Judge orders arbitration between Houston and its firefighters’ union

Mayor-elect John Whitmire pledged to drop the city’s remaining legal challenges against the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association, raising hopes that an end to the years-long labor dispute may be nearing its end.

Houston firefighters respond to a fire at the Main Street Market at 901 Main Street in downtown Houston. Taken on October 17, 2019.

Houston Public Media
ANDREW SCHNEIDER
POSTED ON DECEMBER 18, 2023, 8:00 AM

District Court Judge Lauren Reeder has ordered the city of Houston to settle a years-long labor dispute with its firefighters' union out of court. Incoming mayor John Whitmire has pledged to drop any further legal challenges.

"It is a vindication for what the men and women (of the Houston Fire Department) have had to go through and their families," said Marty Lancton, president of the Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association.

Houston firefighters have been working without a contract for seven years, as Mayor Sylvester Turner fought demands for higher pay, both in the courts and through a citywide referendum. Lancton said the firefighters' morale is at an all-time low, while turnover is at a record high.

"We are down 500 firefighters from where we were in 2010," Lancton said. "We are running nearly twice as many calls. That is a huge concern for the safety of the citizens of Houston, who absolutely should be able to rely, on their worst day, when they dial 911, you have adequate resources staffed with personnel on the apparatus and the equipment."

Earlier this year, then-State Senator John Whitmire authored a law, Senate Bill 736, requiring the city to go to binding arbitration with its firefighters. Now Houston's mayor-elect, Whitmire pledged during his victory speech earlier this month that he will drop the remaining legal challenges against the union on his first day in office.

Houston City Attorney Arturo Michel issued a statement implying Judge Reeder's ruling would not put the city on the hook for years of back pay.

"Although the court found that Senate Bill 736 was constitutional, it also found that the legislation is not retroactive," Michel said. "As a result, it determined that the lawsuit requiring collective bargaining for fiscal year 2018 that is pending before the court cannot be converted into an arbitration at the request of the Union."

Turner has repeatedly argued that firefighters' pay demands are unreasonable and could potentially endanger the city's fiscal health. Lancton disagreed.

"What this mayor is doing is that he is not paying his bill," he said. “And if you don't pay your bill when the bill is due, you don't come to the Houston firefighters and paramedics and tell them that because we didn't pay our bill, it's your fault."

Lancton expressed confidence that Whitmire will deal more fairly with the firefighters' union than he said Turner has. "This story here in Houston, Texas should be something that everybody around the nation takes notice of and realizes that rights of workers, especially public safety workers, matter," Lancton said.