Firefighters union calls on city council to defy mayor on Proposition B

HOUSTON (FOX 26) - Houston firefighters are tired of waiting.

More than 100 days after voters awarded firefighters equal pay with police, their wages haven't changed. Houston Professional Fire Fighters Association president Marty Lancton challenged Houston City Council to simply bypass Mayor Sylvester Turner.

"Will the city council implement what is the law, which is Proposition B, or will they step back and allow the mayor's positions and vindictiveness to be theirs?," asked Lancton. "The voters and now the courts have spoken. Proposition B is the law and it is way past time to implement the law."

It's additional pay that now seems dependent on a second legal bite at the apple for the City of Houston, a fresh motion by the Turner administration to have a judge declare voter-approved Proposition B unconstitutional.

"I believe the people of Houston are deserving of an answer and I think employees are deserving of an answer," said Turner.

"If it's constitutional, then we need to pay these firefighters on parity levels, and if it's not constitutional, we need to figure out something else to make it fair to them," said Houston City Council Member Greg Travis.

But HPFFA attorney Troy Blakeney said the facts and the law haven't changed since the City failed in court the first time.

"It makes no sense to say we want to see it go through the courts to see if we have to comply," said Blakeney. "It is the law." He also confirmed receiving an initial proposal from the City of Houston offering firefighters a salary hike that falls short of the pay raise approved by voters.

Blakeney said talks between the union and the Turner administration will likely continue.