By: Watson S.B. No. 1104
 
 
 
   
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the conditions of employment for emergency medical
services personnel employed by certain municipalities.
       BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
       SECTION 1.  Chapter 142, Local Government Code, is amended
by adding Subchapter D to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER D. LOCAL CONTROL OF EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES
PERSONNEL EMPLOYMENT MATTERS IN CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES
       Sec. 142.151.  APPLICABILITY.  This subchapter applies only
to a municipality:
             (1)  with a population of 460,000 or more that operates
under a city manager form of government; and
             (2)  that employs emergency medical services personnel
in a municipal department other than the fire department.
       Sec. 142.152.  DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter:
             (1)  "Association" means an organization in which
emergency medical services personnel participate and that exists
for the purpose, wholly or partly, of dealing with one or more
public or private employers concerning grievances, labor disputes,
wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, or conditions of
employment affecting public employees.
             (2)  "Emergency medical services personnel" has the
meaning assigned by Section 773.003, Health and Safety Code.  The
term applies only to an individual certified under Chapter 773,
Health and Safety Code.
             (3)  "Public employer" means a municipality or an
agency, board, commission, or political subdivision controlled by a
municipality that is required to establish the wages, salaries,
rates of pay, hours of employment, working conditions, and other
terms and conditions of employment of public employees. The term,
under appropriate circumstances, may include a mayor, manager,
municipal administrator, municipal governing body, director of
personnel, personnel board, or one or more other officials,
regardless of the name by which an official is designated.
       Sec. 142.153.  GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO AGREEMENTS.
(a)  A municipality may not be denied local control over wages,
salaries, rates of pay, hours of employment, other terms and
conditions of employment, or other personnel issues on which the
public employer and an association that is recognized as the sole
and exclusive bargaining agent under Section 142.155 for all
emergency medical services personnel in the municipality agree.  
The applicable statutes, local ordinances, and civil service rules
govern a term or condition of employment on which the public
employer and the association do not agree.
       (b)  An agreement under this subchapter must be written.
       (c)  This subchapter does not require the public employer and
an association to meet and confer or reach an agreement on any
issue.
       Sec. 142.154.  STRIKES PROHIBITED.  (a)  A public employer
and an association recognized as the sole and exclusive bargaining
agent under Section 142.155 may meet and confer only if the
association does not advocate the illegal right to strike by public
employees.
       (b)  Emergency medical services personnel of a municipality
may not engage in a strike or organized work stoppage against this
state or a political subdivision of this state.
       (c)  Emergency medical services personnel who participate in
a strike forfeit all civil service rights, reemployment rights, and
other rights, benefits, or privileges enjoyed as a result of
employment or previous employment with the municipality.
       (d)  This section does not affect the right of a person to
cease employment if the person is not acting in concert with other
emergency medical services personnel.
       Sec. 142.155.  RECOGNITION OF EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES
PERSONNEL ASSOCIATION. A public employer may recognize an
association that submits a petition signed by a majority of the paid
emergency medical services personnel in the municipality,
excluding the head of the emergency medical services department and
assistant department heads in the rank or classification
immediately below that of the department head, as the sole and
exclusive bargaining agent for all of the covered emergency medical
services personnel until recognition of the association is
withdrawn by a majority of the covered emergency medical services
personnel.
       Sec. 142.156.  ELECTION.  (a)  Whether an association
represents a majority of the covered emergency medical services
personnel shall be resolved by a fair election, conducted according
to procedures agreed on by the parties, at which only a person
eligible to sign a petition under Section 142.155 may vote.
       (b)  If the parties are unable to agree on election
procedures under Subsection (a), a party may request the American
Arbitration Association to conduct the election and to certify the
results. Certification of the results of an election under this
subsection resolves the question concerning representation.
       (c)  The association shall pay the costs of an election under
this section, except that if two or more associations seeking
recognition as the bargaining agent submit petitions signed by a
majority of the covered emergency medical services personnel, the
associations shall share equally the costs of the election.
       Sec. 142.157.  SELECTION OF BARGAINING AGENTS.  The public
employer's manager or chief executive, as appropriate, and the head
of the emergency medical services department shall designate a
group of persons to represent the public employer as its sole and
exclusive bargaining agent.
       Sec. 142.158.  OPEN RECORDS REQUIRED. (a)  A proposed
agreement and any document prepared and used by the municipality in
connection with a proposed agreement are available to the public
under the public information law, Chapter 552, Government Code,
only after the agreement is ratified by the municipality's
governing body.
       (b)  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. 142.159.  RATIFICATION AND ENFORCEABILITY OF
AGREEMENT. (a)   An agreement made under this subchapter between a
public employer and an association is binding on the public
employer, the association, and the emergency medical services
personnel covered by the agreement if:
             (1)  the municipality's governing body ratifies the
agreement by a majority vote; and
             (2)  the association recognized under Section 142.155
ratifies the agreement by a majority vote of its members voting in
an election by secret ballot at which only members of the
association who are eligible to sign a petition under Section
142.155 may vote.
       (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 state district court of the judicial district in
which the municipality is located has jurisdiction to hear and
resolve a dispute under the ratified agreement on the application
of a party to the agreement aggrieved by an act or omission of the
other party. 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. 142.160.  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 and conditions of employment to the
extent of any conflict with the statute.
       (b)  An agreement under this subchapter preempts any
contrary executive order, local ordinance, or rule adopted by this
state or a political subdivision or agent of this state, including a
personnel board, a civil service commission, or a municipality.
       (c)  An agreement under this subchapter may not diminish or
qualify any right, benefit, or privilege of an employee under this
chapter or other law unless approved by a majority vote by secret
ballot of the members of the association recognized under Section
142.155 at which only members of the association who are eligible to
sign a petition under Section 142.155 may vote.
       Sec. 142.161.  REPEAL OF AGREEMENT BY ELECTORATE.  (a)  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 qualified voters of the municipality may be
presented to the municipal secretary calling for an election to
repeal the agreement.
       (b)  On receipt by the municipal secretary of a petition
described by Subsection (a), the governing body of the municipality
shall reconsider the agreement and either repeal the agreement or
call an election of the qualified voters of the municipality to
determine if the voters favor repealing the agreement. The
election shall be called for the next election held in the
municipality that allows sufficient time to comply with applicable
provisions of law or at a special election called by the governing
body for that purpose.
       (c)  If at the election a majority of the votes cast favor
repeal of the adoption of the agreement, the agreement is void.
       (d)  The ballot for an election under this section shall be
printed to permit voting for or against the proposition:  "Repeal of
the adoption of the agreement ratified by the municipality and the
emergency medical services personnel association concerning wages,
salaries, rates of pay, hours of employment, and other terms and
conditions of employment."
       Sec. 142.162.  PROTECTED RIGHTS OF INDIVIDUAL EMPLOYEES.
(a)  For the purpose of any disciplinary appeal, a member of the
association may choose to be represented by any person of the
member's choice or by the association.
       (b)  An agreement may not interfere with the right of a
member of the association to pursue allegations of discrimination
based on race, creed, color, national origin, religion, age, sex,
or disability with the civil rights division of the Texas Workforce
Commission or the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
or to pursue affirmative action litigation.
       Sec. 142.163.  BINDING INTEREST ARBITRATION.  (a)  A
municipality may be required to submit to binding interest
arbitration only if approved by a majority of those voting in a
public referendum conducted in accordance with the municipality's
charter.
       (b)  Subsection (a) does not affect any disciplinary
arbitration or arbitration provision in a ratified agreement.
       SECTION 2.  This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution.  If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2007.