This story has been updated.
After roughly half of its members complained about a lack of transparency at San Antonio City Hall over the past week, City Council met behind closed doors for hours Thursday to discuss stalled labor contract negotiations with the firefighters’ union.
It was an anticlimactic end, at least publicly, to a week of uncertainty and bold moves.
Some council members expected at least a portion of their conversation to take place in public, but the only public part of the discussion was a nearly 10-minute presentation outlining the city’s interpretation of the latest fire union contract proposals regarding wages.
Though several council members said they welcomed a public discussion, they and City Manager Erik Walsh opted instead for the confidential meeting, known as an executive session, with City Attorney Andy Segovia — even though there have been claims among members that those meetings have leaks and that Segovia is unfit for his role.
At least for now, all that’s appeared to change since last week is Walsh agreeing to hold executive sessions regarding the fire union negotiations — which was status quo until recently, when Segovia paused private group meetings out of concern that they were no longer confidential.
“There are appropriate topics behind closed doors in executive session [that are] allowed under state law,” Walsh told reporters. “Today gave us an opportunity to have that conversation with the council.”
At about 12:30 p.m., council recessed into executive session and remained there until about 3 p.m., when they returned to council chambers just for Mayor Ron Nirenberg to adjourn the meeting and start the next.
The meeting regarding the fire contract was called for by a “Block of 5” council members, led by Melissa Cabello Havrda (D6), who wanted to play a more public, “transparent” role in fire union contract negotiations.
“I thought we were going to come back out and have some more comments” about negotiations, Councilman Manny Pelaez (D8) said. The next meeting council convened was its regularly scheduled zoning session, which started one hour late.
“This is why I shake my head at the chaos that was created by the dumpster fire of a week we’ve had,” said Pelaez, who has described the group’s actions as a political distraction. “We’ve got scores of people in this room who showed up to City Council to do business.”
Marc Whyte (D10), Marina Alderete Gavito (D7), Teri Castillo (D5) and Jalen McKee-Rodriguez (D2) joined Cabello Havrda in the “Block of Five,” which aired grievances against Segovia during a closed-door meeting of the full council on Wednesday.
After that confidential meeting, Walsh and Nirenberg said council and city management had found a path forward. They offered few details about that path, but firing Segovia — as Cabello Havrda had called for — no longer seems to be part of it.
It’s unclear if Cabello Havrda, who is considering a mayoral run, still feels the same way. She did not return a request for comment Thursday.
Whyte said that, for now, he trusts Segovia to do the job.
“Andy’s a really good person and I’m confident that he has heard our concerns,” Whyte said. “If there are not changes, we’ll be back here again. I think there’s no question about that.”
Nirenberg, whose final term ends next year, called Thursday’s meeting a “reset.” “Typically, the council’s collective bargaining discussions are held in executive sessions and that is appropriate, but budget impacts will be discussed in public sessions,” he said in a statement.
Where negotiations stand
Bargaining between the San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association and the city was paused on May 3, as the two sides remain miles apart. That led to dramatic press conferences and accusations of manipulation, which has become a familiar soundtrack for negotiations with the fire union in San Antonio.
The union represents a vast majority of SAFD’s roughly 1,800 firefighters and paramedics and, like the police union, has significant political sway historically.
With a multimillion-dollar compensation gap between the two proposals and a looming $10.6 million budget deficit, the city proposed they try non-binding mediation in an attempt to reach a draft agreement. It’s an option the union is still considering, officials said this week.
While they were eager to say the ball was in the other side’s court, city or union leadership may at any point propose meeting or mediation dates.
The current contract was reached six years after the previous one expired and contentious political bouts — and only after the fire union forced negotiations into binding arbitration, a right that the union fought for.
But the fire union has buyer’s remorse.
The previous union leadership was “disingenuous” when it praised the 2020 deal reached through arbitration, union President Joe Jones told the Report this week. “It was a terrible deal for us. And ultimately, it was a bad deal for the city, because now we’re in crisis.”
That contract favored the city financially more than it benefited union members, Jones said.
This time around, the city has proposed increasing firefighter pay by 21.7% over five years; the union proposed 37.5% over three years.
The union estimates its three-year proposal would cost the city nearly $200 million. Meanwhile, the city’s first three years would cost $62.3 million.
Jones said a lack of city movement on compensation is leading firefighters to move to other departments for better benefits and pay. “We’re internationally recognized for our service delivery and now our talent is looking elsewhere … we’re suffering brain drain.”
Nine firefighters who were not eligible for retirement chose to leave SAFD in fiscal year 2023, a tally that has been steadily increasing since 2018, according to one of the city’s presentations to the union. Five have left this year as of early April.
“That’s substantial for us, because we don’t, we don’t hemorrhage talent,” Jones said. “Historically speaking, we’ve been a destination department.”
According to an analysis commissioned by the city this year, the overall compensation and benefits that firefighters in San Antonio receive are competitive with those of other Texas cities when adjusted for cost of living.
While starting base pay for firefighters in San Antonio is relatively low compared to other departments in the state, the longevity component — the pace of pay increases over time — make SAFD “the highest in the state,” Deputy City Manager María Villagómez, who serves as the city’s chief negotiator, said during the public briefing. “We also have supplemental and certification pays that are above average.”
The firefighters’ current contract expires Dec. 31, and negotiations between the city and the union, which are open to the public and streamed online, started in February. If a deal isn’t reached before that contract’s expiration, the terms of the current contract will stay in place except for wage increases.
Officials from both sides said they want to avoid that outcome.
“That would be catastrophic,” Jones said. “If it went that way, there would be a mass exodus.”
