By: Dukes H.B. No. 2078
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the right of certain municipalities 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 A, Title 5, Local Government Code, is
amended by adding Chapter 148 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 148. LOCAL CONTROL OF MUNICIPAL EMPLOYMENT MATTERS IN
CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES
Sec. 148.001. APPLICABILITY. (a) This chapter applies
only to a municipality with a population of 750,000 or more that is
primarily located in a county with a population of 1.5 million or
less.
(b) This chapter does not apply to:
(1) firefighters or police officers who are covered by
Subchapter I, Chapter 143;
(2) emergency medical services personnel; or
(3) an employee association in which employees
described by Subdivisions (1) and (2) participate.
Sec. 148.002. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Appointed employee" means any municipal employee
appointed by the municipality's governing body.
(2) "Covered employee" means an employee of a
municipality, other than:
(A) an appointed employee;
(B) a city manager, an assistant city manager, or
a professional executive assistant to a city manager or assistant
city manager;
(C) an employee who holds an executive-level
position;
(D) a cadet or trainee enrolled in a training
program for police officers, firefighters, or emergency medical
services personnel;
(E) an employee designated under Section 148.010
as a bargaining agent for the municipality; and
(F) an employee designated as exempt from the
bargaining unit by the mutual agreement of the recognized employee
association and the public employer.
(3) "Emergency medical services personnel" has the
meaning assigned by Section 142.152(2).
(4) "Employee association" means an organization in
which municipal employees 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.
(5) "Public employer" means any municipality or
agency, board, commission, or political subdivision controlled by a
municipality that is required to establish the wages, salaries,
rates of pay, hours, working conditions, and other terms and
conditions of employment of public employees. The term may
include, under appropriate circumstances, a mayor, manager,
administrator of a municipality, municipal governing body,
director of personnel, personnel board, or one or more other
officials regardless of the name by which they are designated.
Sec. 148.003. GENERAL PROVISIONS RELATING TO AGREEMENTS AND
RECOGNITION. (a) A municipality 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 municipal employees. The applicable statutes, local
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 statute.
Sec. 148.004. PETITION FOR RECOGNITION: ELECTION OR ACTION
BY GOVERNING BODY. (a) Not later than the 30th day after the date
the governing body of a municipality receives from an employee
association a petition signed by the majority of all covered
employees that requests recognition of the association as the sole
and exclusive bargaining agent for all the covered employees, the
governing body 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 municipality under Section 148.006;
(2) defer granting recognition of the association and
order an election by the voters in the municipality under Section
148.006 regarding whether a public employer may meet and confer
under this chapter; or
(3) order a certification election under Section
148.005 to determine whether the association represents a majority
of the covered employees.
(b) If the governing body of a municipality orders a
certification election under Subsection (a)(3) and the employee
association named in the petition is certified to represent a
majority of the covered employees, the governing body shall, not
later than the 30th day after the date 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 municipality under Section 148.006; or
(2) defer granting recognition of the association and
order an election by the voters in the municipality under Section
148.006 regarding whether a public employer may meet and confer
under this chapter.
Sec. 148.005. CERTIFICATION ELECTION. (a) Except as
provided by Subsection (b), a certification election ordered under
Section 148.004(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) The employee 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. 148.006. ELECTION TO AUTHORIZE OPERATING UNDER THIS
CHAPTER. (a) The governing body of a municipality that receives a
petition for recognition under Section 148.004 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 municipal
officials that is held after the date the governing body of the
municipality 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 municipality) to operate under
the state law allowing a municipality to meet and confer and make
agreements with the association representing municipal employees
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 municipality 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
employee association may not submit a petition for recognition to
the governing body of the municipality under Section 148.004 before
the second anniversary of the date of the election.
Sec. 148.007. CHANGE OR MODIFICATION OF RECOGNITION. (a)
The municipal employees may modify or change the recognition of the
employee association granted under this chapter by filing with the
governing body of the municipality a petition signed by a majority
of all covered employees.
(b) The governing body of the municipality may:
(1) recognize the change or modification as provided
by the petition; or
(2) order a certification election in accordance with
Section 148.005 regarding whether to do so.
Sec. 148.008. STRIKES PROHIBITED. (a) A municipal
employee may not engage in a strike or organized work stoppage
against this state or the municipality.
(b) A municipal 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
municipality.
(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. 148.009. RECOGNITION OF EMPLOYEE ASSOCIATION. (a) A
public employer in a municipality that chooses to meet and confer
under this chapter shall recognize an employee association that is
recognized under Section 148.004 or 148.005 as the sole and
exclusive bargaining agent for the covered employees.
(b) The public employer shall recognize the employee
association until recognition of the association is modified or
changed, in accordance with Section 148.007, by a majority of the
municipal employees eligible to sign a petition for recognition.
Sec. 148.010. 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 municipal employees.
(b) An employee association may designate one or more
persons to negotiate or bargain on the association's behalf. An
employee association may not designate as one of its bargaining
agents any person employed as an attorney for the public employer.
(c) A municipality's bargaining unit is composed of all the
covered employees.
Sec. 148.011. 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 United States Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission or to pursue affirmative action
litigation.
Sec. 148.012. OPEN RECORDS. (a) A proposed meet and confer
agreement and a document prepared and used by the municipality,
including a public employer, 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
governing body of the municipality.
(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. 148.013. OPEN DELIBERATIONS. (a) Deliberations
relating to a meet and confer agreement or proposed agreement under
this chapter between representatives of the public employer 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 public employer 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. 148.014. RATIFICATION AND ENFORCEABILITY OF
AGREEMENT. (a) An agreement under this chapter is enforceable and
binding on the public employer, the recognized employee
association, and the employees covered by the meet and confer
agreement only if:
(1) the governing body of the municipality 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 voted in the election and 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 municipality 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. 148.015. ACTION OR ELECTION TO REPEAL AUTHORIZATION TO
OPERATE UNDER THIS CHAPTER. (a) The governing body of a
municipality that granted recognition of an employee association
under Section 148.004 without conducting an election under Section
148.006 may withdraw recognition of the association by providing to
the association not less than 90 days' written notice that:
(1) the governing body is withdrawing recognition of
the association; and
(2) any agreement between the governing body and the
association will not be renewed.
(b) The governing body of a municipality that granted
recognition of an employee association after conducting an election
under Section 148.006 may order an election to determine whether a
public employer may continue to meet and confer under this chapter.
The governing body may not order an election under this subsection
until the second anniversary of the date of the election under
Section 148.006.
(c) An election ordered under Subsection (b) must be held as
part of the next regularly scheduled general election for municipal
officers that occurs after the date the governing body of the
municipality 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 municipality) to continue to
operate under the state law allowing a municipality to meet and
confer and make agreements with the association representing
municipal employees 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
municipality 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
employee association may not submit a petition for recognition to
the governing body of the municipality under Section 148.004 before
the second anniversary of the date of the election.
Sec. 148.016. ELECTION TO REPEAL AGREEMENT. (a) Not later
than the 45th day after the date a meet and confer agreement is
ratified by the governing body of the municipality 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 municipality 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
governing body of the municipality 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
municipality or at a special election called by the governing body
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 governing body of the municipality) and the _____ (name
of the recognized municipal 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. 148.017. 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 ordinances, executive
orders, civil service provisions, or rules adopted by this state or
a political subdivision or agent of this state, including a
personnel board, civil service commission, or home-rule
municipality, other than a statute, ordinance, executive order,
civil service provision, or rule regarding pensions or
pension-related matters.
Sec. 148.018. ARBITRATION. The governing body of a
municipality may submit to interest arbitration any issues that
were the subject of negotiation between the municipality and the
employee association. An award or decision by an arbitrator is not
binding on the municipality until it is adopted by the
municipality's governing body.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017
.