San Jose workers demand more money amid hundreds of vacancies

More than 4,000 San Jose employees are asking for a raise—but the city has yet to come close to meeting their demands.

For the past 13 weeks, a coalition of two unions representing more than half of the city’s employees—MEF-AFSCME Local 101 and IFPTE Local 21—have been in salary negotiations to adjust for cost of living. The coalition calls itself Staff Up San Jose and includes librarians, city planners, veterinarians, the fire department, housing department officials and more. Their contract ends in July and they initially asked for a 9% raise for the 2023-24 fiscal year, 8% the following year and 7% in the third year. The city’s initial counteroffer was significantly lower—just 3% each year for the next three years. As negotiations with the city continue, the union has lowered their ask from 9% to 7% for the first fiscal year.

“It doesn’t feel good to know the city hasn’t worked more with us to give us what we deserve,” fire department dispatcher Scarlet Darmousseh told San José Spotlight. “Half of us can’t afford to live in a city that we work in. The city isn’t trying to be comparable to other cities or agencies in the Bay Area. The raise would basically show that the city appreciates us.”

City employees are asking for more money to compensate for the additional work on their plates as the city struggles to fill more than 900 vacant positions—or 14% of the workforce, according to city data. However, city officials have pushed back against these pay demands, saying they are limited by overall budget concerns because they predict an $18.8 million shortfall next fiscal year.

During Tuesday’s city council meeting, hundreds of Staff Up San Jose members rallied outside city hall as elected leaders voted to approve contracts for three other unions—San Jose Police Dispatchers’ Association, Association of Building, Mechanical and Electrical Inspectors and the Peace Officer Park Ranger Association. City data reported that these 265 employees will receive a 5% raise next year, 4% the following and 3% in the 2025-26 fiscal year. This is also the current offer San Jose is making to Staff Up San Jose unions.

Big protest happening today by hundreds of city employees. They have been in negotiations for 13 weeks— asking for raises as the city struggles to fill around 900 vacant positions.

They say they are asked to do more with less resources.

Story TK @SJSpotlight pic.twitter.com/rEtPpvcwib

— Jana Kadah (@Jana_Kadah) June 6, 2023

Despite Mayor Matt Mahan lauding the progress of these contract agreements, Darmousseh said it hurts that thousands of other workers are still in negotiations. Her department is currently at about half capacity, which she said leads to slower response times and overtime for workers who are already overwhelmed responding to fires, heart attacks and other health scares.

Similarly, Michael Jun, a development officer in the housing department, said the vacancies in his office have affected how quickly the city moves affordable housing projects forward. He said he has seen talented colleagues leave the department due to burnout or getting job offers with better pay.

“People leave all the time so we lose institutional knowledge. It puts things on hold and it’s a scramble for everyone else to try to pick up the projects,” Jun told San José Spotlight.

Jun’s concerns are reflected in areas like the city’s planning department, where vacancies there have led to massive backlogs in permitting. It used to take about 25 days to issue a permit, but now it takes almost a year, city data showed.