Members of two municipal unions overwhelmingly approved a strike authorization vote after months of gridlock in negotiations with city leaders.
Aug 17, 2026
Updated 5:18 pm PT
A San Jose City employee holds a sign reading “ready to strike for our services” at Strike School in San Jose on July 29, 2026. The move comes after months of gridlock between city leaders who argue San José is strapped for cash and workers who are demanding better pay. (Gina Castro for KQED)
Thousands of San José city workers on Monday moved one step closer to a historic work stoppage by authorizing a strike that could put librarians, parks workers and other municipal employees on the picket line.
Members of two unions, IFPTE Local 21 and MEF-AFSCME Local 101, overwhelmingly approved a strike authorization vote giving union leaders the power to order a work stoppage of up to three days. The move comes after months of gridlock between city leaders who argue San José is strapped for cash and workers who are demanding better pay.
“The biggest thing is wages,” said Hannah Ornellas, an environmental services specialist who manages trash and recycling in the city.
Kyle Wong, associate transportation specialist for the Department of Transportation, poses for a photo in San José on July 29, 2026.
During her four-year tenure, Ornellas said she’s seen massive attrition as coworkers leave for better-paying jurisdictions.
“The loss of institutional knowledge is just really great,” she said. “And every year with new staff, we just have to spend so much time training new staff on all of these annual processes.”
A potential work stoppage by the two unions, which collectively represent as many as 4,500 workers, would be San José’s largest since 1981. City officials have been preparing contingency plans. Just three years ago, the same unions came to the brink of a strike before reaching an agreement with the city on raises.
Now, the city’s fiscal outlook is much worse, said Aram Kouyoumdjian, San José’s director of human resources and employee relations.