SAN ANTONIO – San Antonio police union officials said Wednesday they hope to return to the collective bargaining table by the end of the month if the city backs down from its proposal to change uniformed health care benefits.
"We're just waiting to see what happens on Sept. 18 with the budget session and…what they'll approve as next year's fiscal budget," said Christopher Lutton, a police union negotiator.
The city currently pays $12,758 per uniformed officer per year for health coverage. City Manager Sheryl Sculley wants to lower that amount to $10,000. The city pays approximately $7,700 per year for each civilian employee.
During a budget presentation Wednesday chief financial officer Ben Gorzell said the average cost of providing health care to civilian employees has risen by 7 percent in the last three years. He said the amount is manageable, unlike the cost of providing health care to the city's uniformed employees.
"The increase is steeper, there's really no plan design changes there," Gorzell said. "They don't pay premiums, so it's much more difficult to manage the cost of health care over that period of time."
The union has maintained that it can do a better job of managing its members' health care dollars than the city. While union officials expressed a willingness to get back to the negotiating table, they said it won't happen if the City Council approves Sculley's plan.
"We hope to get back to the negotiating table, tentatively, by Sept. 23," Lutton said. "We're hopeful that if we get back to the table, there will be things to discuss. As long as you're talking, you can negotiate,"
The union's current collective bargaining agreement expires on Sept. 30, but the contract includes a 10-year evergreen clause.
The city's fire union has yet to sit down with the city.