The City of Milpitas might see some of its workers going on strike soon…
A segment of City employees called “MidCon” (Mid-Management and Confidential employees) recently received authorization from its union to strike. This came after a year of failed contract negotiations over salary increases with the City. At present, there are 55 full-time MidCon workers with the City of Milpitas, but over the past 5 years, the unit has seen a 50% turnover rate.
MidCon is currently requesting a 10% salary increase, while the City of Milpitas is willing to offer a 3% increase with a one-time payment of $2450.
The union representing the MidCon staff members is LiUNA local 792. In a statement, LiUNA’s Assistant Business Manager Ryan Heron said on the employees’ behalf, “The City has not treated the Mid-Management/Confidential employees equitably compared to the other four bargaining units within the City over the last five years. Since 2021, the Mid Management group has received 7% less in pay increases than any other bargaining unit. This has caused severe compaction issues. When employees are making nearly the same amount of money as those that they manage and supervise, it is a disincentive to promote and causes increased turnover as employees are forced to look outside the organization for opportunities to advance their careers.”
This story traces back to 2021, when the City of Milpitas approached the five unions representing its employees and asked them to forgo the 3% raises they’d been owed that summer. Budget constraints stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic had led to the unusual move. Not all five unions agreed to the request, but MidCon was among the three that did (the Firefighter and Police unions did, too).
Come the end of 2021, though, the budget deficit feared by the City never happened. That year actually closed with a budget surplus.
Right away, LiUNA local 792 contacted the City to reinstate the pre-agreed raises. They did not get a reply.
To ease the impasse, an independent fact finder was brought into the fold to investigate the situation. In the end, the fact finder recommended that the City of Milpitas present an increased raise offer to its MidCon workers. But the City has not taken the recommendation.
A graph in the factfinding document shows the five different unions and their pay increases over the last several years. In the graph, MidCon employees are seen to have between 10%-11% less of an increase than the other city employees from the Police, Fire, MEA, and ProTech unions.
In the factfinding document, it stated that the City feels that if they were to give MidCon the 10% increase they are requesting, it “would create an immediate $1.8 million annual deficit in FY 2025-26, accelerate structural deficits to begin in FY 2026-27, and result in a 47.1% structural deficit increase over five years to $24.0 million.”
LiUNA local 792 is planning rallies at the upcoming October 21 and November 4 Milpitas City Council meetings. Come mid-November, they are considering a strike.
