AUSTIN, Texas — After a year and a half without a long-term contract, the city of Austin reached a tentative labor agreement with the Austin Police Association (APA) on Monday.
Austin City Council members will vote on the proposed agreement at their Oct. 10 meeting, after the contract’s language is finalized and police union members have reviewed the proposal.
It comes after long-term contract negotiations resumed in March following disagreements over expanding access to the “G” file, which contains personnel information on officers’ allegations and misconduct.
During negotiations, the city said it wanted to enforce the Police Oversight Act, which voters overwhelmingly passed in May of 2023. The APA had reservations about the G file being released publicly. In late August, a Travis County Judge ruled to do away with the G-file.
The tentative agreement is expected to include pay increases for police officers and address public access to the G-file.
Negotiations hit a roadblock in 2023 when the city of Austin turned down a four-year contract in favor of a one-year extension agreement. In February 2023, a stopgap measure was passed by city leaders to keep officer pay and benefits and police oversight in place.
On Feb. 1, Mayor Kirk Watson and the city council signed off on another stopgap measure to extend pay and benefits for police officers until March 31, 2025. The measure was designed to bring APA back to the negotiating table and also offered a controversial bonus, which would reward $500 for every officer if talks start up again and $2,500 if a contract agreement is successfully reached.