Thousands of San José City Workers Are Ready to Strike for Up to 3 Days
Thousands of San José city workers on Monday moved one step closer to a historic work stoppage by authorizing a strike that could put librarians, parks workers and other municipal employees on the picket line.
Members of two unions, IFPTE Local 21 and MEF-AFSCME Local 101, overwhelmingly approved a strike authorization vote giving union leaders the power to order a work stoppage of up to three days. The move comes after months of gridlock between city leaders who argue San José is strapped for cash and workers who are demanding better pay.
“The biggest thing is wages,” said Hannah Ornellas, an environmental services specialist who manages trash and recycling in the city.
During her four-year tenure, Ornellas said she’s seen massive attrition as coworkers leave for better-paying jurisdictions.
“The loss of institutional knowledge is just really great,” she said. “And every year with new staff, we just have to spend so much time training new staff on all of these annual processes.”
A potential work stoppage by the two unions, which collectively represent as many as 4,500 workers, would be San José’s largest since 1981. City officials have been preparing contingency plans. Just three years ago, the same unions came to the brink of a strike before reaching an agreement with the city on raises.
Now, the city’s fiscal outlook is much worse, said Aram Kouyoumdjian, San José’s director of human resources and employee relations.
In 2023, the council approved a budget with a $35 million surplus. The budget approved in June closed a $50 million shortfall in the current fiscal year, and another deficit is expected next year.
While department directors are preparing for the “serious possibility” of a work stoppage, Kouyoumdjian said, “We are endeavoring to mitigate or prevent a strike in whatever way that we can while remaining responsible stewards of the public’s money.”
Before selecting the dates of a potential strike, the two unions have requested a process known as fact-finding. A three-person panel, facilitated by the California Public Employment Relations Board, will review the offers made by the two sides and issue non-binding recommendations.
The most recent public proposals show workers with the unions are asking for a 14% wage increase over three years, while the city has offered a 9% hike over that same time period. But Kouyoumdjian said the city is open to offering greater wage hikes that would be triggered if the budget situation improves.
The strike would not affect garbage and recycling services, which separate contractors provide. Depending on the length of a work stoppage and participation levels, library hours, permit wait times and operations at San José Mineta International Airport could be affected to varying degrees.
“It’s not something that we take lightly,” Ornellas said.