Two of the city\u2019s largest public sector unions are vowing to fight \u201cevery one\u201d of the layoffs proposed by Mayor Daniel Lurie earlier this week, saying Lurie\u2019s touted San Francisco recovery is contingent on city workers.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we don\u2019t have things like clean streets, strong hospitals<\/a>, and effective transit we don\u2019t have a recovery,\u201d said Bianca Polvina, president of IFPTE Local 21, which represents thousands of city workers.\u00a0<\/p>\n The mayor \u201ckind of speaks out of both sides of his mouth,\u201d said Jennifer Esteen, a former vice president at SEIU 1021<\/a>, which has 16,000 members in city government. \u201cHe says, \u2018We want to get people off the street, and we want them to get clean and sober from drugs.\u2019 But at the same time, he\u2019s cutting funding to the programs that do exactly that.\u201d<\/p>\n The city gave 127 employees layoff notices on Monday. Lurie said these layoffs, which range from nurses at Laguna Honda Hospital<\/a> to workers at the city\u2019s Office of Workforce and Economic Development, are necessary for balancing San Francisco\u2019s budget, which is facing a two-year deficit of $650 million<\/a>. An even larger deficit is projected in the years after.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a choice: take action now or be forced to do twice as much in the coming years,\u201d Lurie said. The layoffs are \u201ca painful but necessary continuation of the work we\u2019ve been doing since last year to manage taxpayer dollars responsibly and deliver the best possible services for San Franciscans.\u201d<\/p>\n These cuts, Lurie added, \u201csets up our city for a broad and durable economic recovery.\u201d<\/p>\n But budget woes do not justify the layoffs, said Polovina. \u201cSan Francisco is one of the richest cities in the world. When we talk about cutting essential services, cutting jobs, this is a choice, it is not a necessity.\u201d<\/p>\n Polovina said IFPTE Local 21 is preparing to fight \u201cevery one\u201d of the layoffs, a sentiment echoed by Esteen.<\/p>\n \u201cNobody should lose their job,\u201d Esteen said.\u00a0<\/p>\n The mayor plans to cut $400 million this year, with about $100 million of that coming from layoffs, and a freeze on hiring for certain positions \u2014\u00a0about 500 jobs total.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the coming days and months, the unions plan to lobby supervisors, share stories about workers affected by the cuts, speak with voters, and hold rallies.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the short term, the unions have asked the city to spend some of its \u201crainy day fund\u201d reserves to stave off layoffs. This is theoretically possible, but would likely require a veto-proof majority of the Board of Supervisors \u2014 an unlikely scenario given the mayor\u2019s many allies on the Board.\u00a0<\/p>\n In the long term, unions are hoping to raise more funds for city jobs though Proposition D,<\/a> a tax measure they placed onto the June ballot. If it passes, a special tax will be levied on companies whose CEOs earn 100 times more than the company\u2019s median employee.\u00a0<\/p>\n The mayor has opposed<\/a> Prop. D on the grounds\u00a0 that it could cause companies to leave the city, or never set up shop here in the first place due to a perception that San Francisco is unfriendly to business.\u00a0<\/p>\n The unions think a local business tax hike is only fair because President Donald Trump\u2019s \u201cBig Beautiful Bill\u201d gave businesses a federal tax cut. Plus, that same bill is part of the reason why the city has such a large deficit in the first place \u2014 Trump\u2019s cuts to federal programs like Medicaid are hitting the city hard<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n