DISCIPLINARY ACTION AGAINST STRIKING EMPLOYEES
Memphis Home Rule Amendments, Ord. No. 2766
in effectORDINANCE NO. 2766 [DISCIPLINARY ACTION AGAINST STRIKING EMPLOYEES]
Adopted ..... | September 5, 1978
Referendum Election ..... | Nov. 7, 1978
AN ORDINANCE TO AMEND THE CHARTER OF THE CITY OF MEMPHIS, SAME BEING CHAPTER 11 OF THE ACTS OF 1879, AS AMENDED, PURSUANT THE PROVISIONS OF ARTICLE 11, SECTION 9, OF THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE OF TENNESSEE (HOME RULE AMENDMENT) SO AS TO PROVIDE FOR DISCIPLINARY ACTION AGAINST STRIKING EMPLOYEES, AND TO SUBMIT THE PROPOSED ORDINANCE TO THE QUALIFIED VOTERS OF THE CITY OF MEMPHIS AT THE FIRST GENERAL STATE ELECTION TO BE HELD NOVEMBER 7, 1978.
Section 1.
BE IT ORDAINED BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF MEMPHIS, TENNESSEE, That, pursuant to Section 9, Article 11, of the Constitution of the State of Tennessee, as amended, the following proposal shall be published and submitted by the City of Memphis, to its qualified voters at the first general state election, and which shall be held in the City of Memphis on November 7, 1978, and which shall be held at least sixty (60) days after such publication.
QUESTION:
Shall the Home Rule Charter of the City of Memphis, Tennessee, be amended by including a "Disciplinary Action Against Striking Employees" section, to read as follows:
"Whereas the people of the City of Memphis desire that all negotiation of employment agreements between the City of Memphis and its employees be conducted in a spirit of good faith and with the intent to reach an equitable agree-ment in a reasonable period of time, and the people of the City of Memphis hereby find that the instigation of or participation in strikes against said city by any officer or employee of said city constitutes a serious threat to the lives, property and welfare of the citizens of said city and hereby declare as follows:
"(1) The City Council shall, by ordinance, set up procedures for arbitration of economic issues of municipal labor disputes by the Council or a Committee of the Council, and establish rules and procedure therefor; provided, however, neither the Council nor any Committee thereof shall engage in arbitration of economic issues of municipal labor disputes unless and until there has occurred an impasse on a total economic package, which impasse remains deadlocked for seven (7) consecutive days.
"(2) As used in this section the word "strike" shall mean the willful failure to report for duty, the willful absence from one's position, any concerted stoppage or slowdown of work, any concerted interruption of operations of services by employees, or the willful abstinence in whole or in part from the full, faithful and proper performance of the duties of employment; provided, however, that nothing contained in this section shall be construed to limit, impair or affect the right of any municipal employee to express or communicate a view, grievance, complaint, or opinion on any matter related to the conditions or compensation of municipal employment, or their betterment, so long as the same is not designed to and does not interfere with the full, faithful and proper performance of the duties of employment.
"(3) No person holding a position by appointment or employment under direct supervision of the Mayor, City Court Clerk, or City Judges, which persons are hereinafter referred to as municipal employees, shall strike, nor shall any municipal employee cause, instigate, or afford leadership to a strike against the City of Memphis. For the purpose of this section, any municipal employee who willfully fails to report for duty, is willfully absent from his or her position, willfully engages in a work stoppage or slowdown, willfully interrupts city operations or services, or in any way willfully abstains in whole or in part from the full, faithful, and proper performance of the duties of his or her employment because such municipal employee is "honoring" a strike, shall be deemed to be on strike. Any municipal employee who participates in a strike as herein defined shall be conclusively deemed to have resigned his appointment or employment with the City; provided, however, nothing herein shall infringe upon any individual's rights under the Civil Service provisions of this Charter. For the purposes of this Section, the members of the Civil Service Board are hereby established as a special hearing Board of the City of Memphis for the purpose of hearing appeals of employees not covered by civil service or grievance procedure and determining if a strike occurred, and if petitioner before the Board participated in such strike.
"(4) No person exercising any authority, supervision, or direction over any municipal employee shall have the power to authorize, approve, or consent to a strike by any one or more municipal employees, and such person shall not authorize, approve, or consent to such strike. No officer, board, commission, or committee of the City of Memphis shall have the power to grant amnesty to any person who has violated any of the provisions of this section, and such officer or bodies shall not grant amnesty to any person who has violated any of the provisions of this section.
"(5) Notwithstanding any other provisions of law, a person violating any of the provisions of this section may subsequent to such violation be appointed or reappointed, employed or re-employed as a municipal employee of the City of Memphis but only on the following conditions:
"(a) Such person shall be appointed or reappointed, employed or re-employed as a new appointee or employee, who is appointed or re-employed in accordance with all charter provisions, ordinances, rules or regulations of said city in effect for new employees at the time of appointment, reappointment, employment, or re-employment;
"(b) The compensation of such person shall not be increased by virtue of any previous employment with said city.
"(6) In order to bring the provisions of this section to the attention of any person who may be affected thereby, each municipal employee on the effective date of this section, and each person appointed or employed as a municipal employee pursuant to the civil service provisions of this Charter, on or after the effective date of this section shall be furnished a copy of this section and shall acknowledge such receipt in writing. The signed, written receipt shall be filed in the office of the Civil Service Commission and maintained therein for the term of his or her employment with the City of Memphis.
"(7) If any clause, sentence, paragraph, subsection, or part of this section shall be adjudged by any court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, such judgment shall not affect, impair, or invalidate the remainder thereof, but shall be confined in its operation to the clause, sentence, paragraph, subsection, or part thereof directly involved in the controversy in which such judgment shall have been rendered."
Section 2. Publication of home rule amendment.
BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED, that the Comptroller be and he is hereby directed to cause this proposal (Ordinance) to be published pursuant to the provisions of Article 11, Section 9, of the Constitution of the State of Tennessee.
Section 3. Delivery to Election Commission.
BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED, that the Comptroller of the City of Memphis shall certify the adoption of this Ordinance to the Shelby County Election Commission in charge of holding the first general state election on November 7, 1978, and request that this proposed amendment to the Home Rule Charter of the City of Memphis be placed on the ballot.
Section 4. Proposal and preference.
BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED, that the Comptroller be and he is hereby directed to deliver a copy of this Ordinance to the Shelby County Election Commission, together with a suggested proposal and the following form of preference to be placed on the ballot in an election to be held on the 7th day of November, 1978:
REFERENDUM ON HOME RULE AMENDMENT TO CHARTER OF THE CITY OF MEMPHIS RELATING TO DISCIPLINARY ACTION AGAINST STRIKING EMPLOYEES.
An Ordinance of the City of Memphis adopted on the 5th day of September, 1978, providing for disciplinary action against striking employees.
FOR | (YES) _____
AGAINST | (NO) _____
Section 5. Effective date of amendment.
BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED, that this Ordinance shall take effect for the purposes set forth herein sixty (60) days after approval by a majority of the qualified voters voting thereon in an election to be held on the 7th day of November, 1978, the public welfare requiring it.
Section 6. Certification of results.
BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED, that the Shelby County Election Commission certify to the Comptroller of the City of Memphis the result of said election, who shall see that said results are made a part of the minutes of the Council of the City of Memphis.
Section 7. Nonconflicting, conflicting laws.
BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED, that all laws constituting the present Charter of the City of Memphis, not in conflict with this amendatory Home Rule Ordinance, be and the same are continued in full force and effect, and all laws in conflict therewith are hereby repealed.
Section 8. Severability.
BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED, that if any clause, section, paragraph, sentence, or part of this Ordinance shall be held or declared to be unconstitutional and void, it shall not affect the remaining parts of this Ordinance, it being hereby declared to be the legislative intent to have passed the remainder of this Ordinance notwithstanding the parts so held to be invalid, if any.
Section 9. Enactment of city ordinance.
BE IT FURTHER ORDAINED, that this Ordinance shall take effect from and after the date it shall have been passed by the Council, signed by the Chairman of the Council, certified and delivered to the Office of the Mayor in writing by the Comptroller, and become effective as otherwise provided by law.
GLENN RAINES
Chairman of Council
ATTEST:
ROBERT TAMBOLI, Comptroller
Source: City of Memphis, Code of Ordinances and Charter and Related Laws (Municode Library, library.municode.com)URL: https://library.municode.com/tn/memphis/codes/charter?nodeId=PTIIHORUAM_ORDINANCE_NO._2766_DISCIPLINARY_ACTION_AGAINST_STRIKING_EMPLOYEESFetched: 10/28/2026