SAN JOSE, Calif. (KRON) -- Hundreds of employees for the City of San Jose are preparing to go on strike after contract negotiations over the city’s recruitment and retention crisis sees no end in sight with the city’s administrators.
It has been over two decades since San Jose has seen a strike by city employees. Over 4,500 city employees have been trying to work out a new deal with the city before their contracts expired at the end of June, but have met with no resolution in sight. The city’s recruitment and retention crisis has led to over 1,000 vacant city jobs.
On Wednesday, city employees are expected to attend a strike school to learn their rights and prepare for a possible strike if the city’s administrators can’t meet their end of the bargain. Workers are calling for an agreement to be met that will solve the understaffing crisis and make San Jose a competitive employer once again.
“We are working five to six days a week, eight to 14 hours a day. We get forced to work overtime that we don't want, multiple times a month,” said Scarlet Darmousseh, San Jose Fire Department’s radio dispatcher. “We miss out on time with our families, and we each work hundreds of hours of overtime a year.”
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The strike school will start at 5:30 p.m. at San Jose First Methodist Church located on Fifth Street, across from the San Jose City Hall. Those attending include 911 dispatchers, library workers, public airport staff, water treatment center staff and union workers who maintain the city’s streets.
from KRON4 https://ift.tt/zQcq4gj
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