Even some San Francisco public employees - whose pay and benefits are often the envy of peers in government and the private sector - say the city has become too expensive for them during this tech boom. Mayor Ed Lee's administration is negotiating contracts for about 24,000 employees from 27 different unions or groups - all of the city's unions except for police and firefighters - as he tries to juggle San Francisco's long-term financial stability amid uncertainty about the tech surge's longevity. Maintaining middle classComplicating matters is the mayor's effort to keep middle-class residents in a city with astronomical housing costs, and, according to a recent Brookings Institution study, the fastest-growing gap between rich and poor in the nation. The unions, with campaign accounts and varying amounts of political weight, have requested raises, typically 5 percent in the first year, and other compensation. Lee has countered with smaller raise proposals and is pushing back on requests like the one from SEIU to pay for all health insurance costs for employees. Wages lagging, union saysThe International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers Local 21, whose members include city planners like Flores, contends its workers' wages have fallen behind the cost of living increase in the Bay Area by 11 percent over the last 10 years. With city revenues growing at a healthy clip amid soaring property values and a thriving local economy, public workers say they deserve to share in San Francisco's success after years of givebacks, like pay cuts and furlough days, during the last recession.
Reported by SFGate 2 days ago.
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