Turner Defends Stance On Prop B, Collective Bargaining

HOUSTON — Mayor Sylvester Turner released an open letter to Houstonians addressing Proposition B as it relates to pay and benefits for Houston Firefighters. Voters approved Proposition B, even though many, including Turner, the Houston Police Officer's Union, and Houston Fire Chief Sam Pena all spoke out against the measure.

Turner, who has expressed an interest in negotiating with the Houston Professional Firefighters Association, has said implementing Prop. B would place the city in dire financial straits.

"Prior to and after the passage of Prop B, the city’s finance department and the Controller’s Office said the costs would exceed $100 million a year," Turner said in his letter. "Because no funding source was included in Prop B. and the City is required to balance its books by June 30th of each year, the implementation of the voter approved measure places the City in a dilemma..."

That dilemma includes a reduction in personnel and services within the fire serve and possibly other departments.

In his letter, Turner addressed a number of issues including the lawsuits filed by the Houston Police Officer's Union, and the Houston Police Officer's Association in 2018, and the suit filed against the city by the Houston Professional Fire Fighters’ Association, Local 341, the firefighters' union in 2017, seeking a pay raise.

"...the union, not the City, walked away from the collective bargaining table. The union ignored the City’s requests that it return to the table. The union sued the City and asked a state court judge to set (not negotiate) all employment terms," Turner said. "The City is not mounting a broadside attack, constitutional or otherwise, on the Fire and Police Employee Relations Act (FPERA). In fact, the City wants the firefighters’ union to return to the bargaining table so that a Judge is not asked to set pay without reference to any standards."

RELATED: Tony Buzbee Pounces After Teacher's Union Dumps Mayor Turner

Turner, who lost the support of the Houston Federation of Teachers last week, said that he has always supported collective bargaining, and cited his legislative record

"Lastly, if an agreement cannot be reached with the union to phase in the costs of Prop B over multiple years and if the court does not timely rule on the legality of Prop B, the City is already defining parity between police and fire, re-programming its systems and preparing for a reduction in force as needed to balance the budget," Turner said.

On Jan. 15, the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association, IAFF Local 341 and Intervenor-Plaintiffs Patrick “Marty” Lancton, Gabriel Angel Dominguez, Roy Anthony Cormier, Brian Ray Wilcox, and Delance Shaw filed brand new claims in the 2018 HPOU litigation against new parties: Mayor Sylvester Turner, Finance Director Tantri Emo, Controller Chris Brown, and all elected city council members. The firefighters and their union seek the immediate implementation of Prop B.

"We love and respect our firefighters and want them to be appropriately compensated. Having said that, I don’t believe the voters intended to place our City in financial turmoil, cause our credit rating to tumble and increase the costs of City debt," Turner said. "We must work together to find a path forward no matter how bumpy the course or how hot the rhetoric. There is just too much at stake.

(For more news and information like this, subscribe to Patch for free. If you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app; download the free Patch Android app here.)

Send your news tips and story ideas to bryan.kirk@patch.com