City and unions both claim victory, expect legal battle, in McAllen arbitration vote

McALLEN — City and union officials alike claimed victory after Tuesday’s election on binding arbitration, with both sides acknowledging a legal battle over the results was looming.

The years-long dispute between the city and its police and fire unions — dating back to a 2006 deadlock over retirement benefits — took yet another turn this week as McAllen voters passed two conflicting ballot propositions. One measure calls for a charter amendment requiring binding arbitration in labor disputes with the city’s public safety unions; the other calls for an amendment prohibiting outside arbitration.

The election results must still be canvassed on Nov. 11 before they are made official, and 12 provisional ballots have yet to be officially counted. Those ballots could sway the election because the union-authored Proposition 2 — which mandates arbitration — passed by a mere eight votes, though city and union officials say a change in the outcome is unlikely.

City officials contend the amendment language in their proposition trumps the union’s and would preclude an arbitration provision from being added to the city charter. Union officials said they would likely challenge that in court and have countered that the city-authored Proposition 1 — which prohibits arbitration — is unconstitutional.

Both sides were unsure, though, when or how the legal battle to clarify the situation would begin.

“As far as our next options, we’re just going to take a deep breath and hopefully the city will honor Proposition 2,” said Mike Zellers, a regional president of the South Texas Organization of Police. “If not, we’ll get advice on our legal counsel on how to proceed.”

City Attorney Kevin Pagan and Zellers said the conflict may not be resolved until next year, when the city begins negotiating new collective bargaining agreements with the unions. If the city can’t come to terms with the unions and they demand arbitration, that could prompt a lawsuit and possible resolution.

“The election is over for us and we’re going to go on with our business,” Mayor Richard Cortez said. “If they feel they need to take action, they’re welcome to do whatever they think they can that’s within their rights.”

Pagan said other scenarios could arise if the union files a lawsuit to clarify the situation or if both propositions pass and the city doesn’t write the union’s into the charter because the language of the city-authored measure ostensibly trumps that of the union proposition.

Police Sgt. Jose Garcia, who took over Monday from Sgt. Ed Suarez as president of the McAllen Police Officer’s Union, said the union would wait until the vote results were made official before making any decisions.

Suarez, who was to finish his term in December, stepped down as union president Monday, stating in a resignation letter that he had “accomplished what he wanted to in the past two years,” Garcia said.

Garcia is serving as interim president for the time being but said he intends to run next month for a full two-year term.

Suarez did not return calls for comment.

“We had both propositions pass,” Garcia said. “I heard (Mayor Cortez) say today he’s going to respect the will of the voters. I hope he’s true to his word.”
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Nick Pipitone covers McAllen and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4446.