Thousands of San Jose City Workers Announce Strike Vote Results

Thousands of City workers who have signed a strike pledge, voted "yes" to strike at locations across the City of San Jose from August 11 - August 17

SAN JOSE, Calif., Aug. 17, 2026 — Members of IFPTE Local 21 and MEF-AFSCME Local 101 announced the results of their strike authorization votes. After four days of voting, thousands of San Jose city workers voted by an overwhelming 97 percent to authorize a strike, if necessary. Following the vote, both IFPTE Local 21 and MEF-AFSCME Local 101 bargaining teams have the authority to call a strike of up to three days.

If a strike should be called, members will form picket lines at various worksites each day of the strike, including San Jose City Hall, San Jose Mineta International Airport, the Regional Wastewater Facility, and the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library.

"The strike vote results signal our membership's readiness to stand together for our city. For us city workers, striking is a last resort. We, the unions, are eager to reach an agreement, so we are immediately moving towards the formal process of fact-finding following the strike vote," said Carlos Murillo, an Associate Engineer at SJC International Airport, and IFPTE Local 21 bargaining team member. "I'm strike-ready because public services are just too important to be treated as an afterthought. My co-workers and I show up for our communities every day, maintaining services that our neighbors and residents rely on. We cannot continue to be the most thinly staffed City in the area. This harm to our residents needs to change."

"I want the City Administration to know how much I value working for the City of San Jose. It's a privilege to provide accessible knowledge and essential resources to our community. At the library, we provide so much more than books- we help people learn new languages, learn new hobbies, develop new skills and become lifelong learners," said Kaitlin Drake, Library Page at King Library, and MEF-AFSCME Local 101 member. "Our hope is that council members and the mayor will listen to us and address the retention issues impacting libraries, the airport, affordable housing, emergency response times, and more. If they don't, our members have proven that we are ready to strike for our services."

Should the unions move forward with a strike, they will take the necessary steps to secure a strike sanction from the South Bay Labor Council, requesting that no other unions do business with the City of San Jose for the duration of a strike.