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79R6062 YDB-D
By: Luna H.B. No. 3322
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the right of certain municipalities to maintain local
control over wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of
employment.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The heading of Chapter 143, Local Government
Code, is amended to read as follows:
CHAPTER 143. MUNICIPAL CIVIL SERVICE FOR FIREFIGHTERS AND POLICE
OFFICERS
SECTION 2. Subtitle A, Title 5, Local Government Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 146 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 146. LOCAL CONTROL OF MUNICIPAL EMPLOYMENT MATTERS
Sec. 146.001. APPLICABILITY. This chapter does not apply
to:
(1) firefighters or police officers who are covered by
Subchapter H, I, or J of Chapter 143 or by Chapter 174; or
(2) an employee association in which those employees
participate.
Sec. 146.002. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Bargaining unit" means any group of employees
designated by the municipality for negotiations between a
recognized employee association and the public employer.
(2) "Employee association" means an organization in
which municipal employees participate and that exists for the
purpose, wholly or partly, of dealing with one or more employers,
whether public or private, concerning grievances, labor disputes,
wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, or conditions of work
affecting public employees.
(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, other terms and conditions
of employment, and affirmative action programs of public employees.
The term may include, 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. 146.003. GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO AGREEMENTS AND
RECOGNITION. (a) A municipality may not be denied local control
over the wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of work, other terms
and conditions of employment, affirmative action programs, or other
state-mandated personnel issues. A public employer may enter into
a mutual written agreement governing these issues with an employee
association that does not advocate the illegal right to strike by
municipal employees.
(b) A municipality may recognize an employee association
that does not advocate the illegal right to strike by municipal
employees as the negotiating agent for any group of municipal
employees so requesting that representation under this chapter.
Sec. 146.004. STRIKES PROHIBITED. (a) Employees of a
municipality may not engage in strikes or organized work stoppages
against the state or a municipality of the state.
(b) An employee who participates in a strike forfeits all
civil service rights, reemployment rights, and any other rights,
benefits, or privileges the employee enjoys as a result of
employment or prior employment, except that the right of an
individual to cease work may not be abridged if the individual is
not acting in concert with others in an organized work stoppage.
Sec. 146.005. RECOGNITION OF EMPLOYEE ASSOCIATION. (a) A
public employer may recognize an employee association as the sole
and exclusive negotiating agent for a bargaining unit, regardless
of whether the public employer has recognized the employee
association under Subsection (b).
(b) An employee association selected by a petition signed by
a majority of the employees of the municipality, excluding
department directors, may be recognized by the public employer as
the sole and exclusive negotiating agent for all of the covered
employees unless and until recognition of the association is
withdrawn by a majority of those employees.
Sec. 146.006. ELECTION. (a) In the event of a question
about whether an employee association is the majority
representative of the covered employees, the question shall be
resolved by a fair election conducted according to procedures
agreeable to the parties.
(b) If the parties are unable to agree on the procedures, a
party may request the American Arbitration Association to conduct
the elections and to certify the results. Certification of the
results of an election resolves the question concerning
representation.
(c) The employee association is liable for the expenses of
the election, except that if two or more associations seeking
recognition as the negotiating agent submit petitions signed by a
majority of the covered employees, the associations shall share
equally the costs of the election.
Sec. 146.007. OPEN MEETINGS REQUIRED. All meetings
relating to an agreement between an employee association and a
public employer shall be open to the public as required by Chapter
551, Government Code.
Sec. 146.008. ENFORCEABILITY OF AGREEMENT. (a) A written
agreement made under this chapter between a public employer and an
employee association is enforceable and binding on the public
employer, the employee association, and the public employees
covered by the agreement if:
(1) the governing body of the municipality ratifies
the agreement by majority vote; and
(2) the employee association ratifies the agreement by
a majority vote of the members of the bargaining unit by secret
ballot.
(b) The state district court of the judicial district in
which the municipality is located has jurisdiction over the
application of either party aggrieved by an action or omission of
the other party if the action or omission relates to the rights,
duties, or obligations provided by this chapter. The court may
issue proper restraining orders, temporary and permanent
injunctions, and any other writs, orders, or processes, including
contempt orders, that are appropriate to enforcing this chapter.
Sec. 146.009. AGREEMENT SUPERSEDES CONFLICTING PROVISIONS.
(a) A written agreement under this chapter between a public
employer and an employee association supersedes a previous statute
concerning wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of work, and other
terms and conditions of employment to the extent of any conflict
with the previous statute.
(b) A written agreement under this chapter preempts all
contrary local ordinances, executive orders, legislation, or rules
adopted by this state or a political subdivision or agent of this
state such as a personnel board, a civil service commission, or a
home-rule municipality.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.