Bill

SB 1968

84(R) - 2015
Senate State Affairs
Senate State Affairs
Labor
State Affairs

Vote Recommendation

Yes
  • Neutral
  • Positive
  • Neutral
  • Neutral
  • Positive

Author(s)

Joan Huffman

Bill Caption

Relating to the organization of public employees.

Fiscal Notes

No significant fiscal implication to the State or local government.

Bill Analysis

SB 1968 would make changes to Government Code concerning the organization of public employees, that is. their participation in labor unions.

SB 1968 would make changes to only allow law enforcement, firefighters, and emergency services personnel to be eligible for the automatic collection of union dues from their respective paychecks by defining 'covered employee' as such. Section 403.0165 would be amended to make non substantive changes by adding in 'covered' before employee regarding payroll deduction for state employee organizations. Section 617.006 would be added to explicitly prohibit collection of labor dues from paychecks except for the previously defined exceptions.

SB 1968 would amend Labor Code to provide explicitly that a member of a trade union or any other organization acting in any capacity, unless authorized to perform an inspection, may not enter the premises of another without consent of the owner. Though code already prohibits picketing at or near an employer when there is no labor dispute, another provision would be added to state that the prohibition stands "regardless of whether the premises are temporarily or permanently occupied by the employees of another employer with whom a labor dispute does exist."

Other conforming changes would be made to comply with the changes made by SB 1968 regarding payroll deduction.

Vote Recommendation Notes

This bill would strengthen the principles of property rights, individual liberty, and limited government, therefore we support this legislation. By removing automatic deduction for union dues, this would safeguard employees' rights to decide if they want to participate in this type of organization. Similar legislation has been passed in Wisconsin and Michigan that has helped strengthen workers' rights in this area. Additionally, this protects owners of businesses by preventing unauthorized individuals who have a vested interest in the outcome of an inspection from accompanying regulators on inspections. Activists with a political agenda should not be able to manipulate regulatory inspections in the furtherance of their agenda. Prohibiting this behavior is a clear step in the direction of limited government. For these reasons, we support SB 1968.