HOPE and Houston come to an agreement

A bit of non-primary news for right now while I'm crunching numbers, courtesy of HOPE:

We are pleased to announce that the City of Houston and the Houston Organization of Public Employees (HOPE) have reached a tentative agreement in contract negotiations. This fiscally responsible agreement reflects each party's commitment to delivering quality public services to all Houston residents while ensuring fair compensation for every city worker.

When the agreement is ratified by employees and approved by the city council, Houston will be the first Texas city to establish a meet and confer agreement with its civilian employees. Highlights of the three-year agreement include:

- A pay package ensuring that every city employee will make at least $10 an hour by September 2009.

- Additional performance-based compensation based principally on Employee Performance Evaluations.

- The creation of city-wide and departmental labor-management committees that will encourage employees and supervisors to work together to improve city services.

Good to hear. I look forward to this agreement getting formally ratified.

Posted by Charles Kuffner on March 05, 2008 to Local politics