Oakland workers rally at City Hall to protest layoffs, say budget-cutting move breaks law

by Kiley Russell, Bay City News February 12, 2025February 11, 2025

Union members gather on the steps of City Hall in Oakland on Tuesday, Feb. 11, 2025, to call on city officials to rescind layoffs initiated to help reduce a roughly $130 million budget shortfall. The unions claim city administrators kept them in the dark about the city's financial situation until their members received layoff notices. (Kiley Russell/Bay City News)

A coalition of Oakland municipal unions are calling on city officials to reverse a decision to help balance a massive budget shortfall by, in part, laying of scores of workers.

In a letter to employees last week, City Administrator Jestin Johnson said the city sent layoff notices to 77 people in an effort to close the city’s roughly $130 million budget deficit.

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Kiley Russell, Bay City News

Kiley Russell writes primarily for Local News Matters on issues related to equity and the environment. A Bay Area native, he has lived most of his life in Oakland. He studied journalism at San Francisco State University, worked for the Associated Press and the former Contra Costa Times, among other outlets. He has covered everything from state legislatures, local governments, federal and state courts, crime, growth and development, political campaigns of various stripes, wildfires and the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

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