Unions call on city to show support for workers at first budget presentation

Apr. 16—Union leaders on Tuesday urged Santa Fe city councilors on the Finance Committee to prioritize city workers as they finalize a budget for the upcoming fiscal year.

City leaders have said that is exactly what they intend to do with the budget proposal, which Mayor Alan Webber has said is dedicated to city employees, with more than $32 million set aside for pay increases and benefits. Union representatives appeared cautiously optimistic about that promise Tuesday.

"This is the city's chance to show that when we properly pay our union workers ... every member of the public benefits," said Louis Demella, vice president of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 3999, which represents hundreds of city workers.

Representatives from AFSCME and the city's police and fire unions spoke briefly Tuesday afternoon at a Finance Committee budget hearing, the first of at least seven scheduled over two weeks.

City staff delivered a brief overview Tuesday of the proposed budget, which calls for $440.1 million in expenditures in fiscal year 2025. Webber has said the focus of the budget proposal is investing in the city workforce, something union representatives said they appreciate.

Over the past several years, city employees have been asked to do "more work with fewer unionized staff," Demella said.

The city has struggled with staffing shortages in many of its departments over the past several years, and as of January, had an overall vacancy rate of about 22%.

Demella noted Tuesday both the state government and Santa Fe County are "willing and eager to poach city workers."

Santa Fe police Sgt. James Plummer, president of the city police union, said his department, with a total of about 165 positions, has 25 vacancies.

"This is a pressing issue for us as a union and for the citizens, as it directly affects our safety and operational efficiency," he said.

AFSCME and the police union are negotiating with the city, which Plummer said prevented him from talking in detail about finances. He thanked the city for its support and asked staff to include union representation early in the budgeting process so they can effectively advocate for their members.

"All I ask now is, let's listen to each other as we go forward," he said.

Demella and other AFSCME representatives said they expect the city to recognize longtime employees' years of service to the city in their pay, something they said the "hybrid parity" plan put forward by an outside consultant as part of a recent class and compensation study does not do as well as promised.

The plan proposed by Evergreen Solutions LLC would take into account both an employee's overall length of service with the city and the time they have been in their current role when determining their compensation.

Union officials argue that as workers accrue years with the city, they should move closer to the midpoint in pay, and by retirement age they should be at or near the maximum. The "hybrid parity" plan appears geared toward pushing people to the midpoint of their job classification's pay range instead, Demella said.

Therese Martinez, a project administrator for the city who addressed the council in English and Spanish, urged the city to "iron out the gaps" in the study to show its support for union members.

"Let's work together to make this class and compensation study and its end results work for everyone and the better good," she said.

Adan Lopez, president of the Santa Fe firefighters union, said the department had over 12,000 hours of direct interaction with residents and visitors over the past year.

However, as the city grows both in population and square mileage, it becomes harder for the fire department to respond to calls as quickly as possible, he said. An external risk assessment published in October found the department was not meeting the 5.2-minute target for response times recommended by the Commission on Fire Accreditation. The report put the city's fire department response time at 9.6 minutes.

Lopez urged the city to invest in "more boots on the ground" for the fire department to help make the city and its residents safer.

"We pride ourselves in being the City Different, and we need to show that pride when evaluating what we do differently," he said.

The fire department union reached an agreement this spring with the city on the increase to recognize workers' longevity. Lopez said it will be a significant step forward for the department. However, he noted the class and compensation study found the fire department was falling behind other municipalities' fire departments in the pay it provides.

"We cannot fall behind again," Lopez said.

City Budget Officer Andy Hopkins said the proposed class and compensation increases in the budget include $490,000 for police, $2.1 million for the fire department, $2.2 million for AFSCME members and $2.2 million for nonunion city employees.

The increase for the fire department was implemented all at once but will be phased in for AFSCME and police union members, pending an agreement, Hopkins said.

The second phase of the increase is scheduled for January, and two more phases of parity increases are scheduled to take place in fiscal year 2026.

Hopkins said the increases will likely total $12 million in 2026, which he described as a "significant impact."