Press & News

John Collins Quoted in Houston Chronicle
06/10/2006

On June 10, an article ("Two unions pursue unity; Rivals ready to join to represent city employees") in The Houston Chronicle reported that "two bitter union rivals fighting to win the hearts and minds of 13,000 City Hall employees have a tentative agreement to join forces. Officials from the Service Employees International Union [SEIU] and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees [AFSCME] are brokering a deal to create a new union - the Houston Organization for Public Employees, or HOPE. After months of trading accusations, the two sides began meeting at both the local and national level to avoid what was becoming an increasingly nasty battle. While officials from both unions say they're still working out the details, the partnership is expected to be announced next week during a news conference with Mayor Bill White.

For nearly six decades, AFSCME has represented workers at City Hall. But because state law did not allow them to bargain collectively, AFSCME mustered only meager support. The situation changed last year when the state granted Houston city workers collective bargaining rights. But before AFSCME could even mount a recruitment drive, it found itself in a lengthy battle with SEIU, which had split with the AFL-CIO over whether the huge labor federation was devoting enough resources to organizing. "It strikes me as a victory for SEIU," said John Collins, a longtime employment lawyer who specializes in labor/management issues at Seyfarth Shaw in Houston. Before this started, AFSCME was the representative, he said. As a result of the combination, SEIU has gained a solid foothold among the employees and is going to function as a bargaining representative.