Texas – Thousands of Municipal Workers Win First Contract

Houston

Voting 'Yes'! – Houston city workers — members of HOPE — vote on their contract. 

Photo Credit: Evan Yeats

More than 13,000 Houston city employees, represented by the Houston Organization of Public Employees (HOPE)/AFSCME Local 57, have won the first-ever contract between a Texas city and its non-uniformed civilian workforce.

The City Council overwhelmingly approved the three-year contract in March, days after the near-unanimous ratification vote by members of HOPE, a partnership formed between AFSCME and the Service Employees International Union.

The contract’s key provisions include an immediate, across-the-board 3 percent raise for all employees, followed by annual 3 percent hikes starting in fiscal 2010; a $9.50/hour minimum wage that will rise to $10 by September 2009; a “performance pay pool” that will fund merit-pay increases; and the establishment of worker/management consultation committees to promote better communication and strengthen city services.

Willie Moore, a systems support analyst for the Department of Public Works and Engineering and a former president of AFSCME Local 1550, has worked for this landmark achievement for two decades. As a member of the contract negotiating team, he’s especially proud. “This is a tremendous deal,” he says. “It’s a gratifying feeling knowing that perseverance counts. If you believe in the system and the solidarity of the union, you will succeed.”

A critical issue that emerged during 11 months of negotiations was whether managers should be covered by the contract. The city didn’t want to include them, “but we insisted” that they should be, says Moore. The union prevailed. 
Now, all managers other than department directors are included.

HOPE was established in 2006 after AFSCME successfully lobbied the state legislature to extend “meet-and-confer” rights to city workers, giving them the same rights as police and firefighters.