13,000 Houston Municipal Workers Win Historic Contract

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.afscme.org/publications/17984.cfm

April 11, 2008

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-uniform civilian workforce.


VOTE ‘YES’! – Houston city workers – members of HOPE – vote on their landmark contract.

Photo Credit: Evan Yeats


The City Council overwhelmingly approved the three-year contract on March 26, five days after the completion of a near-unanimous ratification vote taken over two weeks by members of HOPE, a partnership formed between AFSCME and SEIU. Among the contract’s key provisions:

* An immediate, across-the-board 3 percent raise for all employees, followed by annual 3 percent hikes starting in fiscal 2010.
* An immediate $9.50 hourly minimum wage that will rise to $10 an hour by September 2009.
* A “performance pay pool” that will fund merit-pay increases based on employee reviews.
* Worker/management consultation committees to promote better communications 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, says he’s worked for this landmark achievement for two decades. As a member of the contract negotiating team, he’s especially proud of the accomplishment. He observes:

FULL story at link.