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San Jose city employees urge delay of return-to-office mandate, say city must bargain
Summary
More than a dozen city employees told the San Jose City Council during public comment that a proposed shift from three to four in-office workdays should be delayed until the city completes legally required bargaining, citing childcare, caregiving, custody proceedings and staff retention concerns.
Dozens of San Jose city employees told the City Council during public comment that the city should delay implementing a planned shift from three to four in-office workdays until it negotiates the change with unions.
The speakers — many from the Environmental Services Department, the Housing Department, the Department of Transportation and San Jose Airport — described childcare and caregiving hardships, retention problems and what they said was a legal duty to bargain. ‘‘The city does have a legal obligation to bargain over changes to telework,’’ said Krista Dela Torre, who identified herself as a representative for IFPT Local 21.
Why it matters: Employees said the proposed change would raise out-of-pocket childcare costs, reduce flexibility for workers with medical and family-care responsibilities, and risk additional turnover in departments already stretched thin. Union representatives argued that the change affects wages, hours and working conditions and therefore requires collective-bargaining negotiations before implementation.
Speakers described a range of personal impacts. Carlos Murillo, an engineer at the San Jose Airport, said he has two children and is in the middle of a custody battle; ‘‘having that Monday and Friday from home for me ... has been awesome because I can drop off my kids on Monday morning, pick them up from school,’’ Murillo said. Jill Mariani, a recent returnee from maternity leave, said many childcare providers offer two-, three- or five-day schedules but not four-day options, and that the shift would force her family to pay ‘‘an extra thousand dollar per child’’ for a five-day arrangement.
Other employees recounted caregiving needs and commute-related retention issues. Riley Knight, a supervisor with the Environmental Services Department, said his partner is on permanent disability and that losing a telework day would harm his ability to provide daily support. Joe Schwinnisen, also in environmental services, said his entire team lives outside San Jose — ‘‘one of them comes from as far as Turlock’’ — and that the flexible workplace policy drew staff from across the region. Several speakers said colleagues have left the city as in-office requirements increased.
Union leaders pressed fiscal and legal arguments. Dela Torre said returning employees to four days is ‘‘fiscally irresponsible’’ given an ongoing budget deficit and argued the city would incur costs from reconfigurations, leases and overhead. She said the change ‘‘requires bargaining under the law’’ because it affects members’ wages, hours and working conditions.
Council procedure: The presiding official noted that the public comments were allowed though the agenda items were related to a closed session and reminded speakers that closed session would not itself be used for labor negotiation. Following public comment, the council adjourned to closed session; there was no formal vote or council action on telework during the recorded public-comment period.
The discussion was confined to public comment; no motions, votes or formal council direction on telework were recorded in the supplied transcript.
