San Jose Unions Gradually Agree To Wage Reductions
SAN JOSE (KCBS) -- San Jose is making some progress in its labor negotiations as another union has now agreed to the city's demand for an ongoing 10 percent wage reduction to help balance the budget.
KCBS' Mike Colgan Reports:
Word of the tentative agreement came from Employee Relations Director Alex Gurza during his weekly labor negotiations update to the San Jose City Council Tuesday.
"We have reached a tentative agreement with a new two-year contract with the Association of Building Mechanical and Electrical Inspectors," said Gurza. "It was facilitated through mediation, and we're very happy."
San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed said that it's another victory in the long budget battle.
"These are very significant cuts for the employees, but it's unfortunately necessary in order to save the jobs," said Reed. "We're counting on 10 percent reduction in total compensation from all of our employees in order to save hundreds of jobs. We're hoping to get there, because if we don't, the layoffs that we're looking at now would be worse."
So far, five of the city's 11 labor unions have agreed to the concession demand.
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