Harris County has become the first Texas county with a comprehensive labor consultation policy — paving a way for county workers to advocate for higher wages and improved working conditions.
The worker consultations policy was approved 3-1 on Thursday by Harris County Commissioners Court, with Commissioner Tom Ramsey, the lone Republican on the five-member court, opposing the item. County Judge Lina Hidalgo was absent as she was in Europe on a trade mission.
Texas law prohibits most public employees from collective bargaining, with police and fire department unions being exceptions. The approved local policy doesn’t create any contractual rights for employees, and it’s not enforceable against the county.
Instead, supporters of the measure say it makes it easier for county workers to file grievances related to pay, workplace conditions and terminations. Under the policy, certain nonsupervisory employees can also file group grievances and request representation by labor organizations to lodge complaints.
“The county commissioners court retains all authority to decide whether or not to implement the recommendations of the consultation committee, so as a result because you don’t have a collective bargaining agreement, you are not violating state law in any way,” County Attorney Jonathan Fombonne said.
Before the item was approved, Ramsey raised questions about the costs associated with implementing the new policy. County staffers said there could be some overhead costs as more employee grievances come in. Daniel Ramos, Harris County’s budget director, said there will likely be a greater need for hearing officers, investigators, documentation and potential labor liaisons.
Potential costs to the county were not indicated in the posted agenda item.
“I am just very concerned that you get to a third party that may not understand what the county job is, may not understand what the responsibilities are, may not understand any part of it other than they are getting paid as an advocate to deal with it,” Ramsey said. “I don’t know that we need consultants or any other third party to deal directly with the needs of our employees.”
The policy drew complaints from Republican candidates for the county judge’s position. Warren Howell, who is in a May 26 primary runoff against Orlando Sanchez, described the policy as a recipe for fiscal disaster. He said county employees are being compensated “more than well.”
“It appears to be a trick to get unions into Harris County,” he told commissioners Thursday morning. “I’m shocked that we don’t come up with ideas to save money. You guys lay awake at night to spend money. We need to straighten up.”
The policy follows school districts and other governmental bodies in Texas that have adopted similar worker representation arrangements — including the Houston and Austin independent school districts and the cities of Austin and Houston. Harris County, which employs about 20,000 people, is the first county in Texas to adopt such a program.
Interested county workers will have the opportunity to select a labor organization to represent them. An organization would be established as an agent when it receives support from at least 20% of eligible employees. If multiple organizations qualify for the title, employees would vote in an election to select a sole representative.
The organization would be charged with creating a consultation team — composed of eight employee reps selected by the labor organization and eight management reps appointed by county leadership — to field complaints and submit recommendations to commissioners court for final approval.
"Harris County employees are on the front lines of emergency response, delivering public health care, keeping our criminal justice system running, and more,” Hidalgo said in a statement Thursday. “My hope is that this consultation policy is a continuation of our efforts to treat employees with dignity and fairness to promote a stronger organizational culture and productivity overall, which will ultimately lead to better services for Harris County residents.”
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