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Dozens of city employees tell Santa Fe council to fund AFSCME contract and preserve sick‑leave bank
Summary
AFSCME members and other city employees used the public‑comment period to press the council to fund a long‑delayed union contract, implement class-and-comp raises, preserve a negotiated sick‑leave bank and address recruitment and retention at the water and wastewater divisions.
Dozens of Santa Fe municipal employees and union leaders used the meeting’s public‑comment period to press the governing body to fund a pending AFSCME contract and to preserve negotiated benefits they said protect city workers.
Union leaders and rank‑and‑file staff from multiple departments — including water, wastewater, streets, parks, transit and library services — described years of protracted negotiations and asked the council to approve class‑and‑comp adjustments already studied by the city and to hold human resources to the current sick‑leave bank arrangements. “We are here demanding much needed and past‑due salary increases,” said Clinton Peterson, an engineer with the water division and a member of the AFSCME bargaining team.
Payroll and recruitment impact: Several speakers tied compensation to operational risks, saying certified water and wastewater operators have left for higher pay elsewhere. “We have lost a lot of qualified people at water divisions,” AFSCME President Gilbert Baca told the council, adding that turnover had pushed remaining staff into overtime and double duties.
What speakers asked for: Union speakers repeatedly sought three priorities — implementation of the city’s class‑and‑comp study, a multi‑year commitment to predictable pay increases and protection of the union’s sick‑leave bank (a pooled leave resource used when employees face serious health emergencies). Several speakers said a proposed change moving sick‑leave bank control to HR would weaken a benefit members value hugely.
No formal council action: The meeting record shows the public comment period was strictly public testimony; no vote or formal step was taken on the AFSCME contract during the session. Councilors listened and some acknowledged the concerns; several asked staff for more information about recruitment, specific vacancies and next steps for negotiations.
Voices from the floor: In addition to AFSCME President Gilbert Baca, speakers included union bargaining representatives and rank‑and‑file employees: Louis (Luis) Damela, Clinton Peterson, Robert Hervice, Therese Martinez, Maxine Sandoval and others who described front‑line services — from sanitation to senior services — that rely on long‑tenured employees.
Taper: The union and city management have negotiated intermittently for several years. The public comments at this meeting make clear that rank‑and‑file employees will continue to use council meetings to press for a rapid resolution and funding of any agreed contract.
