In this chapter:
(1) “Covered employee” means an employee of a municipality, other than a department head or a firefighter or police officer who is covered by Subchapter H, I, or J of Chapter 143 or by Chapter 174.
(2) “Employee association” means an organization in which municipal employees participate and that exists for the purpose, wholly or partly, of dealing with one or more employers, whether public or private, concerning grievances, labor disputes, wages, rates of pay, hours of employment, or conditions of work affecting public employees and whose members pay dues by means of an automatic payroll deduction.
(3) “Public employer” means any municipality or agency, board, commission, or political subdivision controlled by a municipality that is required to establish the wages, salaries, rates of pay, hours, working conditions, and other terms and conditions of employment of public employees. The term may include, under appropriate circumstances, a mayor, manager, administrator of a municipality, municipal governing body, director of personnel, personnel board, or one or more other officials regardless of the name by which they are designated.