MARCH 2022. Blues Vol 38 No. 3

HOUSTON POLICE OFFICERS UNION
from the president
HPOU contract the product of long hours
of hard work; It’s now in the hands of City
Council for its approval.
After four long months of going
back and forth with the city,
we now have a contract. I want
to first thank all of those who
made it out to vote. I am sad to
say that only 1,600 of our 5,100
members voted in the ratification
of the contract.
This is not unusual as we only
had 1,891 vote in the last contract
election. The contract did
pass with a vote of 1,101 voting
for and 510 voting against.
Many of you asked questions
about why we do not have
online voting for the contract.
There are several reasons for
this, including the fact that it is
a labor contract, and we must
be certain no one is voting for
another person.
Secondly, we want officers to
attend informational meetings
or meet with someone who
negotiated the contract before
voting to make sure the officer
received the correct information.
A few folks, for whatever
reason, tried to kill this contract
vote with false information.
There were several lies
that were pushed around the
department, one of which was
from the leader of another
employee group. Even some of
DOUGLAS GRIFFITH
his members were disappointed
and shared his email with
me. I was very disappointed in
the fact that many just believed
whatever was on social media
and refused to educate themselves.
When people came to the
Union and asked questions, they
were given a contract, and a
highlight sheet, and then I or
another HPOU board member
answered all of their questions.
Many of our board members
started at stations Tuesday
morning, telling everyone they
could about the contract and
answering questions. We then
held informational sessions
every hour at the Union until 1
a.m. Then we had sessions several
times a day every day until
the end of voting. We went
around the clock because one
of the most important functions
of a union is the contract vote.
I want everyone to understand
that there is absolutely no
way that this organization will
ever jeopardize our members
with anything in a contract. Everything
we do in bargaining is
to better what we have and to
make sure our rights are protected.
With all of the “police reform”
going on around the
country, we were able to prevent
the erosion of rights like
those seen in Austin and San
Antonio. I am also well aware
that we cannot make everyone
happy, nor is that my job.
My job is to get the best deal
we could possibly get – and we
did. I am proud of the bargaining
team and the product
that was produced from all
of its hard work. This was a
time-consuming process that
took many long days, late hours
and weekends. This was a long
hard process that is now moving
to City Council for a vote.
Thanks to all who participated.
If you have any questions or
comments, you are always welcome
to call or email me.
98 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 99