[Spring 2022] The Texas State Employees Union has welcomed a growing number of new members from the Texas Military Department that were called up by Governor Abbott to serve in his controversial “Operation Lone Star.” These new members hail from all three branches of the Texas Military: the Texas State Guard, the Texas Army National Guard, and the Texas Air National Guard. Members of the Texas Military that are called to duty by the state of Texas are state employees, and now they are joining TSEU.
Before Operation Lone Star, state mobilizations of the Texas Military were rare and brief, with a clear mission – normally to respond to a natural disaster or a moment of civil unrest.
Operation Lone Star was different. After Governor Abbott issued a disaster declaration for counties along the border with Mexico in the fall of 2021, the state mobilized nearly 10,000 members of the Texas Military over two months. There had never been such an immediate, massive, involuntary call to duty of National Guard troops by Texas or any other state for such a long and unclear mission.
Operation Lone Star has been plagued by allegations that the troops were being used to gin up support in the Governor’s re-election campaign. Soldiers reported being ordered to the border with only days to disengage from their civilian lives, say goodbye to family, and take leave of work – all under threat of arrest – and arriving at the border to find no clear reason for them to be there. Then, many soldiers reported that they were paid too little or not at all – sometimes, for months. They also reported conflicting orders, inadequate training, lack of critical equipment, and deplorable living conditions. Moreover, immediately following a $300 million allocation to the Operation Lone Star, Texas cut the tuition benefit for the Texas Military by more than half, from $3 million to $1.4 million – pulling support from members that had planned on the funding to pursue their education, a major recruiting tool for the Texas Military.
The massive mobilization in October and November fell in the middle of the college semester. Students were told that they had to come to the border under involuntary mobilization orders. The tuition benefit that had drawn many recruits to the Texas Military had already been cut substantially. TSEU members reported that many students had already been delivered news that Texas was withdrawing tuition assistance mid-semester. Then, many more were forced to withdraw from classes mid-semester to comply with the involuntary mobilization at the border. Many soldiers paid from their own pockets for classes that would not be credited toward their degree.
Upon arrival at a base camp, living conditions for most troops consisted of trailers with 30 troops to each – ten across and three high – with generators and port-a-johns. TSEU members of the Texas Military were frustrated by the lack of a defined mission. Members reported that troops were assigned to 12-hour shifts, which they spent sitting in a Humvee or walking around near the observation post, waiting for something to happen. On the rare occasion that anything did happen, troops could not do anything except call DPS.
Meanwhile, pay became a major concern. Members of TSEU said pay problems were widespread. Many troops received no paycheck, while other soldiers received too little when the military did not calculate pay for their dependents correctly. TSEU members reported that it took weeks or months to get pay issues resolved.
TSEU is committed to uniting state employees across all lines of geography, job titles, and employing agency/university to build the strongest possible grassroots organization – one that has the strength to speak effectively in the Capitol and in our offices, facilities, and institutions. TSEU members are united in fighting for better working conditions, justice on the job, fair pay and good benefits, and quality state services for Texans.
TSEU/Texas Military Caucus Statement of Principles and Goals
We are personnel from all three military branches of the Texas Military Department: the Texas State Guard, the Texas Army National Guard, and the Texas Air National Guard. We are united in our commitment to serve and protect the citizens of Texas.
read more . . .
You have the right to be an active member in your union, TSEU
National Guard troops can legally join a union while serving on state active duty orders, the Justice Department said in a court filing in January, 2022.
read more . . .