By Khalida Sarwari and Janna Brancolini
The San Jose City Council will hold a special meeting on Friday afternoon to discuss moving forward in negotiations with employee bargaining units on retirement benefits.
The council will defer acting on a declaration of fiscal and public safety emergency and fiscal reform ballot measures until Aug. 2, but will discuss cost analysis on the various proposals for retirement reform and the potential savings of the different plans, as well as potential opt-in reforms.
Mayor Chuck Reed announced a proposal to declare a fiscal emergency in May, saying that it would rein in “skyrocketing” retirement costs and help the city avoid further cuts to services and layoffs of hundreds of workers, including police officers and firefighters.
His proposal calls for setting limits on retirement benefits for new and current employees and retirees, but because the recommendations require changes to the city charter, they would have to win approval by voters.
The city is considering an election possibly in March 2012. Many residents and city workers have already begun showing their disapproval, whether at council meetings or through demonstrations.
Tonight, labor and community leaders gathered outside of City Hall for a rally organized by the South Bay Labor Council in support of collective bargaining.
“They want to encourage City Council to use collective bargaining to solve pension problems rather than to declare a fiscal emergency and go to the ballot box,” said Jody Meacham, a communications coordinator for Working Partnerships USA, a nonprofit founded by the Labor Council.
Around 40 people, ranging in age from 21 to 35, gathered at City Hall dressed as zombies for a rally followed by an 8:30 p.m. march to Plaza de Cesar Chavez.
The zombie attire is to symbolize the transformation of youth into the “working dead,” according to 24-year-old activist Jamie Chen.
“In our opinion, if we don’t have collective bargaining there’s no future here,” Chen said. “We want to keep the pressure on the City Council and mayor to support collective bargaining.”
The event ended with the demonstrators standing together to form a 16-by-7 foot rotating sign that reads, “Don’t kill collective bargaining” and “Don’t kill our future” before dispersing in a flash.
Next Generation Bay Area, a group focused on social and worker justice issues and composed of union members and student activists, organized the demonstration.
Approximately 10 members of the group plan to stay in front of city hall until the council’s 1:30 p.m. meeting on Friday, Chen said.
Prior to the Friday meeting, leaders and members of various faiths will hold a noontime blessing service in front of City Hall in support of collective bargaining.
City workers and residents are not the only ones perturbed by Reed’s emergency declaration. Earlier this week, California Attorney General Kamala Harris issued a later in response to a joint letter by Democratic state Assemblymen Paul Fong, Rich Gordon, Bob Wieckowski and Luis Alejo asking Harris to investigate the declaration.
Harris’ review, though admittedly cursory, found that the declaration “raises serious concerns.” The letter stated that such a declaration would be “an extraordinary maneuver.”
Reed countered that although there are legal risks to changing pension benefits, the Constitution allows cities to make those changes in some circumstances.