81R8964 JSC-D
By: Coleman H.B. No. 4298
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the right of certain hospital 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. Subtitle B, Title 5, Local Government Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 163 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 163. LOCAL CONTROL OF EMPLOYMENT MATTERS IN CERTAIN
HOSPITAL DISTRICTS
Sec. 163.001. APPLICABILITY. This chapter applies only to
a hospital district whose boundaries are coextensive with a county
with a population of more than three million.
Sec. 163.002. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Covered employee" means an employee of a hospital
district.
(2) "Employee association" means an organization in
which employees of a hospital district 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 and whose members pay dues by
means of an automatic payroll deduction.
(3) "Public employer" means any hospital district
required to establish the wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours,
working conditions, and other terms and conditions of employment of
public employees.
Sec. 163.003. GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO AGREEMENTS AND
RECOGNITION. (a) A hospital district may not be denied local
control over wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of work, other
terms and conditions of employment, or other state-mandated
personnel issues. A public employer may enter into a mutual
agreement governing these issues with an employee association
recognized under this chapter as the sole and exclusive bargaining
agent for all covered employees that does not advocate the illegal
right to strike by covered employees. The applicable statutes,
local orders or 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 chapter must be written.
(c) This chapter does not require the public employer and
the recognized employee association to meet and confer or reach an
agreement on any issue.
(d) This chapter does not authorize an agreement regarding
pension or pension-related matters governed by Subtitle F, Title 8,
Government Code.
Sec. 163.004. PETITION FOR RECOGNITION: ELECTION OR ACTION
BY BOARD. (a) Not later than the 30th day after the date the board
of hospital managers of a hospital district receives from an
employee association a petition signed by the majority of all
covered employees of the hospital district that requests
recognition of the association as the sole and exclusive bargaining
agent for all the covered employees of that employer, the board
shall:
(1) grant recognition of the association as requested
in the petition and find that a public employer may meet and confer
under this chapter without conducting an election by the voters in
the district under Section 163.006;
(2) defer granting recognition of the association and
order an election by the voters in the district under Section
163.006 regarding whether a public employer may meet and confer
under this chapter; or
(3) order a certification election under Section
163.005 to determine whether the association represents a majority
of the covered employees of the district.
(b) If the board of hospital managers of a hospital district
orders a certification election under Subsection (a)(3) and the
association named in the petition is certified to represent a
majority of the covered employees, the board shall, not later than
the 30th day after the date that results of that election are
certified:
(1) grant recognition of the association as requested
in the petition for recognition and find that a public employer may
meet and confer under this chapter without conducting an election
by the voters in the district under Section 163.006; or
(2) defer granting recognition of the association and
order an election by the voters in the district under Section
163.006 regarding whether a public employer may meet and confer
under this chapter.
Sec. 163.005. CERTIFICATION ELECTION. (a) Except as
provided by Subsection (b), a certification election ordered under
Section 163.004(a)(3) 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) The results of an election shall be certified if the
employee association receives a majority of valid votes cast in the
election.
(d) Certification of the results of an election under this
section resolves the question concerning representation.
(e) 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. 163.006. ELECTION TO AUTHORIZE OPERATING UNDER THIS
CHAPTER. (a) The board of hospital managers of a hospital district
that receives a petition for recognition under Section 163.004 may
order an election to determine whether a public employer may meet
and confer under this chapter.
(b) An election ordered under this section must be held as
part of the next regularly scheduled general election for county
officers that is held after the date the board of hospital managers
orders the election and that allows sufficient time to prepare the
ballot in compliance with other requirements of law.
(c) The ballot for an election ordered under this section
shall be printed to permit voting for or against the proposition:
"Authorizing __________ (name of the hospital district) to operate
under the state law allowing a hospital district to meet and confer
and make agreements with the association representing employees of
the hospital district as provided by state law, preserving the
prohibition against strikes and organized work stoppages, and
providing penalties for strikes and organized work stoppages."
(d) An election called under this section must be held and
the returns prepared and canvassed in conformity with the Election
Code.
(e) If an election authorized under this section is held,
the hospital district may operate under the other provisions of
this chapter only if a majority of the votes cast at the election
favor the proposition.
(f) If an election authorized under this section is held, an
association may not submit a petition for recognition to the board
of hospital managers of the hospital district under Section 163.004
before the second anniversary of the date of the election.
Sec. 163.007. CHANGE OR MODIFICATION OF RECOGNITION. (a)
The covered employees may modify or change the recognition of the
employee association granted under this chapter by filing with the
board of hospital managers of the hospital district a petition
signed by a majority of all covered employees.
(b) The board of hospital managers of the hospital district
may:
(1) recognize the change or modification as provided
by the petition; or
(2) order a certification election in accordance with
Section 163.005 regarding whether to do so.
Sec. 163.008. STRIKES PROHIBITED. (a) A covered employee
may not engage in a strike or organized work stoppage against this
state or the hospital district.
(b) A covered employee who participates in a strike forfeits
any civil service rights, reemployment rights, and other rights,
benefits, or privileges the employee may have as a result of the
employee's employment or prior employment with the hospital
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. 163.009. RECOGNITION OF EMPLOYEE ASSOCIATION. (a) A
public employer that chooses to meet and confer under this chapter
shall recognize an association that is recognized under Section
163.004 or 163.005 as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for
the covered employees of that employer.
(b) The public employer shall recognize the employee
association until recognition of the association is withdrawn, in
accordance with Section 163.007, by a majority of the covered
employees eligible to sign a petition for recognition.
Sec. 163.010. SELECTION OF BARGAINING AGENT; BARGAINING
UNIT. (a) The public employer's chief executive officer or the
chief executive officer's designee shall select one or more persons
to represent the public employer as its sole and exclusive
bargaining agent to meet and confer on issues related to the wages,
hours of employment, and other terms and conditions of employment
of covered employees.
(b) An employee association may designate one or more
persons to negotiate or bargain on the association's behalf.
(c) A hospital district's bargaining unit is composed of all
the covered employees of the hospital district.
Sec. 163.011. PROTECTED RIGHTS OF EMPLOYEES. A meet and
confer agreement ratified under this chapter 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. 163.012. OPEN RECORDS. (a) A proposed meet and confer
agreement and a document prepared and used by the hospital 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 hospital managers of the
hospital 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. 163.013. OPEN DELIBERATIONS. (a) Deliberations
relating to a meet and confer agreement or proposed agreement under
this chapter between representatives of the hospital district and
representatives of the employee association recognized under this
chapter as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for the covered
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 hospital 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. 163.014. RATIFICATION AND ENFORCEABILITY OF
AGREEMENT. (a) An agreement under this chapter is enforceable and
binding on the hospital district, the recognized employee
association, and the employees covered by the meet and confer
agreement only if:
(1) the board of hospital managers of the hospital
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 hospital 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. 163.015. ACTION OR ELECTION TO REPEAL AUTHORIZATION TO
OPERATE UNDER THIS CHAPTER. (a) The board of hospital managers of
a hospital district that granted recognition of an employee
association under Section 163.004 without conducting an election
under Section 163.006 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.
(b) The board of hospital managers of a hospital district
that granted recognition of an employee association after
conducting an election under Section 163.006 may order an election
to determine whether a public employer may continue to meet and
confer under this chapter. The board may not order an election
under this subsection until the second anniversary of the date of
the election under Section 163.006.
(c) An election ordered under Subsection (b) must be held as
part of the next regularly scheduled general election for county
officers that occurs after the date the board of hospital managers
of the hospital district orders the election and that allows
sufficient time to prepare the ballot in compliance with other
requirements of law.
(d) The ballot for an election ordered under Subsection (b)
shall be printed to permit voting for or against the proposition:
"Authorizing __________ (name of the hospital district) to continue
to operate under the state law allowing a hospital district to meet
and confer and make agreements with the association representing
employees of a hospital district as provided by state law,
preserving the prohibition against strikes and organized work
stoppages, and providing penalties for strikes and organized work
stoppages."
(e) An election ordered under Subsection (b) must be held
and the returns prepared and canvassed in conformity with the
Election Code.
(f) If an election ordered under Subsection (b) is held, the
hospital district may continue to operate under this chapter only
if a majority of the votes cast at the election favor the
proposition.
(g) If an election ordered under Subsection (b) is held, an
association may not submit a petition for recognition to the board
of hospital managers of the hospital district under Section 163.004
before the second anniversary of the date of the election.
Sec. 163.016. ELECTION TO REPEAL AGREEMENT. (a) Not later
than the 45th day after the date a meet and confer agreement is
ratified by the board of hospital managers of the hospital district
and the recognized employee association, a petition calling for the
repeal of the agreement signed by at least 10 percent of the
qualified voters residing in the district may be presented to the
person charged with ordering an election under Section 3.004,
Election Code.
(b) If a petition is presented under Subsection (a), the
board of hospital managers of the hospital district shall:
(1) repeal the meet and confer agreement; or
(2) certify that it is not repealing the agreement and
call an election to determine whether to repeal the agreement.
(c) An election called under Subsection (b)(2) may be held
as part of the next regularly scheduled general election for the
county in which the hospital district is located or at a special
election called by the board of hospital managers of the hospital
district for that purpose. The ballot shall be printed to permit
voting for or against the proposition: "Repeal the meet and confer
agreement ratified on _____ (date agreement was ratified) by the
__________ (name of the board of hospital managers of the hospital
district) and the _____ (name of the recognized employee
association) concerning wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of
work, and other terms of employment."
(d) If a majority of the votes cast at the election favor the
repeal of the agreement, the agreement is void.
Sec. 163.017. AGREEMENT SUPERSEDES CONFLICTING PROVISIONS.
A written meet and confer agreement ratified under this chapter
preempts, during the term of the agreement and to the extent of any
conflict, all contrary state statutes, local orders or ordinances,
executive orders, civil service provisions, or rules adopted by
this state or a political subdivision or agent of this state,
including a civil service commission, county, or hospital district,
other than a statute, order, ordinance, executive order, civil
service provision, or rule regarding pensions or pension-related
matters.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.