SAN JOSE, Calif. (CN) — Following months of fruitless salary negotiations between San Jose and two of the largest city worker unions, city employees now say that they will strike next week.
IFPTE Local 21 and MEF-AFSCME Local 101 union employees said Monday morning at San Jose City Hall that 99% of their members voted in favor of striking for three days. That means up to 4,500 city workers go on strike on Aug. 15, picketing at locations across the city including San Jose International Airport.
The unions want an 18% raise over the next three years to meet the high cost of living in Silicon Valley, along with family benefits. The city has a 12% vacancy rate — nearly 800 openings. Some employees say they have had to move into cities in other counties such as Tracy or Stockton and commute for hours to avoid high rent or homelessness.
The Staff Up San Jose coalition wants 7% raises in 2023-24, 6% raises in 2024-25 and 5% raises the year after. San Jose’s final offer is 5% for 2023-2024, 4% in 2024-2025 and 3% raises the year after, according to local news outlet San José Spotlight.
But union reps used a report from Working Partnerships USA saying that San Jose could increase wages without cutting services, using the up to $28 million budget surplus coming from hundreds of vacant jobs.
The unions are working to secure a strike sanction by Monday night from the South Bay Labor Council so that no other unions can do business with the city during the strike. The Santa Clara County Democratic Party Central Committee passed a resolution Aug. 3 calling for the city to end “its pattern of accruing large budget savings by not providing services and to stop understaffing our community.”
“I’m disappointed that these unions have voted to strike without coming back to the negotiation table after walking away from mediation,” San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said in a statement Monday.
“There is still hope for a solution that is fair to everyone, but the truth is, what the unions are asking for would require extremely painful cuts that I don’t believe anyone is willing to make. In the meantime, the city is prepared to maintain the services our residents rely on.”
The strike is likely to affect many city services such as at the airport, library, summer programs and code enforcement — although union representatives say that trash collection and emergency response from fire and police departments will not be disrupted.
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