By: RodrÃguez Ramos H.B. No. 5031
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to labor unions and workers' rights.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 101.001, Labor Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 101.001. RIGHT TO ORGANIZE. All persons engaged in any
kind of labor may associate and form trade unions and other
organizations to protect themselves [in their personal labor in
their respective employment].
SECTION 2. Section 101.003, Labor Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 101.003. RIGHT TO BARGAIN. A person's inherent right
to organize [work] and to bargain freely with the person's
employer[, individually or] collectively[,] for terms of the
person's employment may not be denied or infringed by law or by any
organization.
SECTION 3. Section 101.101(1), Labor Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(1) "Enforcement officer" means the [attorney
general,] district attorney[,] or county attorney.
SECTION 4. Sections 101.102(a) and (b), Labor Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) The legislature finds that [because] the activities of
labor unions benefit [affect] the economic conditions of the
country and the state [by entering into almost all business and
industrial enterprises, labor unions affect the public interest and
are charged with a public use].
(b) Workers and labor unions must be protected [without
regard to whether they are unionized]. The right to organize [work]
is the right to live.
SECTION 5. Section 101.103(a), Labor Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) This subchapter shall be liberally construed to:
(1) achieve the purposes provided by Section 101.102;
and
(2) protect the rights of labor unions and of working
persons to work and to organize for their mutual benefit in
connection with their work.
SECTION 6. Section 101.115, Labor Code, is amended to read
as follows:
Sec. 101.115. CONSTRUCTION OF FEE RESTRICTIONS. Sections
[101.111,] 101.113[,] and 101.114 may not be construed as
preventing any type of bargaining agreement or limiting the
bargaining power of a labor union.
SECTION 7. Section 101.123(b), Labor Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) An offense under this section is a misdemeanor
punishable by[:
[(1)] a fine of not more than $500[;
[(2) confinement in the county jail for not more than
60 days; or
[(3) both the fine and confinement].
SECTION 8. The following provisions are repealed:
(1) Sections 101.004, 101.109, 101.111, 101.112, and
101.117, Labor Code;
(2) Subchapters B, D, E, F, and G, Chapter 101, Labor
Code; and
(3) Section 15.05(e), Business & Commerce Code.
SECTION 9. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
conduct that occurs on or after the effective date of this Act.
Conduct that occurs before the effective date of this Act is
governed by the law in effect immediately before the effective date
of this Act, and the former law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.