Police Association draws line in the sand
Only two days after Mayor Ivy Taylor took the oath of office, the San Antonio Police Officer Association released a 4 minute video to its rank and file. Union President Mike Helle is the only person to appear in the video. He said union dues are being increased to fund the campaign after the City rejected union proposals.
Helle said the union has been making good faith efforts to propose solutions, only to see them rejected. “We intend to raise our dues to fund a war chest. We will focus on taking the message directly to the community through the use of radio, television, block walking, and direct mail. We will utilize online marketing and social media.”
Helle looked into the camera and likened the union’s fight to the last stand at the Alamo.
“The city leadership is trying to break you down,” Helle told union members toward the end of the video. “In the end, we will be successful, but to make myself clear, this is the last stand at the Alamo. Everyone in the state of Texas is looking at San Antonio … if San Antonio falls, they all fall.”
Helle said union officials would “never rely again on City Council members to carry our message,” an apparent reference to the unanimous election of Taylor, who supports a new contract requiring union members to pay a fair share of their health care costs.
The move comes two months after collective bargaining talks between the City and the San Antonio POA broke down over proposed cuts in union health care and pay.
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