The union representing a number of City of Austin employees is planning a Thursday protest in opposition to City Manager Jesus Garza’s call for workers to return to the office.
The American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees Local 1624 will hold a press conference on June 1 at 12 p.m. at Austin City Hall. The union objects to Garza’s telework policy, despite public sector employees still being allowed to telework for 40 percent of the week. His plan requires most employees to return to the office for at least three days a week, and for department heads to return for five days a week.
Union officials are calling upon Garza to postpone implementation of any telework changes until March of 2024.
“The City of Austin is in a near crisis of recruitment and retention, and this policy proposal would hobble the City’s ability to compete for the best of the workforce,” the union said. “Now, more than ever, the city should be looking for ways to expand the benefits and privileges of working for the city, not implementing changes that would make city work environments less desirable.”
In a May 11, 2023 memo, Garza laid out his reasoning behind the effort to bring workers back.
“Foundational to my commitment is the reality that, unlike many other employers, we are primarily a public-facing organization,” he said. “It is imperative, in my opinion, that we work to ensure the public’s trust. We cannot completely do so if we are not present or responsive to their needs. With this in mind, we must address the various department policies surrounding telework. It is difficult to establish and maintain consistency and reliability without a uniform set of standards. As with all of our personnel policies, we should have consistency that employees can rely on from one department to the next.”
The change would begin to take effect on June 5, 2023.
