Eleven union workers were arrested during a protest at the San Francisco Board of Supervisors meeting on Tuesday at City Hall, according to union representatives.
Around 2 p.m., some 100 union members burst into chants during the meeting, calling attention to Mayor Daniel Lurie’s proposal to lay off some 100 city workers and eliminate hundreds of positions.
“When public services are under attack, what do we do? Stand up! Fight back!” screamed the crowd in Room 250 at City Hall. Union members from SEIU Local 1021 and IFPTE Local 21, two unions together representing some 27,000 city workers, engaged in civil disobedience and interrupted the weekly meeting as soon as it began.
Lurie, upon unveiling his $15.9 billion budget proposal, said that his office cannot avoid “painful decisions” to close the city’s $782 million deficit. That includes the decision to eliminate some 1,400 positions, 470 of which have money allocated to them from the budget, and about 100 or so of which are filled. The mayor’s office has not provided further details about how much money the eliminations would save.
After about 25 minutes of continued chanting, the supervisors vacated the room. The meeting went into recess for two hours.
The crowd remained, chanting at high volume until the arrests were made around 3:40 p.m. Most of the roughly 50 present stood waving signs that read “Protect public services. No cuts. No layoffs.”
Union representatives have countered Lurie’s proposal and said that the city can balance its budget by making cuts elsewhere. Specifically, some have called for the mayor to urge Airbnb to drop its lawsuit against the city.
(Pending litigation is costly to the city; some $415 million is reserved to address businesses seeking tax relief, according to a March report from the controller’s office).
Other proposed alternatives include dipping into the city’s reserves and eliminating unfilled positions, rather than laying off filled ones.
Some members of the Board of Supervisors, likewise, have suggested that the city can fill the gap elsewhere. Last week, District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan, the budget chair, said that she would work to identify redundancies across city departments, reduce vacant management positions, and potentially eliminate “top-heavy” management positions.
The rally follows previous calls to action from union representatives. Earlier this month, over 1,000 city workers held a rally to oppose the cuts.
In the lead-up to Tuesday’s meeting, the same union members held a rally in the rotunda at City Hall.
The supervisors are scheduled to vote on the mayor’s proposed Annual Salary Ordinance on Tuesday, which outlines every city position and respective pay rate. The ordinance is one piece of Lurie’s budget packet.
Supervisors on the Budget and Appropriations Committee have until the end of June to consider and negotiate changes to the mayor’s budget proposal; changes referred to as “add-backs.”
Would have been nice for supervisor Chan “the budget chair” to look for ways to slash inefficiencies earlier, but it’s better late than never.
Do you know what the “chair” actually does? No, obviously.
Thanks for reporting
It is rough and hard when jobs are no longer there.
Business fires people all the time . Without cause .
Of course , we can express our frustration but civil disobedience is immature .
What about paycuts , working more hours for the same amount of money ?
Sf funds are drying up
If less comes in then less goes out
Why does the city pay 6k a month to house addicts who are still getting high everyday ?
Maybe that should be looked into?
There surely are less expensive ways to house people . UN refugee camps would be a good option.
Meanwhile , I recommend looking for a job elsewhere . There are none in the city since everyone is on the grift .
Focus on getting this city under control and helping to get something going that contributes to the coffers .
Things have changed and will probably get worse here .
Where are the jobs for the homeless ?
Life is unfair .