SF public workers protest proposed 500 layoffs amid budget deficit

Bertha Villalobos (center right) attends a press conference hosted by SF People’s Budget Coalition where community organizations speak out against major budget cuts to organizations, which support low-income families at San Francisco City Hall in San Francisco on April 22, 2026. (Tâm Vũ/KQED)

San Francisco public workers gathered at City Hall Tuesday to protest Mayor Daniel Lurie’s proposed cuts that would eliminate hundreds of city jobs.

Unions that represent public workers want the mayor to revise his plan that would slash up to 500 city positions in the coming months.

This move comes as San Francisco deals with a $643 million budget deficit.

Anya Worley-Zeigmann is a coordinator for the People’s Budget Coalition.

“It is just abomindable to be cutting work force programs, jobs, food security, child programs," Worley-Zeigmann said. "It's going to strain an already really strained health care system, immigration legal system. All of these are going to be pushed even more to the brink."

But Lurie says without major cuts, the city's deficit will grow to a billion dollars by the end of his current term.

The Board of Supervisors is set to review the proposal in June.

Listen to the story at KQED: https://omny.fm/shows/kqed-segmented-audio/kqed-newscast-18c98777-b815-4403-9e8b-418972e0c5b8?in_playlist=kqed-newscast