San José City Worker Strike on Hold After Agreement

Two unions representing nearly 4,500 San José city workers have reached an agreement with the city to potentially avert a historic strike.

The conceptual agreement, confirmed by both sides late Monday, came hours before a scheduled work stoppage that would have been the city’s largest in more than 40 years — potentially shuttering libraries and community centers and delaying permitting and inspections.

Neither side shared details of the terms of the pact, which will be reviewed and potentially approved by the city council on Tuesday. Officials with the unions MEF-AFSCME Local 101 and IFPTE Local 21 said they are pausing the strike, which would have begun on Tuesday morning.

In guidance sent to union members and shared with KQED, union leaders advised workers to “go to work as normal tomorrow.”

The announcement comes after months of bargaining, largely over employee pay. Workers represented by the unions argued that wages in San José are not keeping pace with other municipalities, leading to employee turnover.

“It feels good, overall it feels good,” David Nerhood, a financial analyst with the department of transportation and a member of the IFPTE Local 21 bargaining team, told KQED.

“We did quite a bit of work over the weekend and then today was a long haul,” Nerhood added. “I’m pleased where things are at this point in the proceedings and I’m hopeful it continues towards the resolution we’re all after.”

A statement from the city manager’s office said all city services “will be open and take place as normally scheduled on Tuesday.”

San José City Manager Jennifer Maguire’s office has led negotiations, while the city council has set the parameters of the city’s offers in closed session meetings. The council can now approve the contract on a majority vote.

“While I support substantial raises for our workers, I will be paying close attention to the budget office’s projected fiscal impact before voting on the proposal,” Mayor Matt Mahan said, in a statement. “Signing up for tens of millions of dollars in projected deficits and, therefore, likely future service cuts and layoffs wouldn’t be fair to city workers or residents. I won’t vote for something today that’s going to hurt us tomorrow.”