Today's meeting of the City of Houston Labor Committee.

The meeting is called to order uh at on Thursday, September 18th at 1031 a.m.

Today we have two presentations.

One uh from our uh human resources department.

It's wonderful to have you both here, and I'll do introductions in a moment.

Uh but HR will be providing an update on revisions to the City of Houston's administrative policies.

These are the policies that govern um all of the employees at City of Houston.

And then we're gonna hear from our friends in labor, um Texas Gulf Coast, um AFL CIO, but we're also joined by a host of locals that I want to recognize IBW, IATSE, our heat and frost insulators, plumbers, uh our elevator constructors, and am I missing anyone right now?

I think I got it all.

Um we're also joined by uh my colleague, Councilmember Ramirez, and I believe we have Councilmember Peck online as well.

And we have staff from uh Vice Chair Martinez's office, Mayor Pro Tem Castex Tatum, uh Vice Mayor Pro Tem Peck's office, Councilmember Alcorn, Councilmember Castillo, and Councilmember Jackson.

I believe I recognized everyone.

A few housekeeping items.

Um we will, as always, take questions at the end uh from the horseshoe after each presentation, and then we will have uh our public speakers following both presentations.

Uh so I have I do not have an expectation uh for HR that you all remain here, but we will relay, of course, any questions if they are directed towards the department.

Before we start, um, I do want to take a moment to recognize we have had some very big losses in our City of Houston family.

So, in addition to our firefighters that were injured um responding to a fire several days ago.

Um, we also lost Sunday um HFD firefighter paramedic Stephen Scott from Station 102, who passed away following an on-duty medical emergency.

Uh then yesterday we lost HPD senior officer Alex Roberts from our traffic enforcement division, who was killed uh in a vehicle crash uh also in the line of duty.

Then we also, and this is the sad part, right?

I'm running through names that normally we go years without having to go through this, and in one week we've lost three individuals.

Uh Dante Swanks, who was with our ARA department, passed away last Thursday while participating in an activity at Fondee Community Center.

Uh so these losses are impacting and having an impact not only on the families and our hearts are with them, but on our City of Houston family as well.

Um I would ask everyone to keep them and their loved ones and all of our departments in your thoughts.

Uh but with that, I'd like to take just a very quick moment of silence just to recognize them if you'll join me.

First, uh we will have uh at this time the chair recognizes uh director cheeks as well as uh director, our director's chief of staff and senior division manager.

I wanted to make sure I got it right, Elisa.

Uh Ms.

Franklin Brox.

Uh please proceed with your presentation.

So, first of all, I think I got it on.

So, first of all, I'd like to thank you, uh Councilmember Cayman and also Vice Chair uh for having us here today.

Uh as you are well aware, um the policies and procedures of the city of Houston is something that human resources holds near and dear uh to our heart, and uh the updating of those policies uh fall under our preview.

Um I will like to say that we appreciate the support of you all as council members, but also of the administration.

Uh the policies that my chief of staff are about to talk about, the accommodations policy and the civility policy are two policies that we have been able to pass because of the support of the UAL and the administration.

Civility is something that as council and as administration, you all have talked about in detail from a labor perspective, and then also to us as directors as we govern our departments.

So today we hope that this comprehensive uh overview of the last two policies that were just updated and just put out in the last month or so.

Uh, we will be able to uh give you a great overview and understanding uh for not only you all here, but those individuals that are listening.

So I will now turn the um the the it over to my uh chief of staff, Alisa Franklin Brock, who will take it from here.

Thank you so much.

Thank you, Director.

Good morning, Council members and staff, and thank you for your time today.

Our agenda this morning will consist of next slide, please.

Will consist of an overview of administrative procedure 3-34, which is our reasonable accommodation for employees and job applicants, and executive order 1-20, our new policy, standard of conduct, professionalism, and civility.

I will begin with AP 3-34.

Next slide, please.

The Americans with Disability Act of 1990 and the amendments of Act 2008 is also known as the Federal Law ADA and RADAA.

The federal law requires an employer to provide reasonable accommodation to a job applicant or an employee with a disability, unless doing so will cause an undue hardship on the employer.

HR proposed adoption of AP 3-34 in 2017.

The original policy focused on the requirements of the law, as well as how the city will comply with such law.

HR in consultation with members of our laborer department's labor, employment, and civil rights division, reviewed the current policy and recommended revisions to the administration to include the requirements for accommodations under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act, the Pregnancy Workers' Fairness Act, and religious accommodations required under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as well as other policy enhancements.

Next slide, please.

Next slide, please.

The policy applies to all city departments and employees.

Next slide, please.

This over the next couple of slides, I will uh provide some highlights of definitions that's currently in the policy.

So a disability is defined as a physical or a mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities or a record or past history of such an impairment.

Major life activities include, but it's not limited to caring for oneself, standing, sitting, thinking, walking, breathing, concentrating, performing manual tasks, seeing, learning, and interacting with others, et cetera.

No limitations of physical or mental condition related to, affected by, or arising out of pregnancy, childbirth, or related medical conditions that the employee or the employee's representative has communicated to the employer whether or not such conditions meet the requirements as a disability under ADA.

Religion includes uh our definition includes sincerely held beliefs in traditional organized religions such as Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism, etc.

It also includes sincerely held religious beliefs that are new, uncommon, not a part of a formal church or sect, or only held by a small group of people.

Next slide, please.

And an undue hardship underneath the uh federal law is significantly difficulty, significant difficulty or expense when considering the nature of the cost of the accommodation needed in relations to the size, resources, nature, structure of the employees' operations, and impact of the accommodation on the operations of the employer.

I stated earlier that the reasonable accommodations are based off federal law.

When the federal agencies look at compliance under the law, they do not look at individual departments.

They look at the city as a whole as the employer.

Essential functions of the job, those job activities that are essential or core to perform in the job.

Essential functions may not be the same for persons in the same classification.

Thus, we must look at the individual's specific job duties and responsibilities.

An accommodation is a process for making reasonable changes in the work environment and our job application process for qualified employees and applicants with disabilities, limitations related to pregnancy, and our sincerely held religious beliefs.

And their interactive process is defined as a good faith effort between an employer and the employee or applicant to work together to identify whether and how specific limitations resulting from a disability, pregnancy, or sincerely held religious belief may be reasonably accommodated.

Next slide, please.

Since provisions to the policy include several types of accommodations, renaming key roles in the process change to citywide accommodations coordinator and accommodations coordinator.

The SWIT citywide role is assigned to an employee in the Human Resources Department Civil Service and EEO division.

The accommodations coordinator saw the biggest role changed as this previous role was filled by an employee in the department, and now this role is filled by a human resources employee relations division employee.

While an HRR employee relations person facilitates their interactive process, the decision on the accommodation still relies with the department director or their designee.

Lastly, we streamline the process with standard forms with a central repository for accommodation types, where medical documents are maintained and departments are receiving additional support from human resources professionals.

Next slide, please.

Examples of accommodations would be adjusting are listed on the screen, but as well as including adjusting breaks for medical reasons, reduce noise environment for our employees, flexible work hours, whether that's a late start or early finish, redistributing non-essential job duties, relocating work stations for accessibility to restrooms or exits or elevators, exception to dress code, extended unpaid leave or intermittent leave, materials in alternative formats such as large print, braille, or audio, clear written communications instead of verbal only communications, and modifying training materials or other methods.

This completes my overview over AP 3-34, and we will now start with an overview over Executive Order 1-20.

Next slide, please.

With the adoption of administrative procedure 3-7 positive corrective action program in 2021, Mayor's Policy 504, which is conduct of employee discipline was rescinded.

With the adoption of Executive Order 1-20, standards of conduct, professionalism, and civility, Mayor's policy 502, conduct courtesy to public was also rescinded.

Executive Order 1-20 is an enhancement to AP 3-7, which is still in effect and incorporates elements of both Mayor's Policy 504 and 502.

This executive order was again a collaborative effort between human resources and our legal department's legal department, labor employment, and civil rights section.

Next slide, please.

All employees will conduct themselves in a position, in a position in a positive, cooperative, respectful, and professional manner at any location where city business is conducted, regardless of whether the property is owned or leased by the city, or whether interacting with city employees or citizens.

Next slide, please.

This policy applies to conduct of all city employees, whether it occurs during work hours, breaks, and or lunchtime, or when the employee is off duty.

Next slide, please.

We have included definitions to clearly define external customer from an internal customer, and we've also defined the term chain of command for our employees.

This policy covers expectation on communication, customer service, courtesy to the public, professional conduct, civility, sound judgment, truthfulness, cooperation, and investigations, performance of duties, compliance with orders and directives, and confidentiality.

The next level slides will highlight some of the policy language in each category.

Next slide, please.

Under communication, all employees will need to communicate in a positive and respectful manner with co-workers, subordinates, supervisors, and citizens.

Under our customer service and courtesy to public area, employees should remember that the city is in the business to serve the public, and the public always comes first.

Employees are expected to serve the public efficiently, effectively, courteously, and to provide excellent customer service to internal and external customers.

Next slide, please.

Under professional conduct, employees shall not engage in any conduct, including unlawful conduct that brings embarrassment, dishonor, or disrespect upon employees and are the city.

This includes but is not limited to conduct that may adversely affect the employees' job performance, work, job duties, or ability to function in the employees' position.

Two, adversely affect the city or the department's ability to fulfill its mission to serve the public, and or three, create a hostile work environment.

Whether on duty or off duty, the city expects its employees to be truthful, courteous, respectful towards supervisors, co-workers, citizens, customers, and other persons associated with the city.

Next slide, please.

Under civility, we expect our employees to be courteous, civil, respectful to superiors, employees, co-workers, internal and external customers.

Treat internal and external customers, co-workers, subordinates, and supervisors with dignity and respect.

Act in good faith and be active participants in contributing to the workplace culture of inclusion, civility, dignity, and respect.

Under sound judgment, all employees are expected to exercise sound judgment at all times by acting in a manner that is consistent with the principles set forth within city policies and procedures.

Next slide, please.

Under our truthful category, all employees are expected to be truthful and provide accurate and reliable information with respect to their job duties and responsibilities.

Employees will not intentionally make false, untrue, or misleading statements, verbal or written, made directly by or authorized by the employee.

Under cooperations and investigations, all employees shall cooperate fully and provide truthful information, statements, documents, and related facts in any investigation conducted by and are involving claims against the city.

Next slide, please.

Under performance of duty, we've separated out employees' responsibilities, what's expected, and supervisors' expectations.

Under our employees section, our employees are expected to meet minimum standards for job performance and produce the quantity and quality of work in relations to the acceptable standards determined for the job.

Next slide, please.

For our managers and supervisors, we expect them to be readily available to their employees, client departments, and chain of command while on duty.

Take appropriate action when they become aware of that an employee may have committed an infraction or may be in a violation of city or department policy, which may include corrective action up to and including a recommendation for an indefinite suspension and our termination.

And we also expect our managers and supervisors to establish and communicate delegated responsibility and authorizations when they are absent from work.

Next slide, please.

Under compliance orders and insubordinations, we expect our employees to promptly and respectfully follow all lawful orders, directives given by supervisors and our other superiors within the scope of their authority.

Failure to follow such lawful orders or directives, directives shall be considered insubordination.

Employees receiving an order or a directive that they believe is unsafe, unjust, or contrary to city or department policy will respectfully notify the supervisor that a conflict exists and follow the order to the best of their ability.

Employees may also report the matter to a member of their chain of command.

Next slide, please.

Under confidentiality, we understand that employees may have access to employee to confidential information that is needed to perform their job.

However, it is crucial that they exercise appropriate care with this information and adhere to all requirements governing confidentiality.

Employees are prohibited from sharing or disclosing any confidential information regarding co-workers, clients, and department matters.

Access in such information for non-business purpose is an abuse of authority and a breach of confidentiality.

Lastly, discussion of confidential information not relevant to business needs is strictly prohibited.

Next slide, please.

To assist department directors, managers, supervisors, and employees with understanding the application of both policies, our Office of Talent and Organizational Development is in is creating an e-learning and instructor-led training expected for release at the end of this year in early 2026.

This completes our presentation.

Next slide, do you have any questions regarding these two policies?

Thank you both.

And first, I want to recognize we have staff from Councilmember Thomas, Councilmember Davis who have joined us as well as our Vice Chair Martinez.

Welcome, sir.

First, we have uh councilmember Davis's staff.

Yes, sir.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

Let me first of all thank you for excellent presentation.

One quick question.

What's the difference between indefinite suspension and termination?

So an indefinite suspension is the way we separate our employees who are civil service protected, right?

So employees who are in job classifications that are subject to civil service, we indefinitely suspend them in accordance with city charter.

For those for all other employees who are not civil service, we call those terminations.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

You're welcome.

Thank you.

Um I had a few quick follow-up questions for y'all.

Uh these are two new policies, but they're based off of policy that is longstanding in the city of Houston, right?

It's just revised to make sure that it's encompassing all of the laws at the Federal Rival.

And thank you.

However, there have been some policies, I believe, that have been uh repealed.

For example, we had a remote work policy.

Has that been modified?

No, ma'am.

The remote work policy has not been modified.

It was repealed by the administration and it is it is now not available to uh employees.

Okay.

Um it would be very helpful to also just for the public and for employees to have a list of anything that's been uh repealed.

Um for their again, I know that employees are aware if something doesn't apply to them, but something may not apply to them yet, and then they have they come to learn later that it may not be there anymore.

So it'd be helpful to have that list.

Okay, but you can still with reasonable accommodations, there is the opportunity for remote work based on accommodation policy.

Is that correct?

Uh yes, ma'am.

If someone uh has medical documentation for uh a reasonable accommodation, which would include uh working from home, that will go through the process that is within the accommodations policy.

So it would have to be um all of the paperwork would need to be filled out by a physician and uh those questions asked and reviewed.

So, yes, ma'am.

Understood.

Um, and then my final question pertain to with the civility rules.

Uh on slide 12 and 15, we reference application to rules and a standard of conduct, even when an employee is off duty.

And my question pertains to um the context in which that can be applied.

So, for example, and I understand that a lot of this is to protect employees, right, from maybe uh a bad actor within the department and those relationships, so it's to protect employees as well as the public and providing the service that we do for the city, but let's say somebody is on social media on their off time, expressing themselves, which in my opinion is their right to do, whether that's to criticize or commend, does how do we balance and deal with that if somebody is off duty on their time expressing their views, but somebody may not like it.

No, I and I think my chief of staff, she touched upon it.

Um we are in constant collaboration with the legal department and the Office of Inspector General.

So it is a collaborative effort.

Uh it is important again, and I will mention that this administration, when those type things happen, that they are uh reviewed and then they are looked at by the city's legal department.

We also must remember that not only do we have these policies, but we actually do have a social media policy.

And so all of those policies with AP 3-7, they all come together.

So uh something that may be brought to the attention of the human resources department that may be on social media or something that someone saw, those things that are brought to us, we immediately take them to the uh legal department, and at some point, uh some of those may rise to actually being investigated by the Office of Inspector General.

So it it all comes together.

Understood, and again, we're struggling, I'm not saying at the city level, but nationally with this right now, right?

And the importance of free speech.

Yeah, exactly.

Um and I want to make sure that our employees are protected and have that right as well.

As we balance, of course, they are representing the city of Houston, right?

For me, when I'm on, I'm it's not just nine to five, I'm representing the city in our district 24-7, but an employee does have a right to clock out and express their views.

Okay.

Do what they do.

Great.

Thank you.

Uh seeing no other questions, I believe that's it.

Again, director, chief, thank you both, and please extend our appreciation to all of HR.

Um, I I hope and I believe that the streamlining, bringing some of these things under HR's purview more directly, are going to help the process along for all.

So thank you.

All right, thank you so much.

Thank you.

All right.

Uh as we get set up, um, our next presentation, we're gonna have a briefing on our local union training facilities and apprenticeship programs.

Some of you have in your offices have actually gone out to see some of these new facilities, but we want to make sure everyone's aware of uh what exists right now, what's on the horizon, and make sure the public can take advantage of that.

So first uh the chair recognizes uh Shelley Baker uh with Texas Gulf Coast AFL CIO.

Welcome, Shelly.

Hi, thank you.

Um so hi, my name is Shelley Baker, and I uh work for the Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation as their partnerships and comms director, and uh we're gonna uh present uh about some of the investments that have been made into some of our uh JATC facilities through the apprenticeship advantage program.

Um Shelley, I'm sorry, if you can talk a little bit louder so the mic can pick you up.

I know it's sorry.

No, that's okay, you're doing great.

So I was saying um we're going to uh share with you all some of the investments that have been made through the apprenticeship advantage program into some of our uh local training facilities.

Uh so presenting today will be myself.

Uh we have Jean Brinkmeyer with uh IBW 716, uh Mark Grady with IATSE Local 51, uh Jorge Castreon with uh Heat and Frost local uh Insular's local 22, uh Derek Perry with Plumber's Local68 and Blanca Rios with Elevator Constructors, IUC 31.

Um just an overview of our program.

Uh this program is a workforce development program that has been co-led by Harris County and the Texas Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation with funding from the American Rescue Plan Act or ARPA funds.

Uh so this program is uh connecting local workers to paid on-the-job training across 10 skilled trades.

Uh and our goal is to create equitable access to high wage, high-demand careers in both traditional and emerging industries without requiring participants to take on debt.

So they're able to earn why they learn.

Uh and uh so obviously there are many apprenticeship programs, uh, union apprenticeship programs, but this particular program focuses on uh a couple of trade building and trade and construction programs as well as two programs that are emerging in entertainment and transportation industries, and you'll be able to hear from one of those today.

62% of the participants um in our program come from moderate to high vulnerability households, uh and a majority of these households were hardest hit during COVID.

Uh 908 of uh folks have come through our program, which I think is almost a hundred more than we were required to um with uh our program goal, and the average uh new hourly rate for folks that are entering the program is 2298, which is that's just not in I don't think that's even including the benefits and things, so it's just pretty great.

Um we you will be hearing from a few of the programs today that have had significant investments into their facility.

Um but overall I just want to share all of our partner programs that are part of this, uh which includes a pre-apprentip program with the um NAPT2, our national billing trades.

Um, and then we have obviously IBW 716, you'll be hearing from the elevator constructors, you'll be hearing from them today, um, iron workers, local 84, sheet metal workers, um, pipe fitters, plumbers who are here today, um, insulators, uh, uh IUP painters and glaciers, uh, IAT Local 51 and the Metro Apprenticeship Program that's emerging.

And I will like to invite uh Gene Brinkmeyer from Electrons, Electricians IBW to come speak.

Great, thank you.

And um while Jean's coming up, I do want to point out um I believe I mentioned this yesterday, but according to new reports of all the top 25 largest cities in the US, Houston has the highest percentage now of impoverished residents.

Um one out of five Houstonians is now living at or below the poverty line.

Uh and that means that hundreds of thousands of Houstonians are struggling to meet basic needs.

So I thought that this was an important thing to bring forward, especially right now because of what the apprenticeship programs can provide.

Um, as Shelley pointed out, earn while you learn uh opportunities.

So letting people gain skills and credentials while earning wages, which is unlike traditional education.

So again, Jean, it's great to have you.

Please proceed.

Good morning.

And yeah, my name is Gene Bringmeyer.

I'm the training director for the Houston Area Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee for the Electrical Contracting Industry.

I would like to thank Councilmember Kamen and the Labor Committee for your interest in apprenticeship and the things we've been able to accomplish through the apprenticeship advantage program.

As a 60-plus year resident of Houston and Harris County, having grown up in the Houston Heights and attended HISD schools, I can tell you that apprenticeship leads to a successful and lifelong career.

I performed electrical work in all parts of our great city.

And over 40 years ago, I was involved on a project remodeling this very city council chambers.

Those lights you see in the coves up there behind you.

Uh I did them.

I hope they've updated them since then because the technology has definitely gotten a lot of money.

Unfortunately, I do not believe they have been updated since then.

But what well, they're great, they're still working out for us.

IBW Local Union 716 and the Houston JATC train apprentices to perform needed tasks to keep power flowing to Houston area hospitals, schools, businesses, and public facilities through the building and maintaining of the area's electrical infrastructure.

Our apprentices work in all facets of the electrical energy field, including power generation and solar.

Over the last several years, we've had an increase in numbers from an average of 425 apprentices to our present size of 612 apprentices.

We work with IBW and the City of Houston, wastewater department, and have four city electrical apprentices attending technical training at our training facility.

With the ARPA grant, our apprenticeship program has been able to make a huge investment in expanding, updating, moderate modernizing, and training as we do.

Some of the things we've been able to accomplish.

One is recruiting and retain excuse me, retaining applicants for our program.

In September of 2024, 10% of our first year class were women.

Okay.

Um the other thing we've been able to do is purchase interactive smart boards to take a modern approach with training.

Again, uh having over 30 years as an instructor for the program.

Uh started out with chalk and talk and blackboard.

We moved on to multimedia.

Now these interactive smart boards uh again are a big tool that we can use to help train electricians.

We made updates to our conduit bending conduit bending training equipment to align with the newer equipment used on jobs.

And we've updated our evaluation rooms to ensure that apprentices who graduated our program have the skills and knowledge needed to compete in all aspects of the electrical industry.

Once again, I'd like to thank the committee for their interest and hope to work further with the city of Houston.

Jean, thank you, and thank you for uh leaving a lasting legacy uh right here at City Hall.

That's really special to know.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Uh next, I believe we have Mark Grady with AyaTi.

Hello, everyone.

My name is Mark Grady.

I'm the business agent for the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Local 51.

We've provided backstage workers for live events, theaters, conventions, and meetings in Houston, Galveston, and surrounding areas for 126 years.

Our workers are traditionally called stage hands, and that umbrella term covers a range of work that spans several different trades, including lighting, sound, carpentry, props, rigging, and video.

Eighty to eighty to ninety percent of the work we performed behind the scenes is in the City of Houston owned facilities.

80 to 90 percent.

We have been able to step out of the shadows and build towards our future.

We have become more noticeable due to grant funds from our for our apprenticeship, but also art grants that we have received to hate to help paint a mural on our building that depicting our past, present, and future.

This can be seen traveling north on I-45 leaving Center City and the art district.

This mural has been important to workers that know that they there is a presence and their work can be represented in the industry that makes the norm to misclassify workers and have and pay subpar wages.

We believe that that we are the first union to have a union bug incorporated in a mural in the in in Houston.

Our bug is one of the most visible union symbols in the world, as it is seen at the end of most movies that are made.

In the fall of 2021, early spring, uh Jay Malone from the Texas Gulf Coast Air Labor Federation asked what IASE would do if we had money to spend on education.

I said I wanted to expand our training pro training opportunities to proactively offer classes on a more regular basis instead of just training when something went wrong or on a job site and we needed a band-aid fix for a problem.

He then asked what if I dream if I dreamed bigger.

I said I would scale up the to an end goal by building building up staff and instructors and training our work towards the goal of creating a Department of Labor Labor Recognized program.

That conversation became the seat of our involvement in the apprenticeship advantage program.

We started training instructors and an onboarding and administrator, but realized we needed to think bigger.

Next slide.

This is a list of things that we have that we have purchased lighting equipment, sound equipment, video equipment, cameras, rope robo cams, rigging safety gear.

We we purchased this equipment in order to be able to do trainings rather than rely on employers to provide the gear for us or have to have an additional expense of renting gear.

This has created a lot of opportunities thus far for our workers.

We also have a training facility that's more set up now.

You can see pictures here of our our uh some of our workers training on how to use sound consoles, and they get overhead shots of of how to use them and use the gear properly.

Um this is a huge advantage for us because for a long time employers participated in the in the training.

Now they have cut costs back so much that that is it, there's not a lot of on-the-job training.

We are we are having to hold the brunt force of the training ourselves.

As of yesterday, we met with the Department of Labor to work on finalizing our paperwork for the Department of Labor, and we're missing just a few small documents, and we will be ready to sign that document and move forward completely.

So it's big days for us.

It's it's amazing.

We're glad that that's happening.

To give you some idea of the enormity of this task, we will be the second IATSI local in the U.S.

or Canada to have a certified program.

We've got a lot of work to do to go to fully scale up our program.

We're on our way.

We at Local 51 are blazing a path for other IETC locals to travel, and we hope the city of Houston sees what it can be done with serious partnerships with unions that represents the the workers that live here.

Thank you for your time.

Thank you so much, Mark.

And what we may have some questions for you at the end.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next, uh, we have Jorge Castrejon with Heat and Frost Insulators.

All right, good morning, everyone.

Um, thank you for taking the time to see us today.

My name is Jorge Castrejon.

I am the training director for the Heat and Frost Insulators of Local 22.

Um I'm proud to speak about a program that's not just shaping careers, but also safeguarding the future of our industry.

Our apprenticeship program for heat and frost insulators.

In today's world, skill trades are the backbone of infrastructure, energy efficiency, and safety.

Our apprenticeship program ensures that new generations of insulators are not only trained in the latest techniques, but also grounded in the values of craftsmanship, safety, and professionalism.

Next slide, please.

Apprentices in our program receive hands-on training with experienced journeymen, classroom instruction covering insulation systems, safety protocols, and environmental standards.

Certifications that open up doors to long-term careers.

Some of those pictures on there, it's what uh we've been investing some of our funds that we got from the grant.

We added vessels to our uh training, we added valves.

Uh those pictures are on that slide.

It's to simulate the industrial side aspect of the work.

Uh recently, we also started adding to the inside of our shop to simulate commercial because they're two different types of fields.

Got different kinds of materials, so they're different techniques that we got to apply.

Um, our work directly impacts energy conservation, fire protection, and the work safe safety across industries by investing in apprenticeships.

We are ensuring that our that our workforce remains strong, skilled, and ready to meet the demands of tomorrow's projects.

In short, our apprenticeship program is more than training, it's a legacy.

It's how we pass down knowledge, elevate standards, and build a future where every insulator is proud of their craft.

Thank you, and let's keep building together.

Thank you very much.

Uh next, I believe we have Derek Perry with Plumbers.

Derek, come on down.

I want to thank you guys for having me here today first.

So, my name is Derek Perry, and I help to run the Houston Area Plumbing Joint Apprenticeship Committee or Hap Jat.

So we've trained Houston Area Plumbers since 1919.

We are one of the first uh registered plumbers apprenticeships in Texas.

So we've uh trained our members for uh um over 87 years.

So from the city of Houston and the 62 surrounding counties.

So why this matters?

We train real Houston needs, so medical gas, backflow prevention, service and repair, and everyday part of plumbing, our everyday parts of plumbing industry.

Our graduates build and maintain the Texas Medical Center, schools, clinics, pump stations, and the places our families rely on for every day.

When storms hit, we can't import skills overnight.

So we need homegrown talent and uh people able to respond immediately.

So what our program looks like, it's a five-year program with classroom and hands-on training.

So style state licensed instructors, which uh they concentrate on safety, code, and quality is drilled into all of our uh members.

So our apprentices earn while they learn, so they stay rooted in the communities that they're working in.

So what this means for Houston families is uh safer hospitals, cleaner water, reliable public buildings, a middle-class pathway for local residents, your constituents, a workforce ready for emergencies because we've trained for them.

Our ask is simple.

So when you plan your budget and award projects, give clear value to our contractors who use registered apprenticeship and licensed labor, require real training pipelines and verified ratios to uh on city work and uh make room for homegrown talent.

So we want the people here that live in our communities to work in our communities.

So every day the city invests invests should build two things, or every dollar the city invests should build two things the project and the people.

So keep those dollars and those careers here where they do the most good.

So we are ready to serve.

We are proud of our 87 years of training.

So let's keep Houston work in Houston hands.

Thank you.

All right.

Last uh Blanca Abrios uh with IUEC Hello, my name is Blanca Rios.

I'm the NEEP area coordinator for uh local 31 International Union of Elevator Constructors or the education side of the IUEC.

I'm glad to be here today with Ryan and Jonathan to be able to highlight and showcase some of the things that your support and funds from ARPA have made possible.

Local 31 and the IUC is grateful for this important investment.

When you invest in partnership partner with labor, we get to work building the future.

Local 31 is ready and eager to utilize the resources gained from partnering with Harris County, Texas Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation, AFL CIO, and the other trades you see here today.

We want to share with young adults and soon-to-be future workers and the workforce in Harris County and beyond what an amazing opportunity that you can find in skilled labor.

And we want them to understand how they can be a part of building their community and a future for themselves through apprenticeship so that they can earn while they learn.

They can receive amazing benefits, wages, and education.

We ensure the future of our trade is knowledgeable and grows with technology.

We utilize all the tools and re resources available to us, and one of those resources is a brand new welding facility.

If you can go to the next slide, there's a short video that we're gonna play for you.

Not just in Texas, but nationally.

So right now we have four welding stations.

It includes beam extraction, vent hoods, fans, and air conditioning and heat.

This situation is set up for an overhead weld.

This would be a flat vertical welding straight up.

We have 645 members locally, and then we'll all be able to do this program in around 10 weeks.

So by the time the students are done, they're sort of bought welded.

They can go out and weld just about anything we've got to do.

And the idea that this is mobile, we can move it from different locations, different locations.

Instead of having the individual students traveling long distances, we can run this to them, get as many certifications that possible out to Texas.

Now that part I really want to highlight is just didn't cost our members on the local and dime.

Some of the organizations that made this possible, Harris County, Texas Commissioners Court, the AFL, BIO, GOP Post, Golf Coast, NAF2, Mobile 31's very own apprentices and mechanics.

Thank you for all your support.

Elevator Industry Work Preservation Fund, Elevator Info, and NEEP.

Not just in Texas, but nationally.

So right now we have four welding stations.

Okay, so that was just a quick look at the mobile welding facility during its ribbon cutting ceremony and celebration.

If you have the chance to look at the whole video, please do so.

When you do, you'll see Mayor Whitmeyer and others showing their passion and excitement that they share along with us for moving forward and providing resources that will ensure that we have the skilled workforce that we need for the future.

If you have not yet been out to our facility, please do so.

You can reach out to me directly, and we can partner together to ensure that we are reaching the Histonians that you spoke about earlier today.org.

Thank you very much.

Horrific.

Thank you.

Question, and I'm I'm sorry, I failed to uh recognize earlier um online.

We have staff from Councilmember Plummer's office as well.

Do you want to come back up?

Uh first in the queue for questions, Councilmember Martinez.

Thank you, Chairwoman.

Um, so first I just want to say congratulations uh on this feat, right?

It's important that we continue to invest in in uh labor working families, and and this can't be done without funding.

Um you gave us a little bit too much credit.

This has been Harris County funding.

Yes.

Um, and I want to make sure that I publicly say that because it's important that the city of Houston also recognizes the importance of investing in this this type of program.

But with that, with that said, um, for the apprenticeship program, um how much ARPA dollars were invested by the county, what's the length of time?

Um, and then the reason why I'm asking that is because I want to see uh what does it take to make sure that sustainable?

Yes, so um it's been a little over 12 million over three years.

It was initially nine million, and then there was an initial investment.

Um however, this uh a lot of these funds went to like significant, as you see, like significant um like investments in training facilities.

Um we're still assessing the cost going forward, it'd be much, much less uh because again, um part of the funds were to not just expand access and outreach, which is cost less than 12 million, I promise, um, but to like make significant investments in these facilities um so that they can continue to serve folks for years to come.

So then to that and and maybe you might have this answer, maybe not.

Um so the investment in the facilities, the equipment um compared to staff uh for training, do you have a somewhat of a difference of what that would look like?

Um I just I I can tell you 84% of the funding that we receive went directly to our sub-awardees.

So um the Gulf Coast area, like 84%.

So I don't know the breakdown as far as how much of that went to uh like materials, but a significant chunk because like most of the the folks that came and spoke, that's where they they use the funds is for equipment and and investment so they can train the new labor workforce.

I appreciate that because understanding that these ARPA dollars are not coming in forever, I think it's important that that investment continues.

Um three years, where are we in the three years right now?

Um so we're in our last year, we're in year three.

Okay.

Um, and then I'll just um you know, throw out the slides.

I just want to thank everybody that that came.

I appreciate you all uh for my colleagues and staff.

Um I think it's important that you do show up to some of these facilities.

Uh I was able to be at the ribbon cutting for uh you know for the elevators.

Um it they're actually in district I, so I'm proud to have them.

Uh I just want a quick plug for all the other labors, uh labor councils just if y'all can make that Broadway corridor, the labor corridor, we'd love to have you all there.

Um I know some of y'all moved out to Pasadena, but Houston's definitely a lot better.

Um and then I'll just quick and quick plug uh for those that are not aware, uh, when we start talking about pay, uh, ensuring that uh even within city contracts, if there's something that we're that we're actually putting tax dollars towards, it's important uh maybe through the responsible bidder ordinance uh that Paul Puente has been speaking to for years and years um as a city for us to make sure that we're investing in labor within those contracts.

So uh take that back to your your team, um supportive of the RB of RBO and would love to make sure that we can continue to highlight that as well.

Absolutely.

Um Vice Chair, great points.

Uh you know painters pointed out, excuse me, not painters, stage hands pointed out that over, I think it was 80 percent, right, Mark?

I can't see 80 to 90, yeah.

80 to 90 percent um with stage hands is on city property itself.

So, what is the city doing to work with you all to improve safety again?

So it's not that band-aid and that response, but proactive training and things like that.

Um and Mark, as you're coming up though, I vice chair want to piggyback on what you said.

It was the county that gave the ARPA dollars to help fund many of these facilities and improvements.

I think it was a very wise use of ARPA dollars because there's a permanent investment.

But what do we do moving forward to make sure that that continues?

Uh so I have a few follow-up questions, but Mark, did you have anything to say as an example?

Other locals, I know you all are working in the city of Houston, right?

IBW pointed out the lights, um, electricians are like no, but uh elevators are like no, but there are you are operating within the city of Houston's boundaries, and you are following permitting and construction and everything that relates to that.

But Mark, what do you have to say related to stage hands?

So some of the things that are directly uh effective, effective to uh affect us directly are the the investments that go into the workplaces.

Um more recently in the Wortham Center at the uh uh in the the Brown Theater, there was a uh rigging system that was put in, and the rigging system went to the lowest bidder.

There was only one bidder because responsible contractors that would have used union labor or skilled labor, they didn't bid on it because the scope of work was not able to be accomplished.

So instead of re-looking at it and saying, what do we need to change to make this responsible for safety and these sorts of reasons?

They went it just goes to the lowest bidder.

And then the job didn't get done.

It's one third of the way done.

And it's it's it's in such a state that we have concerns over the safety of performers on the stage.

I've shared this with with the with council member Martinez and others of how that is affects the workers, the shows that are put on at the stage and the safety of the people in the buildings.

Um furthermore, you know, any time that any project is put in, dimming systems are put in theaters, things like that.

There should be IBW installing those things because they're responsible contractors doing those work.

So that's that's the thing where all of us as labor, where it matters for all of us, but we all we we strive to have the best force, and through our apprenticeships programs, we build that force.

So that's some of the examples I could give.

I appreciate that very much.

And um, Shelly, one question, and this is honestly for any of our speakers.

We talked about what the county did in providing the ARPA dollars.

We're talking about what the city is an entity can do when vice chair you raise responsible bidder ordinances and things of that nature.

As council members, what can we also be doing?

So there's things like going out and having our staffs and our ourselves go to the apprenticeship programs, but what else can we be doing to help further this along?

Um, so one thing is when there are like they already mentioned when there's projects and stuff that come along, um, the apprenticeship utilization.

So that's what I have up on on the last slide.

Was uh like so for the Harris Health Bond, for example, there is a clause in there uh for labor standards that includes an apprenticeship utilization.

So part of this program's goal is to expand access to apprenticeship programs.

The cool thing about DOL apprenticeship programs is if there's not work available, they're not going to waste anyone's time if they only have enough work available for I'm just gonna ballpark 10 apprentices.

That's all they're gonna take.

The more work that's available, the more folks that we can get trained into programs, keeping jobs and and and give them long sustaining careers.

So that is one way both city and county can do that is by making sure kind of what Mark said, like we're you're utilizing high quality, well-trained labor, creating those opportunities for that utilization because how they earn while they learn is there is work available for them to learn underneath journeymen, be trained and and also expand those opportunities and not limit the number of folks um in those programs.

Thank you.

And I'm gonna get to additional questions from staff in just a moment.

Um I do want to though thank all the different locals for if if someone else has a comment, y'all can come up.

Um, but as that's happening, one thing that wasn't covered in this, in addition to the apprenticeship programs, you all have been on the front lines responding to disasters.

Uh helping residents, helping the city recover, whether it's um helping with cutting down trees and repairing roofs, but you know, with plumbers during the freezes, uh IBW and our line workers responding to all the power outages.

I could go on and on, but I do think that that's an important context for all of this because our locals are not only providing employment and support and safe jobs, but you're stepping up in times of need as well.

Go ahead.

So one of the greatest successes of organized labor throughout history has been the focus on safety as well.

Um so one job site accident could change everything.

Um just like earlier, we were talking about the importance of keeping city workers and officers and firefighters safe while they're on the job.

That's another thing that organized labor does.

So, in addition to apprenticeship utilization, one of the things that's built into each one of these programs is safety.

And so at the county level, they have implemented mandatory OSHA 10, which is a bare minimum of training.

There's 1910 and 1924.

Um, if you come through one of these programs, that's some of the first things that you learn on the job.

In addition to that, uh the specific programs usually will do CPR first aid AED training.

We also have Narcan training that we've implemented in our training program as well.

And so that's just one more thing that uh kind of sets us apart.

But if we do have a minimum standard, and part of this does go back to council member Martinez's point about a responsible bidder ordinance, because we are looking for that level playing field that says everyone is going to meet a minimum threshold and a minimum standard to be able to receive some of these benefits and that work and the funds that is being offered by the city.

So thank you.

Thank you.

Uh, and try and prevent harassment training on the job.

We just now uh I've had my one of my assistants went through training to for mental health issues.

Uh again, we have uh it's it's out there uh and how do we deal with that?

How do we deal with that in the classroom?

How do we deal with that on the job?

So we again we have a diverse training for all aspects of a of a uh person wanting to be in our trades and wanting to uh excel again.

Like I said, I pointed out earlier with myself.

Uh apprenticeship was uh again, I went from a uh a young boy in the heights uh to uh being the director of the apprenticeship program here locally that I attended back in the late 70s, early 80s.

And again, we do things that uh to help our instructors.

We have instructor training uh again, so they are better equipped to to teach and to do those type of things.

Uh and again, we network nationally uh with other locals throughout the United States uh in staying on top of things like that.

Thank you.

And I'll just say we'll we'd like to keep IBW and District C.

So thank you.

Um final question for me, then we'll go to staff from council member um Ramirez's office.

Uh Shelly, unless you wanted to add something, I go ahead.

I wanted to um respond to your comment about the disaster uh relief.

So uh so during Hurricane Barrel, uh these folks just sprung into action.

I was not at the Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation at the time, but I still saw the work that they were doing, and uh just we are able to get apprentices involved and kind of everything that everyone highlighted about the safety, about even the not just physically but mentally, and so it just shows you that by having well-trained folks that are able to respond to disaster, which is already a terrible time already, but these are folks that are already trained in safety, already trained on how to talk to people, how to treat people, how to make sure everyone feels safe in a time where safety isn't you know guaranteed in a disaster, is is so important.

And because of that, we um allocated some funding and would like to, you know, uh, you know, it's disaster relief is hard to plan for.

And so we allocated some funding and are working on a program uh to have uh like a mobile response unit.

Uh so IUC 31 is working on that in collaboration with some of the other programs, and hopefully we can continue to do that even beyond um next year.

Terrific, and thank you for sharing that.

Uh my final question: we had uh the superintendent of HIST come before economic development yesterday.

Um, and there were a lot of questions for him.

Uh, but there was also a really important conversation about the future of our students, right?

And uh who is able to make a living wage uh once they graduate, or if they choose not to go to college or even if they do go to uh a four-year university.

With the apprenticeship programs, uh, can you talk about any success in are y'all partnering with HISD or other ISDs right now?

Uh what is that pipeline?

What does that look like?

And what can we be doing and what can others be doing to encourage and foster those relationships?

Yeah, so um we do not have an official partnership with them, but we have been in communication with them, especially um the Barbara Jordan Career Center.

Um we had our first uh tour with a high school uh I think last month uh with Wheatley High School and had a busload of Wheatley High School students um tour IUPAT um that's the painters and glaciers, and we also took them over to Metro.

Uh I will say that we would like to partner more with um HISD schools and other ISD schools.

This program is particularly focused on Harris County, so HISD is our priority.

Um, what that would look like, uh, and if that were to continue, that is kind of where we would um are looking for continued investment is in that outreach piece and education piece.

Um, so folks are aware of their options, especially students, because when they uh leave, so I found out too that I think we have a 92% completion rate compared to uh first year post-secondary um institutions.

So when they leave uh high school, if they get accepted into apprenticeship program, um they will immediately you know be able to earn why they learn, get benefits, and be put on a pathway and probably uh maybe make more money than their peers in for your institutions, and and it's not an either-or, or one is better than the other.

We had students that um came on a tour that are college bound that were like actually uh but I might look into this before I go to grad school, or I you know this might be something I do to pay off my student or do alongside.

immediately you know be able to earn why they learn get benefits and be put on a pathway and and probably uh maybe make more money than their peers um and for your institutions and and it's not an either or or one is better than the other we had students that um came on a tour that are college bound that were like actually but I might look into this before I go to grad school or I you know this might be something I do to pay off my student or do alongside um it's it's definitely um the way we present these programs is just with the same um gravitas and like importance as any other uh post secondary options great uh staff from council member measure thank you council member and thank you all for presenting today it's been wonderful to hear from you um council member Ramirez unfortunately had to leave but he has had the opportunity to tour the elevator constructors and the plumbing apprenticeship training facilities and really appreciates the contributions to our skilled labor workforce and the worker safety that these facilities represent I was wondering if you could speak um broadly you've kind of mentioned you know you only recruit for the amount of work that you have and I know you said you'd exceeded the planned recruitment goal could you speak to recruitment itself and what you guys are doing obviously some partnerships with the schools um but how you're recruiting for these programs it's been successful yes so uh I will I will be honest I've uh been um in this like working with this program since March and I've been trying to overhaul some of my recruitment processes and um kind of create more uh community collaboration so the biggest piece that um I'm still tackling is education about what is an apprenticeship program what is a union apprenticeship program and uh to answer your question um because each program is different it is difficult to stand up here and and give you like very detailed information about everyone's recruitment processes however we found that one of the most successful things that I've been able to do in my tenure is connecting with local organizations local institutions government institutions because um versus the one-on-one recruitment because these are folks that are already working with people that are interested in some type of whether they're high school students whether they're um uh system impacted folks so they're able to identify folks that are looking for these opportunities and by working with them I'm able to give them like a comprehensive like look on what these things are and they're able to pass that information along so um definitely word of mouth is great family and friends is great but we're looking to strengthen like more partnerships both at the community and and government level thank you vice chair thank you chair and I just uh want to thank Mark for uh bringing up uh the city facilities um and and just want to make sure that folks are aware these city facilities are uh maintained operated by Houston first and so um when we ask the question what can we do as a council or as uh as as a body for city council is um making sure that uh lowest bid uh for the work that's being done at at our facilities whether it's John's hall uh whether it's uh the hop uh hobby or or whatnot um we need to make sure that uh Houston First also understands the importance of ensuring that uh labor is at the table um especially when we have or we have the opportunity to make sure that that uh they can they could easily jump into these roles and so um the other thing uh as you're mentioning chair um how much is the city how much city work are you uh are they getting um I've heard plenty plenty of times that it's not as much or almost none um we know we have elevators here at and the annex that fail all the time we have great great uh uh folks out in uh with the elevators union that can definitely help and sometimes focusing on lowest bid is not always the best route uh we need to make sure we have skilled labor uh whether it's uh through training OSHA OSHA 10 um and so just wanted to make sure we we help uh elevate that conversation as well absolutely looked like Gene had one comment yeah the one thing that again uh y'all are talking about investing tax dollars right and and again the taxpayers should have the best bang for their buck and we are competitive in doing that we do things with composite crew rates and stuff that we can keep the price down uh again and we've formed these these partnerships with the city and with businesses the hospitals we're you know we're probably IBEW members are probably the most exclusive um workers electrical workers out there in our hospital district uh again I have worked on Miller outdoor theater I've worked on hobby center I've worked on the word them we are competitive in in in that respect with the the tax dollars that y'all have to spend uh again in and getting the the most for your money uh so uh you know we we try to do that we try to look at our contractors try to look at all aspects to give you a a good product a safe product for the money you're the tax money you're spending and we don't want to to abuse tax play payer uh funds either because we are taxpayers we are actually putting back into the system our students uh because they do make good wages and benefits they put back into the the tax system that y'all are able to operate within so again that's uh some of the things we try to do and try to keep our training on the the cutting edge of what is out there nowadays um again you know these a lot of these programs have been around for many many years and doing city work and other work uh here within within our Houston area um and again uh when when disasters happen we step up yeah we take care of our families we take care of

So again, that's uh some of the things we try to do and try to keep our training on the cutting edge of what is out there nowadays.

Um again, you know, these a lot of these programs have been around for many, many years and doing city work and other work uh here within within our Houston area.

Um and again, uh when disasters happen, we step up.

We take care of our families, we take care of our community, but then we step up and go to work and and get the city back up and running.

Absolutely.

And I know when you talk about family chateau is out there uh in fourth ward with me with his little boys handing out water during the one of the freezes.

So it's absolutely true.

Blanca, did you have one comment?

And then we do have one public speaker, so I do want to respect that as well.

Okay, I was just gonna mention CCMR here at HISD.

We do partner with them, and and we're looking forward to partnering with them more, which is College Career Military Readiness.

Actually, today was their kickoff meeting for the task force for the upcoming school year.

Um, you know, at the end of the day, we just need to to have that communication to be able to get in front of those individuals to to make sure that we're reaching the the individuals and and and broaden the diversity within the skilled trades so that it is open and more inclusive than ever before.

And I just wanted to say thank you to the city of of Houston for that availability.

Absolutely.

Um seeing no other questions, um, we will pivot to public speakers, but I do um also want to recognize when we're talking about livable wages, uh the historic nature of the strike that's happening here in Houston uh with Unite here right now and the Hilton.

We do hope for a resolution so that everybody can get back to work and we can um continue to spotlight the city, right, through our conventions, through our conferences.

But uh I would be absolutely remiss if I did not recognize uh what's happening just down the street right now.

So uh with that that concludes the presentations uh and I want to thank everyone for their time and the work that they're doing in our community.

Uh for public speakers, we have one online ver uh online Tiffany Forrest.

Yes, I'm doing and Tiffany.

If you're there, you can unmute.

Is she on?

She's on.

Okay.

Tiffany, try and hit star six to unmute.

Okay.

Tiffany, you're still muted.

Um, I'll give one more shot, and if not, you can submit your um public comment or questions to our office at district C at Houston TX.gov, and we will relay those um if there's a question on that.

Okay.

Um I want to again thank everyone for their presentations, their time, your attendance today.

Th uh big thank you to IT and HTV.

Um a reminder, agenda and presentations, including that exciting video, uh, can be found online on the committee's web page.

And it's the recording is also posted on HTV's website.

Uh we will adjourn today in memory of HPD senior officer Alex Robert, uh HFD firefighter paramedic Steven Scott and ARA investigator Dante Swanks.

This meeting is adjourned at 11 46 a.m.