Houston News category interest

To enhance the quality of life for employees and their families, Mayor Sylvester Turner announced plans to increase the minimum wage for municipal, contract, and service-related workers to $15 an hour during a news conference on Wednesday, February, 16, 2022.

Joined by City Council Members Abbie Kamin, Robert Gallegos, and David Robinson, Mayor Turner announced the City of Houston and Houston First Janitorial and Security contracts will increase the hourly rate to $15 by December of 2022.

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The mayor also signed an executive order to raise the minimum wage for Houston airport workers to $15 an hour by 2023.

Members of Unite HERE and the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Texas, two labor unions who work collectively to help secure better wages, benefits, and working conditions applauded the announcement and executive order.

"Today's minimum wage increase announcements for Municipal and Contracted Service-Related Employees demonstrate the City's commitment to its employees and their families," said Mayor Sylvester Turner. "As a world-class city, we need a larger base of higher-paying jobs. I hope that our city's largest employers will follow the City of Houston's lead and do their part to raise their minimum wage."

This is the second major salary announcement by the mayor. Last year, Mayor Turner announced a pay raise agreement between the City of Houston and the Houston Organization of Public Employees (HOPE), the union that represents municipal employees. The agreement raised the minimum hourly pay rate for City employees to $15. The agreement also approved across-the-board annual raises of 3% for the next three years.