San Jose city employee strike temporarily averted with city set to review latest terms
SAN JOSE — The planned strike on Tuesday by San Jose city employees was suspended as city council will be reviewing and potentially approving the latest terms.
The strike was planned for Aug. 15 to Aug. 17, but the union said that is now suspended for 24 hours since the conceptual terms are going to city council for review and approval on Tuesday morning.
"While we are confident that the City Council will approve these terms, we are only pausing our Strike until the Council gives its formal approval in a Closed Session on Tuesday, August 15th, at 9:30 a.m.," International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers Local 21 said on social media.
The city workers represented by the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers Local 21 and the Municipal Employees' Federation-American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 101 overwhelmingly voted in favor of a strike.
Both unions said workers are demanding higher pay and relief from understaffing issues. Workers from the city have said that many people who work for San Jose end up leaving for another job at a city with higher pay.
Workers have been working without a contract since it expired in late June, with the city and unions negotiating for the past few months.
San Jose city officials have offered workers a five percent pay increase, but the workers want seven. It's a gap of $14 million between the two proposals.
The final terms will be known once approval is given.