SAN ANTONIO — The San Antonio Professional Firefighters Association announced a lawsuit against the City of San Antonio on Thursday. The group says the lawsuit is meant to protect their First Amendment rights.
Recently, the fire union collected thousands of signatures in a petition drive to change the city charter. During that time, the union claims the city forced them to stay in so-called "Free Speech Zones", which the union says puts limits on their free speech. The union has hired a Houston law firm for the lawsuit.
But City officials said that the First Amendment allows libraries to regulate political activities on their properties, and that has been a long-standing court decision.
The City contends that free-speech zones were actually created at libraries to safeguard individuals using the library for personal use, while also respecting those who would use the area for political reasons. "This has nothing to do with the fire union...and what their purposes are," a City Representative told reporters at the press conference. "This is all about regulating free speech activities."
This all comes after the Texas Supreme Court refused back in June to hear a lawsuit filed by the city regarding the "Evergreen Clause". The clause allows the terms of the last contract to remain for ten years after it expires if there is no other agreed-upon contract.
The last contract expired in 2014, meaning that contract can remain in place until 2024 if the city and the union do not agree to a new contract. The city filed a lawsuit claiming the Evergreen Clause was unconstitutional.
"We saw no other course of action to compel the good faith negotiation between two sides to go to court and pursue that," Jeff Coyle said. "We were not successful and that issue is behind us."
There has also been a lengthy and heated battle over healthcare benefits since that contract expired. The city says it can no longer pay for the full cost of health benefits for the firefighters and their dependents, as it had been under the previous contract.
No agreement has yet been reached.
"I put my life on the line for this city for 31 years," Chris Steele with the S.A. Professional Firefighters Association said. "I'm not afraid but this could be any of you. It could be any one of us here. If the city doesn't agree with you, they will come after you. We feel like we have to do something to stop that."