After Dallas’ labor agreement with police and fire unions expired last fall, city leaders moved to ratify a short-term replacement while both sides continue negotiating a longer, multiyear deal.
The Dallas City Council on Wednesday approved a “meet-and-confer” agreement between the city and six police and firefighter groups that runs through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year. In Texas, a meet-and-confer agreement is a written labor agreement negotiated between a city and police and fire employee groups over wages, benefits and working conditions. State law requires the agreement to be ratified by covered officers and firefighters and approved by the City Council.
The agreement was broadly supported by voting members of the police and fire groups. City officials and union leaders have framed the more than $75.5 million agreement as a bridge while they negotiate a broader contract, replacing a prior agreement that had remained in effect under holdover language after expiring in September.
The new agreement — whose terms are a major driver of Dallas’ public safety spending — is notable because city leaders are under pressure to recruit and retain officers. By locking in terms through the end of the fiscal year, the city can avoid a lapse while negotiations continue on a longer deal with broader budget and staffing implications. The expired contract’s holdover language would have elapsed on March 31.
Political Points
The city is required to comply with voter-approved public safety requirements tied to Proposition U, which mandates that Dallas rank among the top five North Texas police departments for starting pay. The November 2024 charter amendment, which passed with 50.5% of the vote, also requires the city to maintain at least 4,000 officers.
Among the changes in the new agreement is an increase in education incentive pay for officers with qualifying master’s degrees or higher, up to $400 a month. It was previously $300 a month.
During the meeting, Public Safety Chief Dominique Artis, who oversees the police and fire departments and the city’s meet-and-confer negotiations, said the next agreement would be longer-term. Past agreements, he said, have run for three years.
Council member Cara Mendelsohn, who represents Far North Dallas and chairs the City Council’s Public Safety Committee, asked city officials about the shorter length of the agreement. She said she preferred a longer-term agreement, arguing it would provide more certainty for the city’s budget and for officers deciding whether to join or remain in Dallas.
“I could not agree more,” Artis told Mendelsohn during the meeting.
Mendelsohn added she was “very happy” that the agreement was widely supported by police and fire’s rank and file prior to Wednesday’s vote.
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