78R7347 KEG-D
By: Hartnett H.B. No. 2460
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to local control of police officer employment matters in
certain municipalities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle A, Title 5, Local Government Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 145 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 145. LOCAL CONTROL OF POLICE OFFICER EMPLOYMENT MATTERS IN
CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES WITH POPULATION OF ONE MILLION OR MORE
Sec. 145.001. APPLICABILITY. This chapter applies only to
a municipality with a population of one million or more, but does
not apply to a municipality that has adopted Chapter 143 or 174.
Sec. 145.002. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Majority bargaining agent" means the police
employee group selected under Section 145.004 or 145.005 to
represent all police officers employed by the municipality during
negotiations with the public employer.
(2) "Police employee group" means an organization:
(A) in which, on or before September 1, 2003, at
least three percent of the police officers of the municipality
participated and paid dues via automatic payroll deduction; and
(B) that exists for the purpose, in whole or
part, of dealing with the municipality concerning grievances, labor
disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, or conditions
of work affecting police officers.
(3) "Public employer" means any municipality or
agency, board, commission, or political subdivision controlled by a
municipality that is required to establish the wages, salaries,
rates of pay, hours, working conditions, and other terms and
conditions of employment of police officers. The term includes,
under appropriate circumstances, a mayor, manager, administrator
of a municipality, municipal governing body, director of personnel,
personnel board, or one or more other officials, regardless of the
name by which they are designated.
Sec. 145.003. GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO AGREEMENTS,
RECOGNITION, AND STRIKES. (a) A municipality may not be denied
local control over the wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of work,
and other terms of employment, or other state-mandated personnel
issues, if the public employer and the majority bargaining agent
come to a mutual agreement on any of the terms of employment. If an
agreement is not reached, the state laws, local ordinances, and
civil service rules remain unaffected. All agreements shall be
written. Nothing in this chapter requires either party to meet and
confer on any issue or reach an agreement.
(b) A public employer may only meet and confer if the
majority bargaining agent does not advocate the illegal right to
strike by public employees.
(c) Police officers of a municipality may not engage in
strikes or organized work stoppages against this state or a
political subdivision of this state. A police officer who
participates in a strike or work stoppage forfeits all civil
service rights, reemployment rights, and any other rights,
benefits, or privileges the police officer enjoys as a result of
employment or prior employment.
Sec. 145.004. SELECTION OF MAJORITY BARGAINING AGENT. (a)
Not later than January 31, 2004, representatives from each police
employee group shall meet to select the majority bargaining agent.
The majority bargaining agent must be selected unanimously.
(b) If the representatives of the police employee groups
fail to meet or are unable to reach a unanimous consensus as to a
majority bargaining agent before January 31, 2004, the selection of
a majority bargaining agent will be governed by Section 145.005.
Sec. 145.005. ELECTION OF MAJORITY BARGAINING AGENT. (a)
This section does not apply if a majority bargaining agent is
selected under Section 145.004.
(b) The governing body of a police employee group, by
resolution, may call for an election to select a majority
bargaining agent. The election shall be held not earlier than the
60th day and not later than the 90th day after the date the
resolution is adopted.
(c) All police officers employed by the municipality are
entitled to vote in the election.
(d) The police employee group receiving a majority of the
votes cast shall be the majority bargaining agent.
(e) If no police employee group receives a majority of the
votes cast, the two police employee groups receiving the highest
number of votes shall participate in a runoff election. The runoff
election shall be held not later than the 30th day after the date of
the initial election.
(f) If the police employee groups participating in the
election are unable to agree on the procedures for the election, any
group may request that the American Arbitration Association conduct
the election and certify the results. Certification of the results
of an election resolves the question of the selection of the
majority bargaining agent.
(g) All police employee groups participating in the
election shall share equally the expenses of the election. A police
employee group that fails to pay its share of the election expenses
forfeits the right to participate on the bargaining team under
Section 145.006.
Sec. 145.006. BARGAINING TEAM; NEGOTIATIONS. (a) A
bargaining team shall be created to advise the majority bargaining
agent.
(b) The majority bargaining agent shall appoint members to
serve on the bargaining team. Each qualifying police employee
group may appoint one police officer of the municipality to serve on
the bargaining team.
(c) The majority bargaining agent shall represent all
police officers and negotiate with the public employer in an effort
to reach an agreement. Another person may not represent police
officers or negotiate in this capacity. The bargaining team shall
review any agreement reached between the majority bargaining agent
and the public employer. A majority of the members of the
bargaining team must approve the agreement before a ratification
election can be held under Section 145.010.
Sec. 145.007. PAYROLL DUES DEDUCTIONS. After a majority
bargaining agent is recognized, the public employer may not stop or
prevent automatic payroll deductions for dues paid to a police
employee group because the group is or is not the majority
bargaining agent.
Sec. 145.008. OPEN RECORDS REQUIRED. All documents
relating to an agreement between a majority bargaining agent and a
public employer shall be available to the public in accordance with
state statutes.
Sec. 145.009. ENFORCEABILITY OF AGREEMENT. (a) A written
agreement made under this chapter between a public employer and a
majority bargaining agent and approved by the bargaining team is
enforceable and binding on the public employer, the majority
bargaining agent, police employee groups, and the police officers
covered by the agreement if:
(1) the municipality's governing body ratified the
agreement by a majority vote; and
(2) the agreement is ratified under Section 145.010.
(b) A state district court of the judicial district in which
a majority of the population of the municipality is located has full
authority and jurisdiction on the application of either party
aggrieved by an action or omission of the other party when the
action or omission is related to a right, duty, or obligation
provided by any written agreement ratified as required by this
chapter. The court may issue proper restraining orders, temporary
and permanent injunctions, and any other writ, order, or process,
including contempt orders, that are appropriate to enforcing any
written agreement ratified as required by this chapter.
Sec. 145.010. ELECTION TO RATIFY AGREEMENT. (a) The
majority bargaining agent shall call an election to ratify any
agreement reached with the public employer if the agreement has
been approved by a majority of the bargaining team.
(b) All police officers of the municipality are eligible to
vote in the election.
(c) The bargaining team shall establish procedures of the
election by unanimous consensus.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.