Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
Houston Herald
City workers vote to unionize
By Herald Staff,
2024-05-24
City of Houston employees voted unanimously this week to join the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW 753) union out of Springfield. Four eligible employees did not vote.
Those voting – 19 – did not include the electric department, which previously joined the union, the police department, city clerk and parks and recreation director.
The electric department is in ongoing litigation with the city to determine the details for the start of its union negotiations. The police department is in litigation to determine the date of its vote to unionize. The Missouri Department of Labor and Industrial Relations ruled that the clerk and parks and recreation director are not eligible to unionize. Lloyd Wells, administrator, is not included as well due to having administrative duties, said Mayor Viki Narancich.
Narancich, Don Romines, Ward III alderman; Sam Kelley, Ward I alderman; and Sean Smith, city attorney met with special counsel, Ivan Schraeder of St. Louis, Friday morning to discuss their next steps. Romines, Kelley and Sheila Walker, Ward II alderwoman, make up the city’s union committee. The city will now wait for IBEW 753 to reach out to begin negotiations. Schraeder represents the city.
“The city is ready to work with IBEW 753 to help our employees attain the stability and structure they want,” said Narancich.
Moving forward, the electric department and the most recently unionized group will each have their own memorandum of understandings (MOUs) that determine their personnel handbook, wages and other related matters, said Narancich.
Employees have stated at meetings that they want stability within the city, primarily concerning their pay scale, personnel handbook and insurance.
IBEW 753 represents six other groups, including City Utilities of Springfield, White River Valley Electric Cooperative, City of Nixa, City of Lebanon, City of Springfield Craft, Trades and Labor (CTL’s) and City of Springfield Professional, Administrative and Technical. These recent unionizations mark the first instance within the city.
The IBEW represents active members and retirees who work in a wide variety of fields, including utilities, construction, telecommunications, broadcasting, manufacturing, railroads and government.
A meeting previously scheduled for Tuesday, May 28 between city employees and officials has been postponed. All matters will now go into union negotiations.
Get updates delivered to you daily. Free and customizable.
It’s essential to note our commitment to transparency:
Our Terms of Use acknowledge that our services may not always be error-free, and our Community Standards emphasize our discretion in enforcing policies. As a platform hosting over 100,000 pieces of content published daily, we cannot pre-vet content, but we strive to foster a dynamic environment for free expression and robust discourse through safety guardrails of human and AI moderation.
Comments / 0