HOUSTON --
More than 100 city of Houston workers may lose their jobs in layoffs announced Tuesday at the
, Local 2 Investigates reported.
Houston Aviation Department Director Mario Diaz hosted a meeting to break the news to his workforce Tuesday afternoon at a hotel near Intercontinental Airport.
In the two-hour gathering, Diaz said more than 100 layoffs may be needed, or about 6 percent of the 1,640 positions now on the books at all three Houston Airports.
Diaz told his staff that cuts will be applied at Bush Intercontinental Airport, Hobby Airport and Ellington Field with secretaries, office staff, managers and grounds crews potentially on the chopping block.
Airport system spokeswoman Marlene McClinton said the director made it clear that positions may also be eliminated in the core Airport Operations division, which manages runways, airfields and terminals at all three airports.
McClinton said some of the 1,640 allocated positions have been vacant, and Diaz indicated he needs to further cut staffing in May.
Department managers are now deliberating which positions can go, according to McClinton.
Houston Mayor Annise Parker has previously mentioned the possibility of layoffs as she struggled with a $30 million budget shortfall, but this is the first city of Houston department to be told that job cuts are imminent.
The mayor had said in the past that she was hoping to avoid layoffs by implementing voluntary and mandatory furloughs, which started in December.
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