Colleen DeGuzman
Houston City Council in a 14-0 vote with one absence approved its historic $1.5 billion settlement and labor contract with the Houston firefighters union covering years of back pay owed to firefighters, ending a nearly decade-long contract stalemate between the two entities.
Part of the settlement includes $650 million in backpay to firefighters who have been working without a contract since 2016, which taxpayers will be paying off for at least the next 25 years. The City council approved bonds to pay for the settlement last week. It will also cover up to 34% in raises over the contract’s duration, which is the next five years.
The long-awaited vote on Tuesday came after a two-week stalemate between Mayor John Whitmire and City Controller Chris Hollins, Houston’s chief financial officer. Hollins has to certify funding for ordinances before city council can vote on future financial expenses. After the mayor had responded to Hollin’s 10-page letter with 44 questions about the deal last week, Hollins greenlit the settlement on Monday evening.
“I understand that it’s expensive, it was always going to be expensive but we’re not recruiting additional firefighters,” Whitmire said, noting that the department’s last cadet class graduated just 31 firefighters, meanwhile it usually has class sizes of around 100.
Back pay is available to both active and retired firefighters, and for those who have died in the line of duty since 2017, their families will be receiving their owed pay.
It was a day many firefighters had been waiting on for years. Many came to City Hall to witness the decision and once Whitmire hit his gavel, dozens of firefighters clapped and cheered.
“This is a historic day! I urge Houston firefighters and their families to relish this well-deserved victory,” Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association President Patrick M. “Marty” Lancton wrote in a press release. “For eight long years you have preserved through immense challenges while continuing to protect and serve our community.”
He added that he considers city council’s decision as “recognition of our sacrifices and a commitment to providing the resources needed to continue serving Houston with dedication and pride.”
Firefighters who are owed back pay will receive it in July, and the new five-year contract will become effective when the new fiscal year starts on July 1. Reaching a settlement was one of Whitmire’s campaign promises.
“You see these men and women and their families here today, we’re giving them not only hope,” Whitmire said, “we’re giving them real terms.”
The deal makes firefighter’s temporary 18% pay increases permanent and will be compounded with a 10% increase on July 1. Their new contract also outlines new benefits, such as opportunities for bonuses and paid holidays.
Although the vote received support from all council members present (Council Member Abbie Kamin was absent), it didn’t come without debate between city council members and the mayor.
City Council Member Edward Pollard has been the most vocal critic of the settlement and at the meeting, he clashed with the mayor about how the settlement will fit in Houston’s tight budget.
Pollard asked the city’s attorney, Arturo Michel, to iron out a few details about the settlement, such as the types of additional payments firefighters will receive, such as paramedic pay and higher classification pay.
Whitmire said time to seal the settlement with the city’s firefighter union is running out because hurricane season is underway and if it were to be stalled any longer, they could risk having to go to court with them.
Pollard asked the mayor to expand on how he plans to pay for the settlement, but Whitmire snapped back saying “I could go on and on on specific proposals but you and I know you’d work against to try to gut it,” he said. “That’s all you’re doing today, you’re doing a good job of trying to gut the agreement.”
Pollard responded by saying he was “asking questions for clarification,” and later added, “there’s a reason why they put microphones in front of us, it’s to ask questions.”
Council Member Martha Castex-Tatum told the mayor that this is a difficult decision for city council to make since they haven’t been involved in negotiation conversations.
“We didn’t sit in the negotiations through this administration but the people of Houston are depending on us to make a decision,” she said. “And that’s a tough decision to be in because I didn’t get to negotiate it, but I got to vote it up or down.”
Castex-Tatum added that although she and others believe firefighters deserve the backpay and the labor contract, they need to be cautious of the city’s financial commitments.
“You said you wanted to put this behind us and I think we all want to put it behind us, but we also don’t want to put the city in a financial position that we can not afford to pay,” she said.
