Chapter 174 of the Texas Local Government Code authorizes cities to adopt provisions allowing collective bargaining for police officers and firefighters. The collective bargaining process commonly involves the negotiation of a comprehensive written agreement between a city and its public safety employee representatives. These collective bargaining agreements can have a significant impact on the city administration’s control over police and fire department operations and the city’s financial position.
A thorough understanding of the statutes, constitutional provisions, and common law principles that regulate the operation of local government is crucial to the negotiation of a collective bargaining agreement that protects the city’s authority to properly and effectively manage its public safety operations and its financial affairs. That same understanding is also important to the resolution of issues that may arise in the interpretation and enforcement of labor agreements that are already in existence.
Our lawyers have significant experience in advising the firm’s municipal clients on a wide variety of employment and operational issues that arise in the context of the collective bargaining process.
At Olson & Olson LLP, we have committed ourselves to representing the unique interests of local government and to preserving the governing authority of city councils and city managers. We believe that preservation of local governing authority is particularly important in the area of collective bargaining, and we stand ready to assist our clients in collective bargaining matters.
