BUILD
HOUSTON
BETTER

Five years ago, Hurricane Harvey dumped 60 inches of water over 5 days on the Texas Gulf Coast – one of the worst storms in history in a region that has experienced a lot of them. 

As the water receded, the Texas Gulf Coast AFL-CIO assembled emergency muck-out crews to help union members and the wider Houston community, giving priority to seniors whose homes were ravaged by the storm.

When the rebuilding phase began, we pulled together the building trades and community partners to establish the Build Houston Better coalition. Our coalition partners, the Houston Gulf Coast Building and Construction Trades Council, the Laborers International Union of North America, and the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades Trades, New Economy for Working Houston, & Workers Defense Project, came together to fight for a vision of a Gulf Coast construction industry that works for everyone - workers, contractors, customers, and residents. 

We won a community workforce agreement on multifamily housing projects funded by federal relief dollars through the City of Houston’s Housing Department. The agreement includes a $15 minimum wage, apprenticeship utilization requirements, OSHA training requirements, local hire, and other labor standards.