10.2190/WXQN-0BCU-YAQF-PJY6 WXQN0BCUYAQFPJY6 0 Municipal Labor Relations In a Legislative Void: The Texas Case 20020509 20020509 20020509 20020509 http://baywood.metapress.com/link.asp?target=contribution&id=WXQN0BCUYAQFPJY6 2 I. B. HELBURN The presence of severe restrictions against collective bargaining by public employees in Texas has led to the development of substitutes and supplements to bargaining. Two patterns of arriving at wages and working conditions are described: the persuasive-political process and the negotiation process. Also reviewed are the implications of these methods, the use of informal grievance procedures in preference to the written steps, and the fact that legal strike penalties are not often or severely imposed. The advent of legalized bargaining is seen as a certainty with its ramifications dependent on present attitudes and the nature of such legislation, whether mandatory or permissive.