78R2820 ATP-D
By: Whitmire S.B. No. 1448
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the right of certain municipalities to maintain local
control over wages, hours, and other terms of employment of certain
municipal employees.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 143, Local Government Code, is amended
by adding Subchapter K to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER K. LOCAL CONTROL OF MUNICIPAL EMPLOYMENT MATTERS IN
MUNICIPALITIES WITH POPULATION OF 1.9 MILLION OR MORE
Sec. 143.401. APPLICATION. (a) This subchapter applies
only to a municipality with a population of 1.9 million or more.
(b) This subchapter does not apply to:
(1) firefighters or police officers who are covered by
Subchapter H, I, or J or by Chapter 174; or
(2) an employee association in which those employees
participate.
Sec. 143.402. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
(1) "Association" means an organization in which
municipal employees participate, that exists wholly or partly for
the purpose of dealing with one or more public or private employers
concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours
of employment, or working conditions affecting public employees,
and whose members pay dues by means of an automatic payroll
deduction.
(2) "Covered employee" means an employee of the
municipality, excluding a department head and a firefighter or
police officer covered by Subchapter H, I, or J or by Chapter 174.
(3) "Public employer" means any municipality or
agency, board, commission, or political subdivision created and
controlled by a municipality that is required to establish the
wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of employment, working
conditions, and other terms of employment of public employees.
Sec. 143.403. GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO AGREEMENTS,
RECOGNITION, AND STRIKES. (a) A municipality may not be denied
local control over wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of
employment, other terms or conditions of employment, or other
personnel issues on which the public employer and an association
recognized as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for all
covered employees agree. A term on which the public employer and
the association do not agree is governed by the applicable
statutes, local ordinances, and civil service rules. An agreement
between the public employer and an association must be reduced to
writing. This subchapter does not:
(1) require the public employer and the association to
meet and confer or reach an agreement on any issue; or
(2) authorize an agreement regarding pension or
pension-related matters governed by Chapter 88, Acts of the 77th
Legislature, Regular Session, 2001 (Article 6243h, Vernon's Texas
Civil Statutes), or a successor statute.
(b) A public employer and an association recognized under
this subchapter as a sole and exclusive bargaining agent may meet
and confer only if the association does not advocate the illegal
right to strike by public employees.
(c) A municipal employee may not engage in a strike or
organized work stoppage against this state or a political
subdivision of this state. An employee who participates in a strike
forfeits all civil service rights, reemployment rights, and other
rights, benefits, or privileges the employee enjoys as a result of
the employee's employment or previous employment with the
municipality. This subsection does not affect the right of a person
to cease employment if the person is not acting in concert with
other employees.
Sec. 143.404. RECOGNITION OF ASSOCIATION. (a) A public
employer may recognize an association that submits a petition
signed by a majority of the covered employees, excluding any
department head and assistant department head in the rank or
classification immediately below that of the department head, as
the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for all of the covered
employees.
(b) An association may submit a petition requesting an
election to determine whether an association is the sole and
exclusive representative of the covered employees. If the petition
is signed by 30 percent of the covered employees and the public
employer certifies to the municipality the number of employees
signing the petition, there is a question of whether an association
is the sole and exclusive representative of the covered employees
that must be resolved by a fair election conducted according to
procedures on which the parties agree. If the parties are unable to
agree on election procedures, either party may request the American
Arbitration Association to conduct the election and to certify the
results. The association that receives a majority of the votes cast
at the election is the sole and exclusive representative of the
covered employees. Certification of the results of an election
under this subsection resolves the question concerning
representation. The association that submits the petition shall
pay the costs of the election, except that if two or more
associations seeking recognition as the sole and exclusive
bargaining agent submit petitions signed by 30 percent or more of
the covered employees, the associations shall share equally the
costs of the election.
(c) The municipality shall designate a team to represent the
public employer as its sole and exclusive bargaining agent.
Sec. 143.405. OPEN RECORDS REQUIRED. An agreement made
under this subchapter is a public record for purposes of Chapter
552, Government Code. The agreement and any document prepared and
used by the municipality in connection with the agreement are
available to the public under the open records law, Chapter 552,
Government Code, only after the agreement is ratified by the
municipality's governing body. This section does not affect the
application of Subchapter C, Chapter 552, Government Code, to a
document prepared and used by the municipality in connection with
the agreement.
Sec. 143.406. ENFORCEABILITY OF AGREEMENT. (a) A written
agreement made under this subchapter between a public employer and
an association is binding on the public employer, the association,
and employees covered by the agreement if:
(1) the municipality's governing body ratifies the
agreement by a majority vote; and
(2) the applicable association ratifies the agreement
by a majority vote of its members voting in an election by secret
ballot.
(b) An agreement ratified as described by Subsection (a) may
establish a procedure by which the parties agree to resolve
disputes related to a right, duty, or obligation provided by the
agreement, including binding arbitration on interpretation of the
agreement.
(c) The district court of the judicial district in which the
municipality is located has full authority and jurisdiction on the
application of either party aggrieved by an act or omission of the
other party related to a right, duty, or obligation provided by a
written agreement ratified as described by Subsection (a). The
court may issue proper restraining orders, temporary and permanent
injunctions, or any other writ, order, or process, including a
contempt order, that is appropriate to enforce the agreement.
Sec. 143.407. AGREEMENT SUPERSEDES CONFLICTING
PROVISIONS. (a) An agreement under this subchapter supersedes a
previous statute concerning wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of
employment, or other terms or conditions of employment, other than
pension and pension-related matters, to the extent of any conflict
with the statute.
(b) An agreement under this subchapter preempts any
contrary statute, executive order, local ordinance, or rule adopted
by the state or a political subdivision or agent of the state,
including a personnel board, a civil service commission, or a
home-rule municipality, other than a statute, order, ordinance, or
rule regarding pension or pension-related matters.
(c) An agreement under this subchapter may not diminish or
qualify any right, benefit, or privilege of an employee under this
subchapter or other law unless approved by a majority vote by secret
ballot of the members of the association recognized as a sole and
exclusive bargaining agent.
Sec. 143.408. REPEAL OF AGREEMENT BY ELECTORATE. Not later
than the 45th day after the date an agreement is ratified by both
the municipality and the association, a petition signed by at least
10 percent of the registered voters of the municipality may be
presented to the municipal secretary calling an election for the
repeal of the agreement. On receipt of the petition by the
municipal secretary, the governing body shall reconsider the
agreement and either repeal the agreement or call an election of the
qualified voters to determine if they desire to repeal the
agreement. The election shall be called for the next municipal
election or a special election called by the governing body for that
purpose. If at the election a majority of the votes are cast in
favor of the repeal of the adoption of the agreement, the agreement
is void. The ballot shall be printed to permit voting for or
against the proposition: "Repeal of the adoption of the agreement
ratified by the municipality and the __________ (municipal
employee) association concerning wages, salaries, rates of pay,
hours of employment, and other terms and conditions of employment."
Sec. 143.409. PROTECTED RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUAL
EMPLOYEES. An agreement may not interfere with the right of a
member of an association to pursue allegations of discrimination
based on race, creed, color, national origin, religion, age, sex,
or disability with the Commission on Human Rights or the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission or to pursue affirmative action
litigation.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2003.