On Wednesday, July 12th, the Union engaged in mediation with a state mediator and representatives from the city, hoping to reach a settlement. The City Council took their summer break without giving the City’s bargaining team any additional authority to up their offer, which made it impossible to make for us to make any meaningful progress during mediation. As a result, we have reached a critical juncture where we must consider alternative measures to ensure our needs are heard and met.

The Municipal Employees' Federation MEF-AFSCME) is pleased to inform you that a mediation date has been set for July 12th, providing us with another opportunity to reach an agreement for a new contract that addresses our concerns and secures a better future for all of us.

Download a copy of the first Strike FAQ for your worksite

Last week, the City delivered its “Last, Best, and Final Offer” to the Union, and so on Monday, the Union officially declared an impasse and notified the City that we cannot accept their offer under the current terms. You can read the full Declaration of Impasse here, which contains the Union’s final offer and a summary of the Union’s position, including where our differences exist with the City’s position on several topics.

On Wednesday, your bargaining team met with the City for what appears to be the last time. The City gave the Union its “Last, Best and Final” offer. It is a three-year agreement that would increase wages by 5%, 4%, and 3% each year. It contains no provision for the return of the 5% non-pensionable increase, no agreement on eight weeks of paid family leave, and no agreement to count PTO towards the calculation of overtime even when the OT is mandated. There was also no agreement on special increases for classifications despite earlier statements from the City that they wanted to focus on classifications with more than a 10% vacancy rate.

Over a seven-day period, more than 1,000 City workers showed up on their lunch breaks to rally together to demand that the City fill its more than 1,000 vacancies. “Rally Week” began on Tuesday, June 6th, at San Jose City Hall. Over 600 city hall staff turned out for a quick demonstration and marched around Civic Plaza, including marching around the back of the campus so the City Council – who was in chambers – could hear the chants and calls from city workers to “Staff Up San Jose!” and restore vital public services to our community.