Houston City Council approves $1.5 billion deal for firefighters

The Houston City Council on Wednesday approved the $1.5 billion settlement and labor contract with the city’s firefighters union. A deal now requires Mayor John Whitmire to quickly find new sources of revenue to pay for it.

The unanimous vote fulfilled a core promise of Whitmire’s campaign last year and ends a nearly eight-year conflict between the union and the city under former Mayor Sylvester Turner.

“It took a while,” Whitmire said. “It was always going to be a big number and I think we handled it as responsibly as could be expected.”

Tuesday’s approval came after Comptroller Chris Hollins certified the deal Monday evening, ending weeks of uncertainty over whether he would give the deal his City Charter-mandated blessing. The comptroller is required to certify that funding is available for ordinances prior to a council vote committing the city to future financial obligations.

A vote on the collective bargaining agreement was scheduled at last week’s meeting, but Hollins refused to certify the agreement in time for the meeting. He sought clarification on several items related to firefighter pay raises and the legal negotiations that led to the deal, refusing to certify it until the mayor’s office answered his questions.

Without that certification, the board was unable to review the deal last week, but it approved a bond of up to $650 million to pay the settlement and accrued interest over 30 years.

After days of public exchanges, Hollins said he attended a confidential briefing offered by the mayor’s staff in recent days before certifying the deal Monday evening.

“Just as my insistence on doing due diligence should not have been construed as opposition to the deal, my certification today should not be construed as a vote of confidence,” Hollins wrote.

The council debated the agreement for more than an hour before voting as dozens of firefighters looked on in the audience.

After the final vote shortly after noon, firefighters stood and applauded while council members offered their own ovation in return. Several audience members hugged each other and cried.

“It’s good to see them doing the right thing,” said Dyan Thompson, the wife of a firefighter who was on duty during the vote. “He won’t have to work as much. He won’t need to have a second, third, or side job, he will be more at home for our little boys who are growing up wanting to be firefighters.

This is a breaking story and will be updated.

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