Thousands of San Jose City Workers Announce Strike

SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 7, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- On Monday, August 7, IFPTE Local 21 and MEF-AFSCME Local 101 announced the results of their strike authorization votes. After four days of voting, thousands of San Jose city workers voted by an overwhelming 99 percent to authorize a strike. Following the vote, both IFPTE Local 21 and MEF-AFSCME Local 101 have called a three-day citywide strike from Tuesday, August 15 through Thursday, August 17. 

Members will form picket lines at various worksites each day of the strike, including San Jose City Hall, San Jose Mineta International Airport, the Regional Wastewater Facility, and the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library. Visit https://www.staffupsanjose.org/strike for a full schedule of picketing times and locations.

"San Jose residents deserve fully staffed services, but workers can't even afford to live in the city we serve. Our hope is that City Council Members and Mayor Mahan will finally listen to us and address the understaffing crisis impacting libraries, the airport, affordable housing, and more. But if they don't, we are ready to strike for our services," said Kyle Wong, Transportation Specialist and IFPTE Local 21 member.

Union members announced the strike in front of City Hall and were joined by Assemblymember Alex Lee (District 24), Assemblymember Ash Kalra (District 25), and Jean Cohen (Executive Director, South Bay Labor Council).

"San Jose's employees are the heart of our public services. As the capital of Silicon Valley, San Jose is considered the center of cultural, government, and economic activity in the region. It's the hardworking San Jose workers that make the city run. We need to recruit, retain, and support talent to ensure that the city can provide quality services to the public. The workers deserve to work for a city that invests in them and values their public service," said Assemblymember Alex Lee, 24^th District.

The unions planning to strike have taken the necessary steps to secure a strike sanction from the South Bay Labor Council, requesting that no other unions do business with the City of San Jose for the duration of the strike.

On Thursday, August 3, the Santa Clara County Democratic Party Central Committee passed a resolution which "calls upon the leadership in the City of San Jose to end its pattern of accruing large budget savings by not providing services and to stop understaffing our community, and further calls on the elected Democrats the leadership in the City of San Jose to uphold our shared values of supporting working families and good jobs."

A recently published report by Working Partnerships USA shows that the City is more than capable of affording competitive wage increases for City employees. According to the special report, the City of San Jose has a long history of budget surpluses driven by general fund expenditure savings, and accurate accounting could create $13-$28 million in additional budget savings in the 2023-2024 adopted budget to be reinvested so that San Jose can recruit and retain committed staff.

For more information, visit www.StaffUpSanJose.org.

SOURCE IFPTE 21