MEF-AFSCME Local 101

We Make San Jose Happen!

The purpose of the Municipal Employees’ Federation - AFSCME Local 101, is to improve the wages, benefits, and working conditions of its members; to promote their intellectual, social, and economic welfare; to represent its members in disputes with their employer; and, to champion the essential public services MEF members provide to our San Jose community.

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The @cityofsanjose budget cycle
The @cityofsanjose budget cycle
San Jose residents deserve real “basics”
San Jose residents deserve real “basics”
You can’t starve public services and expect them to work. A new Economic Policy Institute piece makes a simple point: when governments underinvest in workers and capacity, services suffer. Staffing shortages grow, response times slow, and the
You can’t starve public services and expect them to work. A new Economic Policy Institute piece makes a simple point: when governments underinvest in workers and capacity, services suffer. Staffing shortages grow, response times slow, and the public is told to expect less. Sound familiar? In San José, departments are understaffed, service requests pile up, and workers are told to “do more with less” while one of the richest regions in the world keeps generating record wealth. Public employees aren’t the problem. Chronic underinvestment is. If we want responsive 911 calls, open libraries, functioning infrastructure, and real public services, we have to invest in the people who provide them. Read the full article at the link in our bio
Every budget season it’s the same message to city workers and residents: cuts, hiring freezes, tighten your belt. Meanwhile corporate giveaways keep rolling. People notice. Getting real tired
The @cityofsanjose budget cycle San Jose residents deserve real “basics” You can’t starve public services and expect them to work. A new Economic Policy Institute piece makes a simple point: when governments underinvest in workers and capacity, services suffer. Staffing shortages grow, response times slow, and the
Every budget season it’s the same message to city workers and residents: cuts, hiring freezes, tighten your belt. Meanwhile corporate giveaways keep rolling. People notice. Getting real tired
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San José Bargaining Update: Budget Showdown Ahead and a Call for a People-Powered San José
San José Bargaining Update: Budget Showdown Ahead and a Call for a People-Powered San José

Bargaining between MEF-AFSCME Local 101 and the City of San José continued this week with a shorter-than-usual session in which the union advanced several additional proposals.

While this week’s meeting was brief, the next two sessions will be important moments in the process.

Next Wednesday, MEF-AFSCME Local 101 and our coalition partners in IFPTE Local 21 will meet with the City’s budget and finance team at the bargaining table. The City is expected to present its outlook on the budget and explain the claims we have been hearing about financial shortfalls.

Our unions will be ready.

We will ask tough questions and present data that challenges the priorities the City has been choosing — priorities that have included hundreds of millions of dollars for luxury upgrades at SAP Center, major sporting events, and developer subsidies while the City warns of layoffs, hiring freezes, and tens of millions in budget gaps.

The following day, Thursday, bargaining will resume as scheduled. At that session, MEF plans to present our wage proposal along with additional major economic proposals, including protections related to artificial intelligence in the workplace.

View All Bargaining Proposals

Members and the public can review the full text of all proposals exchanged so far here:

Bargaining Update! March 5, 2026
Bargaining Update! March 5, 2026

We met again with the City today for our third 2026 bargaining session.

You can watch the video update here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVhYOieAeLn/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Or on our webpage at: mef101.org

Today, we continued advancing proposals based on what we’ve been hearing from members across departments. These included several non-economic and smaller economic improvements that address day-to-day workplace issues and quality o

Bargaining Update 2
Bargaining Update 2

We met again with the City today (2/26/26) for our second 2026 bargaining session.

You can watch the tldr video update here:

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DVPIprhkk8M/?igsh=NTc4MTIwNjQ2YQ==

Here’s a brief overview of what happened…

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