.
2-8 (b) A public employer may only meet and confer if the
2-9 [majority] bargaining agent does not advocate the illegal right to
2-10 strike by public employees.
2-11 SECTION 3. Section 143.354, Local Government Code, is
2-12 amended to read as follows:
2-13 Sec. 143.354. RECOGNITION OF POLICE EMPLOYEE GROUP. (a)
2-14 The public employer in accordance with this section may recognize a
2-15 police employee group as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent
2-16 for all of the police officers in the municipality, excluding the
2-17 department head and assistant department heads, unless recognition
2-18 of the police employee group is withdrawn by a majority of those
2-19 police officers, if the employee group submits a petition signed by
2-20 40 percent of:
2-21 (1) the number of police officers in the municipality
2-22 who voted in the last election held under Section 143.360 before
2-23 the petition is submitted, excluding the head of the department and
2-24 assistant department heads in the rank or classification
2-25 immediately below that of the department head; or
2-26 (2) the paid police officers in the municipality,
2-27 excluding the head of the department and assistant department heads
3-1 in the rank or classification immediately below that of the
3-2 department head, if an election under Section 143.360 has not been
3-3 held in the municipality.
3-4 (b) A petition submitted under Subsection (a) must clearly
3-5 show on each page the name of the police employee group circulating
3-6 the petition. A police officer who signs a petition submitted
3-7 under Subsection (a) may not be counted towards the 40 percent
3-8 requirement under that subsection unless that officer's printed
3-9 name and payroll number and the date of the signature are included
3-10 on the petition. The petition must be submitted to the municipal
3-11 secretary not later than the 60th day after the first date on which
3-12 a police officer signs the petition.
3-13 (c) Within the 30 days after the date the petition is
3-14 submitted, the municipal secretary shall verify the signatures on
3-15 the petition and, if the petition complies with this section, call
3-16 for the election. The election shall be conducted within 45 days
3-17 after the date on which the municipal secretary calls for the
3-18 election.
3-19 (d) An election required by this section shall be conducted
3-20 according to procedures agreed on by the parties. If the parties
3-21 are unable to agree on election procedures, either party may
3-22 request the American Arbitration Association to conduct the
3-23 election and to certify the results. Certification of the results
3-24 of an election under this subsection resolves the question
3-25 concerning representation. The police employee group shall pay the
3-26 costs of the election, except that if two or more police employee
3-27 groups seeking recognition as the bargaining agent submit petitions
4-1 signed by a majority of the police officers eligible to sign the
4-2 petition, the police employee groups shall share equally the costs
4-3 of the election. A police employee group must make payments
4-4 required by this subsection not later than the 10th day before the
4-5 date of the election.
4-6 (e) The public employer's chief executive officer shall
4-7 designate a team to represent the public employer as its sole and
4-8 exclusive bargaining agent for issues related to the police
4-9 department [SELECTION OF MAJORITY BARGAINING AGENT. (a) Not later
4-10 than January 31, 1998, representatives from each police employee
4-11 group shall meet to select the majority bargaining agent. The
4-12 majority bargaining agent must be selected unanimously.]
4-13 [(b) If the representatives of the police employee groups
4-14 fail to meet or are unable to reach a unanimous consensus as to a
4-15 majority bargaining agent before January 31, 1998, the selection of
4-16 a majority bargaining agent will be governed by Section 143.355].
4-17 SECTION 4. Section 143.357, Local Government Code, is
4-18 amended to read as follows:
4-19 Sec. 143.357. PAYROLL DUES DEDUCTIONS. After a [majority]
4-20 bargaining agent is recognized, the public employer may not stop or
4-21 prevent automatic payroll deductions for dues paid to a police
4-22 employee group because the group is or is not the [majority]
4-23 bargaining agent.
4-24 SECTION 5. Section 143.358, Local Government Code, is
4-25 amended to read as follows:
4-26 Sec. 143.358. OPEN RECORDS REQUIRED. All documents relating
4-27 to an agreement between a [majority] bargaining agent and a public
5-1 employer shall be available to the public in accordance with state
5-2 statutes.
5-3 SECTION 6. Section 143.359(a), Local Government Code, is
5-4 amended to read as follows:
5-5 (a) A written agreement made under this subchapter between a
5-6 public employer and a [majority] bargaining agent [and approved by
5-7 the bargaining team] is enforceable and binding on the public
5-8 employer, the [majority] bargaining agent, police employee groups,
5-9 and the police officers covered by the agreement if:
5-10 (1) the municipality's governing body ratified the
5-11 agreement by a majority vote; and
5-12 (2) the agreement is ratified under Section 143.360.
5-13 SECTION 7. Section 143.360, Local Government Code, is
5-14 amended to read as follows:
5-15 Sec. 143.360. ELECTION TO RATIFY AGREEMENT. (a) The
5-16 [majority] bargaining agent shall call an election to ratify any
5-17 agreement reached with the public employer [if the agreement has
5-18 been approved by a majority of the bargaining team].
5-19 (b) All police officers of the municipality, other than the
5-20 department head and assistant department heads, are eligible to
5-21 vote in the election.
5-22 (c) The bargaining agent [team] shall establish procedures
5-23 for the election [by unanimous consensus].
5-24 (d) [If the bargaining team is unable to agree on procedures
5-25 for the election, any group represented on the bargaining team may
5-26 request that the American Arbitration Association conduct the
5-27 election and certify the results. Certification of the results of
6-1 an election resolves the question concerning ratification of an
6-2 agreement. All police employee groups represented on the
6-3 bargaining team shall share equally the expenses of the election.]
6-4 [(e)] A majority of all votes cast is required to ratify an
6-5 agreement.
6-6 SECTION 8. Sections 143.361(a) and (c), Local Government
6-7 Code, are amended to read as follows:
6-8 (a) A written agreement ratified under this subchapter
6-9 between a public employer and the [majority] bargaining agent
6-10 supersedes a previous statute concerning wages, salaries, rates of
6-11 pay, hours of work, and other terms of employment other than
6-12 pension benefits to the extent of any conflict with the previous
6-13 statute.
6-14 (c) An agreement under this subchapter may not diminish or
6-15 qualify any right, benefit, or privilege of an employee under this
6-16 chapter or other law unless approved by a majority of the votes
6-17 cast at the secret ballot election held by the [majority]
6-18 bargaining agent to ratify the agreement.
6-19 SECTION 9. Section 143.362, Local Government Code, is
6-20 amended to read as follows:
6-21 Sec. 143.362. REPEAL OF AGREEMENT BY ELECTORATE. Within 45
6-22 days after the date an agreement is ratified and signed by the
6-23 municipality and the [majority] bargaining agent, a petition signed
6-24 by a number of registered voters equal to 10 percent of the votes
6-25 cast at the most recent mayoral general election in the
6-26 municipality may be presented to the municipal secretary calling an
6-27 election for the repeal of the agreement, in which event the
7-1 governing body shall reconsider the agreement, and, if it does not
7-2 repeal the agreement, it shall call an election of the qualified
7-3 voters to determine if they desire to repeal the agreement. The
7-4 election shall be held as part of the next regularly scheduled
7-5 municipal election or at a special election called by the governing
7-6 body for that purpose. If at the election a majority of the votes
7-7 are cast in favor of the repeal of the adoption of the agreement,
7-8 the agreement becomes void. The ballot shall be printed to provide
7-9 for voting for or against the proposition:
7-10 "Repeal of the adoption of the agreement ratified by the
7-11 municipality and the police officers of the municipality concerning
7-12 wages, salaries, rates of pay, certain benefits, hours of work, and
7-13 other terms of employment."
7-14 SECTION 10. Section 143.363(a), Local Government Code, is
7-15 amended to read as follows:
7-16 (a) For the purpose of any disciplinary appeal to either the
7-17 civil service commission or a hearing examiner, all police officers
7-18 have the right to choose to be represented by any person of their
7-19 choice or by the police employee group selected as the [majority]
7-20 bargaining agent.
7-21 SECTION 11. Sections 143.355 and 143.356, Local Government
7-22 Code, are repealed.
7-23 SECTION 12. (a) This Act takes effect September 1, 2001.
7-24 (b) The change in law made by this Act does not affect the
7-25 validity of an election held, agreement made, or action taken under
7-26 Subchapter J, Chapter 143, Local Government Code, before the
7-27 effective date of this Act.
8-1 (c) A police employee group that is a majority bargaining
8-2 agent, as defined by Section 143.352, Local Government Code,
8-3 immediately before the effective date of this Act becomes the
8-4 bargaining agent for the purposes of Section 143.352, Local
8-5 Government Code, as amended by this Act, on the effective date of
8-6 this Act, and is considered the recognized sole and exclusive
8-7 bargaining agent under Section 143.354, Local Government Code, as
8-8 amended by this Act, until another sole and exclusive bargaining
8-9 agent is recognized in accordance with Section 143.354.