City & IAFF Collective Bargaining August 6, 2024

The City of San Antonio municipal government held a collective bargaining negotiation session with the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) on August 6, 2024. The meeting focused primarily on contract negotiations including wage proposals, promotion criteria, and benefits such as parental leave and health care. The union maintained its June 24 proposals on most articles but reduced wage increase requests for the second and third years of the contract. A significant discussion centered on Article 32 regarding promotions, where the union proposed a leadership development program with educational prerequisites for advancement rather than direct financial incentives. The city responded with counterproposals including video-recorded assessments for promotions to improve efficiency. Both parties agreed to sign tentative agreements on several non-economic articles and planned to continue discussions on economic proposals and other outstanding issues at a follow-up session scheduled for August 23, 2024. The city noted budget constraints and a financial policy to keep public safety spending below 66.6% of the budget as factors influencing their economic counteroffer timeline.