SAN ANTONIO -- Members of the San Antonio Police Officers Association announced Thursday that they approved a new collective bargaining agreement with the City of San Antonio in a membership wide vote held Aug. 5-11.
SAPOA said the vote was conducted and monitored by an independent, third party, elections administrator.
Out of 1,719 votes cast, 1,218 voted yes. The contract was ratified by 70.86 percent of the membership.
The ratified contract will now be presented to the full San Antonio City Council for approval.
Michael Helle, president of SAPOA, released the following statement:
“Our membership has spoken and approved the new police contract with the City of San Antonio. For more than two years, we have been in tough and challenging negotiations to provide the best possible pay and benefits for our police officers and their families.
I want to thank our negotiating team for their hard work and dedication to our Department. I also want to extend a sincere thanks to Mayor Ivy Taylor for her leadership and focus on public safety. The mayor stepped in and brought this deal together, and it could not have been done without her guiding city staff to compromise.
We now call on the City Council to pass this contract quickly and put the focus back on the safety of our community. We must work together to rebuild the morale of an understaffed and overworked police force. The only way we get that done is with an end to the contract disputes and lawsuits."
