City, police union resume labor contract negotiations

The city of Austin and the Austin Police Association returned to the bargaining table Wednesday after a brief hiatus stemming from an impasse on oversight provisions.

The city initiated the pause early this month after the police union said it wouldn’t consider removing the Office of Police Oversight from the contract, raising questions about whether the two sides would reach an agreement before the current contract expires March 31.

Lowell Denton, an outside attorney for the city, told the union’s bargaining team he appreciated its “trying to come up with something that responds to, and gets as close as you are capable of doing so, what the city has asked you to consider and discuss with us.”

A city spokesperson issued the following statement to the Austin Monitor on Thursday.

“Although no proposals were exchanged (on Wednesday), the parties discussed additional negotiation dates for January and February,” it read. “The city believes that continued dialogue can only bring the parties closer to a resolution on the remaining issues in dispute.”

APA did not respond to a text request for comment. 

When the bargaining teams reconvene in January, they will have three months to reach an agreement, which must be approved by City Council and APA’s membership. By then, the dais will look different, with Mayor-elect Kirk Watson and Council members-elect José Velásquez, Ryan Alter and Zohaib Qadri set to be sworn in Jan. 6. 

Police supporters stress that falling out of contract could exacerbate long-standing staffing shortages at the Austin Police Department, where the vacancy rate among sworn officers was 15 percent as of Sept. 22. 

Police reform advocates, on the other hand, have called on the city to delay implementing a new four-year contract until after the May election, when Austin voters will decide whether to pass the Austin Police Oversight Act. The ballot measure, spearheaded by the Equity Austin political action committee, would remove OPO from future labor contracts, grant the office access to any police records it requires, and expand its authority to recommend disciplinary action in cases of police misconduct. 

Kathy Mitchell, Equity Action treasurer, told the Monitor last week she would like to see the city pursue a one-year contract with APA, which would prevent the consequences of falling out of contract while still giving voters a chance to weigh in on the issue of civilian oversight. 

Chris Harris, Equity Action president, added that falling out of contract would come at a greater cost to APA than to the city.

“The state of oversight is so poor right now that impasse really doesn’t negatively impact the people of Austin,” he previously told the Monitor. “It’s really only the police who stand to lose a substantial amount of money if there’s not a contract in place.”

There’s also the question of what Equity Action calls a fraudulent petition effort by Voters for Oversight and Police Accountability, a group that may have “apparent links” to APA, as The Austin Chronicle reported earlier this month. 

During a press conference last week, Equity Action board members said VOPA is impersonating the PAC in its signature campaign for a competing ballot measure, which would significantly weaken oversight when compared with the APOA.

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