81R11633 CS-D

By: Ellis S.B. No. 2408

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the authority of certain school districts 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. Chapter 11, Education Code, is amended by adding Subchapter I to read as follows:

SUBCHAPTER I. LOCAL CONTROL OF EMPLOYMENT MATTERS IN CERTAIN

SCHOOL DISTRICTS

Sec. 11.401. APPLICABILITY. This subchapter applies only to a school district with a student enrollment of 180,000 or more for the 2008-2009 school year.

Sec. 11.402. DEFINITION. In this subchapter, "employee association" means an organization in which school district employees participate and that exists for the purpose, wholly or partly, of dealing with one or more districts concerning employee grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, or conditions of work affecting district employees whose members pay dues.

Sec. 11.403. GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO AGREEMENTS AND RECOGNITION. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code, a school district to which this subchapter applies may not be denied local control over the wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, other terms and conditions of employment, or other personnel issues. The board of trustees of the district may enter into a mutual agreement governing those issues with an employee association recognized under this subchapter as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for all district employees that does not advocate any illegal right to strike by district employees. Any applicable statutes govern a term or condition of employment on which the board of trustees and the association do not agree.

(b) An agreement under this subchapter must be written.

(c) This subchapter does not require the board of trustees of the school district and the recognized employee association to meet and confer or reach an agreement on any issue.

(d) This subchapter does not authorize an agreement regarding pension or pension-related matters governed by Subtitle C, Title 8, Government Code.

Sec. 11.404. PETITION FOR RECOGNITION: ELECTION OR ACTION BY GOVERNING BODY. (a) Not later than the 30th day after the date the board of trustees of a school district receives from an employee association a petition signed by the majority of all district employees that requests recognition of the association as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for all the district employees, the board of trustees shall:

(1) grant recognition of the association as requested in the petition and find that the board of trustees may meet and confer under this subchapter; or

(2) order a certification election under Section 11.405 to determine whether the association represents a majority of the district employees.

(b) If the board of trustees of a school district orders a certification election under Subsection (a)(2) and the association named in the petition is certified to represent a majority of the district employees, the board of trustees shall, not later than the 30th day after the date that results of that election are certified, grant recognition of the association as requested in the petition for recognition and find that the board of trustees may meet and confer under this subchapter.

Sec. 11.405. CERTIFICATION ELECTION. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b), a certification election ordered under Section 11.404(a)(2) to determine whether an employee association represents a majority of the covered employees shall be conducted according to procedures agreeable to the parties.

(b) If the parties are unable to agree on procedures for the certification election, either party may request the American Arbitration Association to conduct the election and to certify the results of the election.

(c) Certification of the results of an election under this section resolves the question concerning representation.

(d) The association is liable for the expenses of the certification election, except that if two or more associations seeking recognition as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent submit a petition signed by at least 30 percent of the employees eligible to sign the petition for recognition, all the associations named in any petition shall share equally the costs of the election.

Sec. 11.406. CHANGE OR MODIFICATION OF RECOGNITION. (a) The school district employees may modify or change the recognition of the employee association granted under this subchapter by filing with the board of trustees of the district a petition signed by a majority of all district employees.

(b) The board of trustees of the school district may:

(1) recognize the change or modification as provided by the petition; or

(2) order a certification election in accordance with Section 11.405 regarding whether to do so.

Sec. 11.407. STRIKES PROHIBITED. (a) A school district employee may not engage in a strike or organized work stoppage against this state or the district.

(b) A school district employee who participates in a strike forfeits any rights, benefits, or privileges the employee may have as a result of the employee's employment or prior employment with the district.

(c) This section does not affect the right of a person to cease work if the person is not acting in concert with others in an organized work stoppage.

Sec. 11.408. RECOGNITION OF EMPLOYEE ASSOCIATION. (a) The board of trustees of a school district that chooses to meet and confer under this subchapter shall recognize an association that is recognized under Section 11.404 or 11.405 as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for the district employees.

(b) The board of trustees of the school district shall recognize the association until recognition of the association is withdrawn, in accordance with Section 11.406, by a majority of the district employees eligible to sign a petition for recognition.

Sec. 11.409. SELECTION OF BARGAINING AGENT; BARGAINING UNIT. (a) The board of trustees of the school district or the board's designee shall select one or more persons to represent the district as its sole and exclusive bargaining agent to meet and confer on issues related to the wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, and other terms and conditions of employment of district employees.

(b) An employee association may designate one or more persons to negotiate or bargain on the association's behalf.

(c) A school district's bargaining unit is composed of all the district employees.

Sec. 11.410. PROTECTED RIGHTS OF EMPLOYEES. A meet and confer agreement ratified under this subchapter may not interfere with the right of a member of a bargaining unit to pursue allegations of discrimination based on race, creed, color, national origin, religion, age, sex, or disability with the Texas Workforce Commission civil rights division or the federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or to pursue affirmative action litigation.

Sec. 11.411. OPEN RECORDS. (a) A proposed meet and confer agreement and a document prepared and used by the school district in connection with the proposed agreement are available to the public under Chapter 552, Government Code, only after the agreement is ready to be ratified by the board of trustees of the district.

(b) This section does not affect the application of Subchapter C, Chapter 552, Government Code, to a document prepared and used in connection with the agreement.

Sec. 11.412. OPEN DELIBERATIONS. (a) Deliberations relating to a meet and confer agreement or proposed agreement under this subchapter between representatives of the school district and representatives of the employee association recognized under this subchapter as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for the district's employees must be open to the public and comply with state law.

(b) Subsection (a) may not be construed to prohibit the representatives of the school district or the representatives of the recognized employee association from conducting private caucuses that are not open to the public during meet and confer negotiations.

Sec. 11.413. RATIFICATION AND ENFORCEABILITY OF AGREEMENT. (a) An agreement under this subchapter is enforceable and binding on the school district, the recognized employee association, and the employees covered by the meet and confer agreement only if:

(1) the board of trustees of the district ratified the agreement by a majority vote; and

(2) the recognized employee association ratified the agreement by conducting a secret ballot election at which the majority of the covered employees who are members of the association favored ratifying the agreement.

(b) A meet and confer 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 a question involving interpretation of the agreement.

(c) A state district court of a judicial district in which the school district is located has jurisdiction to hear and resolve a dispute under the ratified meet and confer agreement on the application of a party to the agreement 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 the agreement. The court may issue proper restraining orders, temporary and permanent injunctions, or any other writ, order, or process, including contempt orders, that are appropriate to enforcing the agreement.

Sec. 11.414. ACTION TO REPEAL AUTHORIZATION TO OPERATE UNDER THIS SUBCHAPTER. The board of trustees of a school district that granted recognition of an employee association under Section 11.404 may withdraw recognition of the association by providing to the association not less than 90 days' written notice that:

(1) the board is withdrawing recognition of the association; and

(2) any agreement between the board and the association will not be renewed.

Sec. 11.415. AGREEMENT SUPERSEDES CONFLICTING PROVISIONS. A written meet and confer agreement ratified under this subchapter preempts, during the term of the agreement and to the extent of any conflict, all contrary state statutes, executive orders, or rules adopted by this state, a school district board of trustees, or an agent of this state, other than a statute, executive order, or rule regarding pensions or pension-related matters.

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, 2009.