Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1450 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: West S.B. No. 1450
2	2	(In the Senate - Filed March 6, 2009; March 17, 2009, read
3	3	first time and referred to Committee on Intergovernmental
4	4	Relations; April 6, 2009, reported favorably by the following
5	5	vote: Yeas 3, Nays 0; April 6, 2009, sent to printer.)
6	6
7	7
8	8	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
9	9	AN ACT
10	10	relating to the right of certain municipalities to maintain local
11	11	control over wages, hours, and other terms and conditions of
12	12	employment.
13	13	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
14	14	SECTION 1. Subtitle A, Title 5, Local Government Code, is
15	15	amended by adding Chapter 149 to read as follows:
16	16	CHAPTER 149. LOCAL CONTROL OF MUNICIPAL EMPLOYMENT MATTERS IN
17	17	CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES
18	18	Sec. 149.001. APPLICABILITY. (a) This chapter applies
19	19	only to a municipality with a population of more than one million
20	20	that has not adopted Chapter 143 or 174.
21	21	(b) This chapter does not apply to:
22	22	(1) firefighters or police officers who are covered by
23	23	Subchapter B of Chapter 142, Subchapter H, I, or J of Chapter 143,
24	24	Chapter 147, or Chapter 174;
25	25	(2) an employee association in which employees
26	26	described by Subdivision (1) participate; or
27	27	(3) employees of a municipally owned utility or other
28	28	board or political subdivision whose wages, salaries, rates of pay,
29	29	hours, working conditions, or other terms and conditions of
30	30	employment are established and governed by an appointed board
31	31	independent from the municipal governing body.
32	32	Sec. 149.002. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
33	33	(1) "Covered employee" means an employee of a
34	34	municipality, other than a department head or managerial employee,
35	35	a firefighter or police officer who is covered by Subchapter B of
36	36	Chapter 142, Subchapter H, I, or J of Chapter 143, or Chapter 174,
37	37	or a peace officer covered by Chapter 142.
38	38	(2) "Employee association" means an organization in
39	39	which municipal employees participate, that exists for the purpose,
40	40	wholly or partly, of dealing with one or more employers, whether
41	41	public or private, concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages,
42	42	rates of pay, hours of employment, or conditions of work affecting
43	43	public employees, and whose members pay dues by means of an
44	44	automatic payroll deduction.
45	45	(3) "Managerial employee" means an employee who:
46	46	(A) is engaged primarily in executive and
47	47	management functions; and
48	48	(B) is charged with the responsibility of
49	49	developing, administering, or effecting management policies.
50	50	(4) "Public employer" means any municipality or
51	51	agency, board, commission, or political subdivision controlled by a
52	52	municipality that is required to establish the wages, salaries,
53	53	rates of pay, hours, working conditions, and other terms and
54	54	conditions of employment of public employees. The term may
55	55	include, under appropriate circumstances, a mayor, manager,
56	56	administrator of a municipality, municipal governing body,
57	57	director of personnel, personnel board, or one or more other
58	58	officials regardless of the name by which they are designated.
59	59	Sec. 149.003. GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO AGREEMENTS AND
60	60	RECOGNITION. (a) A municipality may not be denied local control
61	61	over wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours of work, other terms and
62	62	conditions of employment, or other state-mandated personnel
63	63	issues. A public employer may enter into a mutual agreement
64	64	governing these issues with an employee association recognized
65	65	under this chapter as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for
66	66	all covered employees that does not advocate the illegal right to
67	67	strike by covered employees. The applicable statutes, local
68	68	ordinances, and civil service rules govern a term or condition of
69	69	employment on which the public employer and the association do not
70	70	agree.
71	71	(b) An agreement under this chapter must be written.
72	72	(c) This chapter does not require the public employer and
73	73	the recognized employee association to meet and confer or reach an
74	74	agreement on any issue.
75	75	(d) This chapter does not authorize an agreement regarding
76	76	pension or pension-related matters governed by statute.
77	77	Sec. 149.004. PETITION FOR RECOGNITION: ELECTION OR ACTION
78	78	BY GOVERNING BODY. (a) Not later than the 30th day after the date
79	79	the governing body of a municipality receives from an employee
80	80	association a petition signed by the majority of all covered
81	81	employees that requests recognition of the association as the sole
82	82	and exclusive bargaining agent for all the covered employees, the
83	83	governing body shall:
84	84	(1) grant recognition of the association as requested
85	85	in the petition and find that a public employer may meet and confer
86	86	under this chapter without conducting an election by the voters in
87	87	the municipality under Section 149.006;
88	88	(2) defer granting recognition of the association and
89	89	order an election by the voters in the municipality under Section
90	90	149.006 regarding whether a public employer may meet and confer
91	91	under this chapter; or
92	92	(3) order a certification election under Section
93	93	149.005 to determine whether the association represents a majority
94	94	of the covered employees.
95	95	(b) If the governing body of a municipality orders a
96	96	certification election under Subsection (a)(3) and the employee
97	97	association named in the petition is certified to represent a
98	98	majority of the covered employees, the governing body shall, not
99	99	later than the 30th day after the date that results of that election
100	100	are certified:
101	101	(1) grant recognition of the association as requested
102	102	in the petition for recognition and find that a public employer may
103	103	meet and confer under this chapter without conducting an election
104	104	by the voters in the municipality under Section 149.006; or
105	105	(2) defer granting recognition of the association and
106	106	order an election by the voters in the municipality under Section
107	107	149.006 regarding whether a public employer may meet and confer
108	108	under this chapter.
109	109	Sec. 149.005. CERTIFICATION ELECTION. (a) Except as
110	110	provided by Subsection (b), a certification election ordered under
111	111	Section 149.004(a)(3) to determine whether an employee association
112	112	represents a majority of the covered employees shall be conducted
113	113	according to procedures agreeable to the parties.
114	114	(b) If the parties are unable to agree on procedures for the
115	115	certification election, either party may request the American
116	116	Arbitration Association to conduct the election and to certify the
117	117	results of the election.
118	118	(c) The results of an election shall be certified if the
119	119	employee association receives a majority of the valid votes cast in
120	120	the election.
121	121	(d) Certification of the results of an election under this
122	122	section resolves the question concerning representation.
123	123	(e) The employee association is liable for the expenses of
124	124	the certification election, except that if two or more associations
125	125	seeking recognition as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent
126	126	submit a petition signed by at least 30 percent of the employees
127	127	eligible to sign the petition for recognition, all the associations
128	128	named in any petition shall share equally the costs of the election.
129	129	Sec. 149.006. ELECTION TO AUTHORIZE OPERATING UNDER THIS
130	130	CHAPTER. (a) The governing body of a municipality that receives a
131	131	petition for recognition under Section 149.004 may order an
132	132	election to determine whether a public employer may meet and confer
133	133	under this chapter.
134	134	(b) An election ordered under this section must be held as
135	135	part of the next regularly scheduled general election for municipal
136	136	officials that is held after the date the governing body of the
137	137	municipality orders the election and that allows sufficient time to
138	138	prepare the ballot in compliance with other requirements of law.
139	139	(c) The ballot for an election ordered under this section
140	140	shall be printed to allow voting for or against the proposition:
141	141	"Authorizing __________ (name of the municipality) to operate under
142	142	the state law allowing a municipality to meet and confer and make
143	143	agreements with the association representing covered employees as
144	144	provided by state law, preserving the prohibition against strikes
145	145	and organized work stoppages, and providing penalties for strikes
146	146	and organized work stoppages."
147	147	(d) An election called under this section must be held and
148	148	the returns prepared and canvassed in conformity with the Election
149	149	Code.
150	150	(e) If an election authorized under this section is held,
151	151	the municipality may operate under the other provisions of this
152	152	chapter only if a majority of the votes cast at the election favor
153	153	the proposition.
154	154	(f) If an election authorized under this section is held, an
155	155	employee association may not submit a petition for recognition to
156	156	the governing body of the municipality under Section 149.004 before
157	157	the second anniversary of the date of the election.
158	158	Sec. 149.007. CHANGE OR MODIFICATION OF RECOGNITION.
159	159	(a) The covered employees may modify or change the recognition of
160	160	the employee association granted under this chapter by filing with
161	161	the governing body of the municipality a petition signed by a
162	162	majority of all covered employees.
163	163	(b) The governing body of the municipality may:
164	164	(1) recognize the change or modification as provided
165	165	by the petition; or
166	166	(2) order a certification election in accordance with
167	167	Section 149.005 regarding whether to do so.
168	168	Sec. 149.008. STRIKES PROHIBITED. (a) A covered employee
169	169	may not engage in a strike or organized work stoppage against this
170	170	state or the municipality.
171	171	(b) A covered employee who participates in a strike forfeits
172	172	any civil service rights, reemployment rights, and other rights,
173	173	benefits, or privileges the employee may have as a result of the
174	174	employee's employment or prior employment with the municipality.
175	175	(c) This section does not affect the right of a person to
176	176	cease work if the person is not acting in concert with others in an
177	177	organized work stoppage.
178	178	Sec. 149.009. RECOGNITION OF EMPLOYEE ASSOCIATION. (a) A
179	179	public employer in a municipality that chooses to meet and confer
180	180	under this chapter shall recognize an employee association that is
181	181	recognized under Section 149.004 or 149.005 as the sole and
182	182	exclusive bargaining agent for the covered employees.
183	183	(b) The public employer shall recognize the employee
184	184	association until recognition of the association is withdrawn, in
185	185	accordance with Section 149.007, by a majority of the covered
186	186	employees eligible to sign a petition for recognition.
187	187	Sec. 149.010. SELECTION OF BARGAINING AGENT; BARGAINING
188	188	UNIT. (a) The public employer's chief executive officer or the
189	189	chief executive officer's designee shall select one or more persons
190	190	to represent the public employer as its sole and exclusive
191	191	bargaining agent to meet and confer on issues related to the wages,
192	192	hours of employment, and other terms and conditions of employment
193	193	of covered employees.
194	194	(b) An employee association may designate one or more
195	195	persons to negotiate or bargain on the association's behalf.
196	196	(c) A municipality's bargaining unit is composed of all the
197	197	covered employees.
198	198	Sec. 149.011. PROTECTED RIGHTS OF EMPLOYEES. A meet and
199	199	confer agreement ratified under this chapter may not interfere with
200	200	the right of a member of a bargaining unit to pursue allegations of
201	201	discrimination based on race, creed, color, national origin,
202	202	religion, age, sex, or disability with the Texas Workforce
203	203	Commission civil rights division or the federal Equal Employment
204	204	Opportunity Commission or to pursue affirmative action litigation.
205	205	Sec. 149.012. OPEN RECORDS. (a) A proposed meet and
206	206	confer agreement and a document prepared and used by the
207	207	municipality, including a public employer, in connection with the
208	208	proposed agreement are available to the public under Chapter 552,
209	209	Government Code, only after the agreement is ready to be ratified by
210	210	the governing body of the municipality.
211	211	(b) This section does not affect the application of
212	212	Subchapter C, Chapter 552, Government Code, to a document prepared
213	213	and used in connection with the agreement.
214	214	Sec. 149.013. OPEN DELIBERATIONS. (a) Deliberations
215	215	relating to a meet and confer agreement or proposed agreement under
216	216	this chapter between representatives of the public employer and
217	217	representatives of the employee association recognized under this
218	218	chapter as the sole and exclusive bargaining agent for the covered
219	219	employees must be open to the public and comply with state law.
220	220	(b) Subsection (a) may not be construed to prohibit the
221	221	representatives of the public employer or the representatives of
222	222	the recognized employee association from conducting private
223	223	caucuses that are not open to the public during meet and confer
224	224	negotiations.
225	225	Sec. 149.014. RATIFICATION AND ENFORCEABILITY OF
226	226	AGREEMENT. (a) An agreement under this chapter is enforceable and
227	227	binding on the public employer, the recognized employee
228	228	association, and the employees covered by the meet and confer
229	229	agreement only if:
230	230	(1) the governing body of the municipality ratified
231	231	the agreement by a majority vote; and
232	232	(2) the recognized employee association ratified the
233	233	agreement by conducting a secret ballot election at which the
234	234	majority of the covered employees who are members of the
235	235	association favored ratifying the agreement.
236	236	(b) A meet and confer agreement ratified as described by
237	237	Subsection (a) may establish a procedure by which the parties agree
238	238	to resolve disputes related to a right, duty, or obligation
239	239	provided by the agreement, including binding arbitration on a
240	240	question involving interpretation of the agreement.
241	241	(c) A state district court of a judicial district in which
242	242	the municipality is located has jurisdiction to hear and resolve a
243	243	dispute under the ratified meet and confer agreement on the
244	244	application of a party to the agreement aggrieved by an action or
245	245	omission of the other party when the action or omission is related
246	246	to a right, duty, or obligation provided by the agreement. The
247	247	court may issue proper restraining orders, temporary and permanent
248	248	injunctions, or any other writ, order, or process, including
249	249	contempt orders, that are appropriate to enforcing the agreement.
250	250	Sec. 149.015. ACTION OR ELECTION TO REPEAL AUTHORIZATION TO
251	251	OPERATE UNDER THIS CHAPTER. (a) The governing body of a
252	252	municipality that granted recognition of an employee association
253	253	under Section 149.004 without conducting an election under Section
254	254	149.006 may withdraw recognition of the association by providing to
255	255	the association not less than 90 days' written notice that:
256	256	(1) the governing body is withdrawing recognition of
257	257	the association; and
258	258	(2) any agreement between the governing body and the
259	259	association will not be renewed.
260	260	(b) The governing body of a municipality that granted
261	261	recognition of an employee association after conducting an election
262	262	under Section 149.006 may order an election to determine whether a
263	263	public employer may continue to meet and confer under this chapter.
264	264	The governing body may not order an election under this subsection
265	265	until the second anniversary of the date of the election under
266	266	Section 149.006.
267	267	(c) An election ordered under Subsection (b) must be held as
268	268	part of the next regularly scheduled general election for municipal
269	269	officers that occurs after the date the governing body of the
270	270	municipality orders the election and that allows sufficient time to
271	271	prepare the ballot in compliance with other requirements of law.
272	272	(d) The ballot for an election ordered under Subsection (b)
273	273	shall be printed to allow voting for or against the proposition:
274	274	"Authorizing __________ (name of the municipality) to continue to
275	275	operate under the state law allowing a municipality to meet and
276	276	confer and make agreements with the association representing
277	277	covered employees as provided by state law, preserving the
278	278	prohibition against strikes and organized work stoppages, and
279	279	providing penalties for strikes and organized work stoppages."
280	280	(e) An election ordered under Subsection (b) must be held
281	281	and the returns prepared and canvassed in conformity with the
282	282	Election Code.
283	283	(f) If an election ordered under Subsection (b) is held, the
284	284	municipality may continue to operate under this chapter only if a
285	285	majority of the votes cast at the election favor the proposition.
286	286	(g) If an election ordered under Subsection (b) is held, an
287	287	employee association may not submit a petition for recognition to
288	288	the governing body of the municipality under Section 149.004 before
289	289	the second anniversary of the date of the election.
290	290	Sec. 149.016. ELECTION TO REPEAL AGREEMENT. (a) Not later
291	291	than the 45th day after the date a meet and confer agreement is
292	292	ratified by the governing body of the municipality and the
293	293	recognized employee association, a petition calling for the repeal
294	294	of the agreement signed by at least 10 percent of the qualified
295	295	voters residing in the municipality may be presented to the person
296	296	charged with ordering an election under Section 3.004, Election
297	297	Code.
298	298	(b) If a petition is presented under Subsection (a), the
299	299	governing body of the municipality shall:
300	300	(1) repeal the meet and confer agreement; or
301	301	(2) certify that it is not repealing the agreement and
302	302	call an election to determine whether to repeal the agreement.
303	303	(c) An election called under Subsection (b)(2) may be held
304	304	as part of the next regularly scheduled general election for the
305	305	municipality or at a special election called by the governing body
306	306	for that purpose. The ballot shall be printed to allow voting for
307	307	or against the proposition: "Repeal the meet and confer agreement
308	308	ratified on _____ (date agreement was ratified) by the __________
309	309	(name of the governing body of the municipality) and the _____ (name
310	310	of the recognized employee association) concerning wages,
311	311	salaries, rates of pay, hours of work, and other terms of
312	312	employment."
313	313	(d) If a majority of the votes cast at the election favor the
314	314	repeal of the agreement, the agreement is void.
315	315	Sec. 149.017. AGREEMENT SUPERSEDES CONFLICTING PROVISIONS.
316	316	A written meet and confer agreement ratified under this chapter
317	317	preempts, during the term of the agreement and to the extent of any
318	318	conflict, all contrary state statutes, local ordinances, executive
319	319	orders, civil service provisions, or rules adopted by this state or
320	320	a political subdivision or agent of this state, including a
321	321	personnel board, civil service commission, or home-rule
322	322	municipality, other than a statute, ordinance, executive order,
323	323	civil service provision, or rule regarding pensions or
324	324	pension-related matters.
325	325	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
326	326	* * * * *