After more than five years of failed negotiations, lawsuits, appeals, and an election that changed the city’s charter, the City of San Antonio and its firefighters union finally have a labor contract, effective immediately.
City and union officials praised the deal, but some firefighters – who spoke on the condition of anonymity – were dissatisfied.
Under the terms of the five-year contract, firefighters will have two health care plan options, with one requiring members pay premiums for the first time; a one-time 7 percent lump sum payment; incremental pay increases ranging from 2 to 3 percent; and a five-year evergreen clause that keeps most of the terms of the previous contract in place – without base pay increases – after it expires. The previous contract expired in September 2014.