In an effort to allay some of the concerns we have received regarding the unions' position on current pension related issues, I want to bring all officers up to speed on our status.

We have been meeting with the mayor on a regular basis and to date, outside of Mayor White's position that officers should have a twenty-five year vested date rather than the current 20-year date, and the public rhetoric it has created, we have not had any reason to terminate our relationship on behalf of all officers or the rest of the city Council.  Also please note, that as it relates to changing the pension from 20 to 25 years for officers with 15 years or less, we have told the mayor and council that we will go to nuclear war over that issue and there is no way in Hades that we will allow him, or anyone else to screw officers, regardless of their time on the department.  Watch and see that one go away. 

We have stated over and over again that if the issue of changing any pension benefits progresses, it will have to occur in Austin and involve the Texas Legislature. In the meantime, we will continue to encourage our pension trustees and the administration to continue negotiations in a good faith effort regarding matters that can be dealt with locally. Further, until an agreement is reached, we have encouraged HPOPS to move forward with litigation related to the city’s statutory responsibility to fund our plan.

Finally, we have proven our organizational value over and over again and accordingly, we have recently agreed to meet with the administration regarding adding years and additional pay increases to our current bargaining agreement.  The emphasis for these discussions has been to develop a meaningful lump sum payout of PTO and sick time alternative for HPD officers who are leaving the department.  It may workout and it may not.  That being said, you can be assured that we will not do anything that harms HPD officers.  Our organizational purpose is to increase officers compensation and benefits, improve working conditions, protect our members with top notch legal assistance, and continue to increase our credibility and standing so that we can impact any matter that touches officers and their families. Our responsibility is to protect the interest of Houston Police officers. We will keep all of you current on our progress. 

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