The City of San Antonio has dropped its lawsuit challenging the evergreen clause in the contract of its firefighters’ union, potentially hitting restart for negotiations for a new labor deal, according to media reports.
The union has cited the suit as its reason for refusing talks to replace its contract, which expired four years ago. The City sought to overturn a clause that keeps union pay and benefits in place for 10 years after the prior pact’s expiration, but the Texas Supreme Court this summer declined to hear the case.
The City’s new move came scant hours after longtime City Manager Sheryl Sculley, an advocate of the hardline strategy against the union, announced her retirement.
During last month’s midterm elections, S.A. voters approved a pair of charter amendments backed by the union — one of which allows it to unilaterally force labor negotiations into arbitration and another that limits salary and tenure for future city managers.
The measures clearly set the stage for both Sculley’s departure and the City’s decision to abandon its suit.
Union President Chris Steele has said his members would return to talks within days of the lawsuit being dropped. And a union spokesman told KSAT 12 he’s “confident both sides are preparing” to get back to the table.
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This article appears in Nov 28 – Dec 4, 2018.
