San Jose workers rally against hiring freeze

Labor leaders representing San Jose’s workforce want city officials to increase funding for essential services amid a recent reduction in the budget deficit.

Less than a day after Mayor Matt Mahan revealed in his March budget message that the 2025-26 budget shortfall shrank from $60 million to $46 million, City Hall workers from various departments rallied outside the Martin Luther King Jr. Library in a push to reverse the hiring freeze. Previous budget cuts and eliminated jobs have depleted city services ranging from the fire department to the public library — now unions representing thousands of city workers want funds saved from the reduced budget shortfall to go toward staffing up city departments.

@sanjosespotlight San Jose city workers with rallied in the rain outside the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library on Thursday to call for increased funding for city services in the 2025/26 budget. Learn more at SanJoseSpotlight.com. #siliconvalley #sanjose #workers #bayarea #localnews ♬ original sound – San José Spotlight

Heavy rain and winds hammered away at workers from three city major unions, including firefighters, first responders and city hall workers, as they picketed Thursday afternoon.

Most workers were only shielded by plastic ponchos and signs that read, “clean parks,” “emergency dispatch” and more. They said higher staffing of the city’s workforce will also result in shorter emergency response times and faster affordable housing production.

Though the weather soaked their paperwork and damaged the podium microphone, labor leaders said they’re running out of time to convince city leaders before Tuesday’s budget talks.

“Here in San Jose, we are no strangers to immense corporate wealth, and in spite of it, we still do not have fully funded, fully staffed public services,” said Working Partnerships USA Executive Director Maria Noel. “You know who always shows up through rain, through hail and through heat? City workers show up.”

While the Bay Area’s largest city avoided layoffs, Mahan said vacant city jobs were eliminated and service levels were reduced.

“We are once again committed to balancing our budget in a way that minimizes impacts to our workforce and their ability to deliver results for our residents, especially within our Focus Areas,” the mayor said in his March 12 budget message.

South Bay Labor Council Executive Officer Jean Cohen said years of budget surpluses coupled with the decreasing budget deficit should be enough to ensure no workers are laid off this year.

Though this year’s budget shortfall decreased, Mahan forecasted the city will face a deficit of $53 million in 2026-27.

“These projected deficits are due to slowing revenue growth coupled with continued cost increases to deliver essential city services,” he said. “The city manager has worked with departments to prepare potential 2025-26 spending reductions in advance of our budget deliberations in order to give the council clear budget options and tradeoffs.”

East San Jose Councilmember Peter Ortiz said he’ll fight against potential layoffs and for the retention of services residents rely on.

“We already see what it’s like when oligarchs surround and take over the federal administration — we don’t need that here at the city of San Jose,” Ortiz said Thursday. “We don’t need a mini me Elon Musk making decisions about what happens to our residents.”

IFPTE Local 21 leaders estimated up to $80 million in vacancy savings in the city’s general fund.

“The city does have the ability to maintain a balanced budget that invests both in the city of workers and in the services that we provide every single day,” said MEF-AFSCME Local 101 president Nick Rovetto.