Members of the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) Local 521, which represents about 600 Palo Alto city employees, will not be showing up for work on Thursday. The city and the union have been embroiled in contract talks for three months, trying to find ways to deal with the city budget deficit. The city has proposed pay and benefit cuts - the union has offered alternative concessions including furloughs and training changes. The union has called for a 'self-imposed furlough' on Thursday, in which employees will stay away from work in order to save the city money. Instead, they plan to volunteer around the community. The city has called the action a 'one-day-strike,' saying employees do not get to decide when they're not going to show up for work. The city claims to be disappointed that the union has called a 'strike' while negotiations continue.
See "Palo Alto union calls 'volunteer day;' city calls it a strike", Will Oremus, San Jose Mercury News, September 22, 2009