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A state district court judge has signed off on a settlement between the city of Houston and the firefighter union, clearing one obstacle for a $1.5 billion deal that remained a work in progress on Thursday.
With little fanfare, 234th District Court Judge Lauren Reeder on Tuesday signed a final judgment approving the settlement – and potentially bringing to a close the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association’s seven-year legal battle with the city.
If all goes well, the fire union hopes to have raises for firefighters kick in July 1. By the end of that month, members would receive back pay settlements that could amount to tens of thousands of dollars.
The settlement still must win approval from City Council and survive a legal challenge from Houston Fire Department command staff who were left out of the settlement, however. Meanwhile, there also are a “handful” of provisions in the union’s proposed five-year contract that have yet to be finalized, according to City Attorney Arturo Michel.
The settlement still has skeptics on Council, as a Thursday budget hearing made clear. The settlement’s practical effect on department operations also remains uncertain, with Houston Fire Chief Samuel Peña acknowledging that the back pay could have the unintended consequence of sparking a short-term exodus.
Final judgment
Reeder’s 43-page judgment includes a recitation of the twists and turns in the litigation between the fire union and former Mayor Sylvester Turner’s administration.
For the better part of a decade, the two sides were unable or unwilling to come to terms on a new union contract and back pay for the years the firefighters worked without one.
In March, however, new Mayor John Whitmire announced he had reached a pact with the fire union settling both back pay and pay raises over the next five years.
The total cost: $1.5 billion, including interest and fees on a bond to cover the back-pay settlement. Whitmire wants to dip into the city’s fund balance to pay for the settlement in next year’s budget, but he has acknowledged that future years will require new revenue, potentially in the form of property taxes or garbage fees.
Reeder’s judgment is only one step in a complicated sequence that must be finished in order to put the settlement into effect by July 1, according to the city legal department. Council must approve refunding bonds for the back pay, along with the collective bargaining agreement and the overall budget that funds it. The city also must secure approval from Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton’s office that the refunding bonds meet legal standards.
Playing spoiler?
Despite Reeder’s “final” judgment, a group of current and former high-ranking Fire Department officials are trying to throw a wrench into the settlement.
The settlement specifically excludes command staff members from receiving back pay, which the group alleges unfairly excludes the assistant fire chiefs nominally represented by the union.
Texas’ 14th Court of Appeals on April 30 denied the command staffers’ request to block Reeder from issuing a judgment, but the group’s larger appeal remains pending.
Citing the confidentiality of the settlement negotiations, the city has for weeks declined to release drafts of the proposed collective bargaining agreement.
At the fire department’s annual budget hearing Thursday, Kamin posed pointed questions about what the collective bargaining agreement contains.
Kamin said that by her reading of the agreement, Mayor John Whitmire would be forced to oust Fire Chief Samuel Peña.
Peña has served through the transition from former Mayor Sylvester Turner to Whitmire despite the enmity of the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association, which backed Whitmire on the campaign trail last year.
Kamin on Thursday asked Peña if the city’s collective bargaining agreement with the firefighters union included a provision that “effectively writes you out of a job as Houston’s fire chief.” Peña said that would have been the case with the initial draft.
Their discussion appeared to focus on a widely-circulated draft of the agreement, which states that the city’s fire chief “shall be selected from the current or retired rank-and-file of the Houston Fire Department having served at least 15 years.”
That language would not apply to Peña, City Attorney Arturo Michel said later Thursday.
“I don’t think it requires his departure,” Michel said, adding that the final language in that section of the agreement still is being hashed out.
Out of a job?
Nevertheless, Kamin’s query highlighted the ongoing secrecy around the collective bargaining agreement, which has not been released to council members or the public in draft form despite being slated to go into effect July 1.
In recent weeks, Whitmire’s council skeptics have bristled at the administration’s refusal to release the agreement. Peña himself has not seen the latest version of the proposed agreement, he said Thursday.
Michel said the city still is negotiating with the fire union over a “handful” of provisions in the collective bargaining agreement. He expects those negotiations to wrap up by no later than the end of next week, with the administration to release the document to the public soon after that.
The fire union has pushed back on the notion the collective bargaining agreement contains any surprises. Marty Lancton, president of the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association, told council members Thursday that he was happy to answer questions about it.
In an interview after the budget hearing, Lancton said he had no objection to the document’s release.
“We have been working with the city to ensure that we are finalizing all the details. But there is nothing secretive about the collective bargaining agreement, other than some individuals wanting to politicize something that is extremely important, not only for the firefighters and their families but the citizens of Houston,” he said.
Attrition issues
The proposed Fire Department budget would boost the funds spent on firefighter pay, thanks to the 10 percent raises envisioned in the first year of the collective bargaining agreement.
The administration projects that next year the number of employees in its mainstay emergency response and rescue division will rise from about 3,500 at present to nearly 3,700 next year, with a corresponding decrease in overtime pay.
Peña left open the possibility the settlement could lead to an exodus from the department, however, as employees receive their long-awaited back pay.
Every year, about a third of the department’s employees are eligible for retirement. Peña said it was possible they could hit the road after they receive payouts by the end of July, as envisioned in the settlement.
Houston currently pays its firefighters much less than similarly sized cities in Texas, according to a recent analysis from City Controller Chris Hollins. Peña said firefighters could take their payouts and leave, or incentive pay could make it more enticing for current firefighters to stick around.
“But that is a concern and that is a risk, and that’s a risk we face every year,” Peña said.
Lancton said the greater threat is an exodus if the city is not able to swiftly approve the settlement.
“I’m more worried about people leaving if we don’t get this done,” he said. “I’m always worried, but I think the point is they’re at their breaking point. They are going to leave.”
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