Judge’s ruling upholds collective bargaining in Pharr

PHARR — A judge ruled in favor of Pharr’s police and firefighter unions Wednesday, overturning the results of May’s election that repealed the unions’ collective bargaining rights.

The ruling ensures that the unions have collective bargaining rights — for now.

The city will not appeal the ruling, Mayor Leo “Polo” Palacios said, but he cautioned that if the unions make outrageous demands during future negotiations, the city could hold yet another election asking voters to repeal collective bargaining rights.

The union had argued the May vote was illegal because it came less than one year after a previous election on the issue, a violation of state law.

“We’re very happy with the judge’s decision, but we’re not surprised,” said Lupe Castillo, head of the police union. “The bottom line is the law’s the law ... we did what the law says, and the city didn’t.”

John Curtis, the lawyer representing the police union, said the judge, who is visiting from another county, also ruled the city would have to pay the unions’ attorneys fees which total nearly $17,000.

The ruling “signals to me that the justice system still works,” said Matt Garcia, who heads the firefighters union.

Garcia said the firefighters’ union contract lasts through October 2008, and negotiations will likely start in April. Castillo said the police union contract ends in May 2008, and negotiations will also likely start in April.

The firefighters are looking forward to focusing on their job of protecting the residents of Pharr and no longer continuing the feud, Garcia said.

Palacios said he believes the firefighters and police are getting compensated “very nicely,” and he said their salary and benefits are comparable to those of other police and firefighters in local cities that are Pharr’s size.

Palacios came to support repealing collective bargaining due to concerns that the unions’ salary and benefit demands would exceed the city’s resources, resulting in higher taxes.

After the ruling came down, Palacios echoed the same statement he’s made before about the firefighters and police. If they’re unhappy with their pay, they are free to quit.

“If I was not happy with my salary, I’d go somewhere else,” Palacios said. “We all have a right to do it. I’m not going to hold anyone back. I mean this in a nice way.”

Earlier this summer, the fire and police unions filed a second complaint alleging that invalid signatures had been collected on the petition used to put the collective bargaining issue on the ballot. That complain is no longer being pursued because the judge has already ruled in the unions’ favor, Curtis said.

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Ryan Holeywell covers PSJA and general assignments for The Monitor. He can be reached at (956) 683-4446. For this and more local stories, visit www.themonitor.com.