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.