City workers in San Antonio won a major victory this year when they secured a budget that will allow them to continue to serve the city they love, despite facing a cost-of-living crisis.
As San Antonio’s budget deficit threatened the members of AFSCME Local 2021 – who do everything from maintain the city’s roads to serve as park rangers and sanitation inspectors – they turned their collective power into meaningful change.
Members of AFSCME Local 2021 packed hearings, contacted council offices, and engaged the leaders they helped elect. Their message was clear: priced out of a city they’ve dedicated their careers to serving, they were seeking wage increases in line with the critical services they provide.
That message was heard.
This year’s budget passed with a 2% across-the-board increase and a $750 boost to base salaries, above the original 2% across-the-board increase and a 5% increase in health care insurance that the city was originally offering.
“The city’s new budget is a relief to my own budget,” said Andrew Gregory, an airport operations supervisor and Local 2021 member. “While the cost of nearly everything skyrockets, this raise helps me and my family finally catch our breath.”
The win didn’t happen overnight.
San Antonio city workers had not been allowed to participate in the political process. But last year, thanks to AFSCME members’ activism, Proposition D, which overturned that longstanding rule, passed – and everything changed.
Once that barrier fell, members used their new political voice to build power.
On the heels of the Prop D victory, AFSCME members knocked on hundreds of doors, talked with co-workers and neighbors, and showed what organized public workers can do in a city election.
“The work paid off,” said Gregory, the airport supervisor. “We got 8 out of 10 council seats and a strong pro-labor mayor. But just as importantly, members got to participate in collective power-building in ways they hadn’t before.”
Their activism led to winning the recognition and wages they need to keep their city running.