Monthly Newsletter Published for HOPE membersAugust 2012 | www.HOPETX.org

Houston Organization of Public Employees Newsletter

YOUR HOPEIN THISISSUE

The new evaluation is system is almost ready to be rolled out! Per the H.O.P.E. Local 123 Meet and Confer Agreement the old evaluation system ( E.P.E.) a task force was put together to evaluate this system to point out strengths and weakness-es. See Article 12 Section 2 page 44 of HOPE Meet and Confer Agreement. At the end of this pro-cess City of Houston workers were able to vote

on a new name for this evaluation system. The new name chosen by the city workers is H.E.A.R. Houston Employee Assessment and Review. This new system will provide a clear, two-channel of communication between employees and supervi-sors. Work plans will be aligned with department goals and the Mayor’s five pillars. Employees will be able to track and monitor job performance, giving them a clear roadmap for success. Train-ing for this new system will start this Fall. This new system would have not happened without the H.O.P.E. Local 123 Union Members negotiating this in the second contract and also without the help of Executive board members Isiaih Monroe and Daniel Box who was apart of the Task Force who helped create the new system.

New City Evaluation SystemPage 1-New City Evaluation System (H.E.A.R.)

-HOPE Family Day...................................

Page 2-Member Activism-Astro’s Union Night...................................

Page 3-5 Facts on City Pensions-Upcoming Events-New District Reps

If you missed out on HOPE Fam-ily Day you probably heard how the Local 123 members had great time! Members brought they’re family out to enjoy good food, good music and had a great time. The whole day was centered around family and connect-ing to the community.

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HOPE Local 123 LIVE OnlineGet All Your Updates

Astros Union Night

Member Activism: H.O.P.E. Committees

The 2012 Back 2 School Drive took place Sunday, August 26th 2012 at Mt. Ararat Church. Over 200+ kids were able to get haircuts, school supplies, uniforms. The

day was filled with excitement below are some pics from the event:

H.O.P.E. Members attend Houston Astros Union Night

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5

New District Reps

Fact 1:HMEPS pensions are modest.

• City of Houston public employees earn very modest pensions that only average $1,900 per month.

Fact 2:HMEPS pensions are affordable for the city.

• HMEPS contributions make up 2% of the city’s budget.

Fact 3:This new focus on HMEPS’s tradi-tional pension plans is being driven by political ideology -- NOT finan-cial concerns. • It’s not that the City of Houston

can’t afford to provide traditional retirement plans to Houston work-ers. Again, HMEPS contributions are only 2% of the budget!

• Pension critics and the 1% would rather obsess over pensions than

discuss how big corporations aren’t doing their fair share to support our neighborhoods and our city. (For example, they really don’t want to talk about how big corporate prop-erty owners dodge their fair share of property taxes!)

Fact 4:Let’s be clear. The independence of the pension board is the only thing that currently protects our traditional pen-sions.

• Allowing the city complete control of the pension board will open the door to CUTS in pensions – including for those already retired.

• Without reliable retirement income, nearly half of middle-class workers will be poor or near poor as retirees; these retirees will have to live on a food budget of about $5 per day.

Fact 5:After a life of hard work and playing by the rules, Americans should be able to retire with dignity and security, not poverty.

• No worker should have to work until they die. That’s not the American Dream.

• Instead of cutting pension benefits for workers and retirees, we should explore new ways to deliver retire-ment security to more people.

Facts on City Pension

Upcoming September Events

Labor Day Cook OffSeptember 1st

Trip To AustinSeptember 12th

Lobby DaySeptember 18th

(Tentative)

If you would like to participate in any of these events contact

your local: office#: 713.403.888

email: hopeinfo@hopetx.org

Housing DepartmentMonica Johnson

IT DepartmentEdward Davenport

Fleet Management DepartmentHenry Herber

To learn how you can get educated on the facts about securing your future join one of your HOPE local 123 Committees below:

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