Tony Buzbee Pounces After Teacher's Union Dumps Mayor Turner

HOUSTON — A day after Houston Federation of Teachers pulled their support for Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner, Mayoral candidate Tony Buzbee is calling on other city unions to follow their lead.

On Thursday, the teacher's union, which is the largest in the city, rescinded its support for Turner citing Turner's public fight over the Proposition B with the Houston Professional Firefighters Association.

Board officials said Turner had demonstrated efforts to "win at any cost" against firefighters and Prop B voters and his "challenging the right of public employees to collectively bargain." Educators are "collateral damage" in the mayor's political fight against firefighters.

"Sylvester Turner says one thing, but does another," Buzbee said. "At Turner’s instruction, the city filed paperwork seeking to disallow collective bargaining, the entire underpinning of the Union. That paperwork is public record for all to see. Despite his claim that he supports unions and the collective bargaining process, all union members should know that they have no friend in Sylvester Turner. The constant refrain I hear as I speak to people all over the city is that Turner has turned his back on most of the individuals and entities who elected him.”

According to The HFT, in an appeal currently pending before the 14th Court of Appeals, "the city has challenged the constitutionality of collective bargaining for public employees.” It is this unprecedented move by the city that lead the HFT to withdraw its support. “We understand that the Mayor has a job to do to defend the city, but it feels like we were thrown under the bus in an effort to win at any cost. . . . We call upon the mayor to drop the appeal . . . And implement Prop B.”

If the city were to be successful in its efforts to hold collective bargaining unconstitutional, such a ruling would call into question the viability of all unions in Houston.

“This mayor has proven time and again he will betray those who support him,” Buzbee said. "I’m asking all unions to reevaluate whether Sylvester Turner is someone who warrants support from those, like me, who understand the importance of the collective bargaining process. My father was a union meat cutter. Unions are all that working people have to at least give them a fighting chance for fairness in the workplace. I’m asking that all unions in the city dump Turner—he will betray you just like he has betrayed the firefighters. As your next mayor, I will never turn my back on working people. If this mayor truly supports collective bargaining, he should drop that appeal, now.”

(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