Houston Labor Movement Celebrates Rent Relief Victory, Pushes for Further Action to Support Working Families
After weeks of advocacy, the Gulf Coast labor movement today celebrated a major victory for working families, as Houston City Council voted to create a $14.4 million relief fund to assist renters struggling with the sudden loss of a job or wages due to the coronavirus pandemic.
“We are glad that City Council has responded to our call to provide relief to thousands of Houstonians struggling to pay their bills during the crisis, but it is just a start, said Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation Executive Director Hany Khalil, “We continue to call on City Council to use its authority to expand protections to the tens of thousands of renters in need who will not receive aid through the fund, to include Houston’s working families in future discussions on rent and other forms of relief, and to avoid tapping funds available to prevent layoffs and furloughs of City employees.”
On March 27th the Gulf Coast AFL-CIO and 68 affiliate unions sent a letter to Mayor Turner and the Houston City Council calling for rent relief and other financial and health protections for Houston’s working families. In the subsequent weeks, union members organized a press conference on April 16th in front of city hall, called council members hundreds of times, and members from IUPAT District 88, IATSE Local 896, IAM Local 811, OPEIU Local 129, and HESP Local 6315 have spoken out at council meetings over the past month.
But the fight for rent relief for Houston’s working families is far from over — on Friday, May 2, the Texas Gulf Coast Area Labor Federation sent a letter to Mayor Turner and the Houston City Council calling on them to expand the city’s rent relief program to include an opportunity to cure ordinance, following the examples of Austin, Dallas, and Prairie View.
An opportunity to cure ordinance would give all renters a grace period to come to an agreement with their landlord to pay overdue rent, as well as restricting late fees and notices to vacate, not just those renting from landlords who register with the City’s rental assistance program.
