San Jose was on the verge of witnessing a city worker strike before a last-minute agreement was reached on August 15, 2023, between the city government and its two largest unions, IFPTE Local 21 and AFSCME Local 101. However, not everyone is on board with the deal - Mayor Matt Mahan openly criticized the agreement on Twitter, expressing his concerns over its potential consequences, such as higher taxes and reduced services for working families.

 

What San Jose needs is profiles in courage, and what they saw today with our labor agreement was politics as usual. And what our working families will likely see tomorrow because of this is higher taxes and cuts of the services they rely on. (1/5)

— Mayor Matt Mahan (@MattMahanSJ) August 16, 2023

 

Mahan pointed out that while a majority of his colleagues support the deal, he could not, despite acknowledging the need for a generous raise for San Jose's workers. In his tweets, Mahan detailed how the unions successfully fulfilled their roles in organizing and advocating for higher pay but also noted that the city council failed to do its job.

The deal in question was reached to avoid an unprecedented city employee strike that would have been the largest in San Jose's recent history, as reported by San José Spotlight. The tentative agreement was struck after months of impasse, a week of daily mediations, and a three-day strike authorization approved by 99% of union workers. City workers have long protested that their raises have not kept pace with inflation and housing costs, leading to high vacancy rates and employee frustration.

Information about the actual terms and conditions of the agreement, which falls between the union's original demand of an 18% raise over the next three years and the city's offer of a 12% increase, has not been made public at this time. Nevertheless, Mahan expressed skepticism regarding the deal's financial impact, tweeting that he could not support an agreement that would likely result in future service cuts and layoffs.

Red flags raised by Mahan regarding potential tax increases and service reductions should not be taken lightly. A detrimental impact on the city's already struggling working families could come with serious consequences. As Mahan states in his tweets, city residents depend on vital services such as clean streets, libraries, afterschool programs, and safe neighborhoods, which may suffer as a result of the labor agreement.

Though the agreement comes on the heels of months of stalled salary negotiations, Mahan expresses disappointment that the city council failed to work out a solution that would be fair to both city workers and San Jose residents. Instead, he accuses them of letting political motives trump common sense, leaving the city's most vulnerable residents facing the potential financial fallout.

San Jose officials, including Mahan, have previously cited budget constraints as the roadblock that prevented a more substantial offer to the unions. With the current agreement apparently falling short of the unions' desired figures, it remains to be seen if it will resolve the issue of worker satisfaction and prevent similar disputes in the future, or if it will simply act as a temporary band-aid on a much deeper, ingrained problem within San Jose's city employee landscape.