SAN ANTONIO - The City of San Antonio on Thursday dropped its lawsuit against the San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association, city spokesman Matteo Trevino confirmed.
In September 2014, the union’s collective bargaining agreement expired. A 10-year “evergreen clause” was drafted, and the lawsuit claimed that clause was unconstitutional.
The Texas Supreme Court declined to take up the case in June of this year.
The collective bargaining agreement, extended by the "evergreen" provision, requires the city to pay health care costs for fire department employees through 2024. Under the current contract, employees pay no health care premiums for themselves or dependents.
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The City of San Antonio called that an “unsustainable plan that threatens to jeopardize or eliminate funding for other city services such as street maintenance, sidewalk construction, libraries, parks, code enforcement, animal care and social services.”
City leaders were seeking a new agreement. Union leaders claimed the lawsuit was a roadblock to negotiations.