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STATE OF OKLAHOMA
1st Session of the 60th Legislature (2025)
SENATE BILL 481 By: Deevers
AS INTRODUCED
An Act relating to public employees; defining terms;
prohibiting public employee from engaging in certain
strike or work stoppage; estab lishing penalties;
affirming rights of individual to take certain
action; amending 70 O.S. 2021, Section 509.8, which
relates to strikes against boards of education ;
providing for codification; and providing an
effective date.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF OKLAHOMA:
SECTION 1. NEW LAW A new section of law to be codified
in the Oklahoma Statutes as Section 840 -2.31 of Title 74, unless
there is created a duplication in numbering, reads as follows:
A. As used in this section:
1. “Organized work stoppage ” means a collective temporary
cessation of work as a form of protest; and
2. “Public employee” means an employee of a state agency,
political subdivision, or school district.
B. Notwithstanding any other pro vision of law, a public
employee may not strike or engage in an organized work stoppage
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against the state, a political subdivision of this state, or any
public school district.
C. Upon violation of subsection B of this section, a public
employee shall automatically forfeit his or her employment with the
state, political subdivision, or public school district, all civil
service rights, pensions, reemployment rights, and any other rights,
benefits, and privileges the employee enjoys as a result of public
employment or former public employment.
D. A public employee who is employed as a teacher, support
personnel, or administrator, and who violates subsection B of this
section, shall have his or her teaching certificate revoked.
E. 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.
SECTION 2. AMENDATORY 70 O.S. 2021, Section 509.8, is
amended to read as follows:
Section 509.8. The procedur e provided for herein for resolving
impasses shall be the exclusive recourse o f the organization. It
shall be illegal for the organization to strike or threaten to
strike as a means of resolving differences with the board of
education. Any member of an o rganization engaging in a strike shall
be denied the full amount of his wages during the period of such
violation subject to the penalties provided in Section 1 of this
act. If the organization or its members engage in a strike, then
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the organization shal l cease to be recognized as representative of
the unit and the school district shall be relieved of the duty to
negotiate with such organization or its representatives.
SECTION 3. This act shall become effective November 1, 2025.
60-1-1338 RD 1/9/2025 9:44:01 AM