HISD Bond Proposals exclude Basic Protections For Workers
Houston ISD Propositions A and B, which, according to the Houston Landing, would saddle Harris County taxpayers with a nearly $9 billion tax increase, fail to contain requirements that maximize community benefits by ensuring the jobs created on the bond are safe, with fair pay and and pipelines to long-term, family-sustaining careers.
“Under Texas law, HISD has the legal authority to require bond contractors to create good jobs that support families and strengthen our community. In contrast, Mike Miles’s bond proposals put the financial interests of a few politically connected construction and engineering companies over the dignity and safety of workers,” said Hany Khalil, Executive Director of the Texas Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation, Chair of New Economy for Working Houston, and a former HISD social studies teacher. “If Miles had followed the lead of Harris Health, this bond could create thousands of good-paying careers for Houstonians, but instead he’s padding the bank accounts of low-road contractors. The Mike Miles bond is a boon for construction and engineering firms instead of a smart investment for our community.”
The low-road standards of the HISD bond starkly contrast with standards passed by the City of Houston following Hurricane Harvey and the protections included in last year's $2.5 billion Harris Health Bond. The Harris Health Bond - passed by voters last year - required contractors to pay a living wage of either the local prevailing wage rate or $15/hour, provide OSHA safety training for workers and supervisors, and a provision that considered safety records when determining which companies would win multi-million dollar construction contracts. Harris Health also mandated that at least 10% of project hours be done by apprentices enrolled in Department of Labor registered programs to ensure our region is leveraging funds to create career pipelines for Harris County residents and build a more productive, diverse, and experienced trade workforce.
Under state law, HISD must require their contractors to pay prevailing wages, the average wage in the area for various job classifications. However, HISD’s “Labor and Compliance program” allows HISD to use an arbitrary, subjective methodology to set the minimum required wage far below the actual prevailing wage. For instance, HISD claims the prevailing wage for electricians is $15.17, but the Department of Labor’s prevailing wage survey used by Harris County and other local government entities determines electricians’ prevailing wage to be $34.50.
Similarly, HISD’s low road approach permits contractors to hire apprentices in DOL-registered apprenticeship programs but does not require them to do so. Nor does it require contractors to ensure employees often working in 100 degree temperatures provide rest or water breaks. Harris County is one of the most dangerous places for construction workers, with over 100 deaths on jobsites annually, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration. The high rates of injury and death has been compounded by the dangers of rising temperatures, leading many local jurisdictions, including Harris County, to implement new safety measures.
Last week, a bipartisan group of leaders from across Harris County gathered in a unique display of united opposition to the Mike Miles school bonds. During a press conference, they expressed concerns about Mike Miles’s history of financial mismanagement, which could leave communities of color behind, and burden taxpayers with an unnecessary long-term tax hike in the form of “debt servicing.” While outlining the need for increased investments in the HISD school system, they called for the restoration of the democratically elected school board before considering support for additional funds.
About New Economy for Working Houston
New Economy for Working Houston (NEW Houston) is a non-profit organization that brings together the power of grassroots organizing and public policy innovation to win a just economy for Gulf Coast working families. We seek to build an inclusive regional economy where workers and neighborhoods thrive, and where people of color, immigrants, women, and low-income residents have an equal voice and share equally in regional prosperity.
