Transcripts For SFGTV BOS Budget And Finance Sub Regular Co

Team with respect to every single fire have stepped up to the plate not only in trying to find housing for the victims of many fires that have taken place but also working with my office the city agencies to prevent the fires and so i failed to mention that and i want to say that but i wanted to know that. I know for instance, with every fire, i dont know we wouldve been able to find housing for every one of those victims without the Apartment Association playing the role that are played and i know just now with the latest fire that theyre playing an instrument to roll in and find housing for these folks. I want to personally thank the San Francisco Apartment Association for the leadership ever knowing that the city cannot solve this on some to the private sector has a role to play mesa may have played a very Important Role. With that, mdm. Chair, i like to continue this will to continue this item to the call the chair. If we can make a motion to excuse the supervisor. Motion to excuse motion to excuse supervisor avalos. We can do that without opposition [gavel] supervisor avalos has a motion to move this to the call the chair we can do that without objection. I do i think the chief and Fire Department for being here today along with the department of the inspection the department of health is a noticeably a continued conversation look for to seeing the implementation of the working Group Recommendation as being blue ford on this important issue. Thank you supervisor campos for calling for this him. [gavel] mdm. Clerk him please call the next item item 5 [reading code] so, my apologies. This item was called by supervisor campos. Im handing the floor over to supervisor 10 couples on this important matter. Thank you very much on be very brief. I want to thank folks for waiting did i know its been a long day today but i call this hearing to determine whether the city and county of San Francisco sources any products from taylor farms. Let me say this. This company has engaged in pretty reprehensible treatment of its workers. Its a private Company Taylor farms, and manufactures industries prepackaged salads, sandwiches, freshcut fruits and vegetables for Retail Food Service and deli segments. The company of the Food Service Industry largest supplier of value added fresh produce. Taylor found currently employs 7000 workers in approximately 2500 of those workers are members of teamsters local 890 in salinas california. In 2014, salinas workers ratified a new contract securing 11 wage increase over four years. Including also stronger seniority protections and if its another improvements. At the companys nonunion plants in tracy california, taylor farms that a large percentage of its workforce with workers from employment agencies. These socalled contingent workers are paid less than their direct counterparts. This despite the fact some of these workers have worked at taylor farms for many many years. In tracing 900 telephone works as employees intends have an organizing for Union Representation with teamsters local 601 after election in march of 2014 the National Labor Relations Board impounded the vote investigated nearly 100 unfair labor practices by taylor farms. Taylor farms responded to this by hiring professional consultants at a cost of over 800,000 in these consultants basically designed to correlate in methods to interfere, threaten, intimidate the workers from having a fair Union Election which is their legal right. The company permits essentially somewhat called a goon squad of antiunion workers free reign to her wrasse prounion workers. This has created a climate of fear and intimidation that has been intentionally created at the telephone plans. Region 32 again as you know are being prosecuted taylor farms and stand agency or the series and numerous Violations Including terminating workers for union activities, spying on workers could in 2016. Threatening plant closure, deportation. To partition many the workers may have questions about their legal status their immigration status. Illegally interrogating workers and so on. That agency actually settled the case with taylor farms agreed to pay more than 267,000 in funds. I mean, this is to add numerous violations of health and safety codes, a Chemical Spill at tracy plant in 2015. And april 2016, calosha issued 26 site citations and 96,000 in fines. To taylor farms. The list goes on and on. You cant really make this all. Yet, this company is engaging in something that you would think you would not see in this country could certainly, not in the 21st century. This is again just the tip of the iceberg. So, my feeling as a resident of San Francisco as a supervisor of San Francisco, that we as a city should have no business relationship whatsoever with this company. I want to make sure that the city and county of San Francisco is not purchasing any products from a corporation that engages in such egregious antiunion and abusive activity. So, i know that we have here the office of Contract Administration i would like to turn it over to them so that they can present on the question of what if any relationship the city has good thank you. Thank you. Good afternoon. My name is Whitney Bagley and my principal analyst with the office of Contract Administration. Im here today to present findings on purchases made by the city to taylor farms. The office of Contract Administration investigated both direct and indirect purchases from taylor farms and its subsidiaries. Overhead, please. I have copies as well. As you can see from this slide, food purchases made from july 1 2015march 31, 2016 totaled over 6. 9 million. Of those purchases, 19,827 were. 20 went to products produced by taylor farms. Those purchases have been through two primary vendors as the city does not have a direct relationship with taylor farms. The two vendors are us Foods Incorporated and Sysco Food Services that supplied foods for the good honda hospital San Francisco General Hospital in the recreational Parks Department. So these are findings and im happy to answer any questions that you have. What i would say is simply i think its great that were not directly purchasing from taylor farms. I want to applaud you and your apartment in the city for doing that. While i see that only a small portion of its. 3 of total food purchases are coming from vendors that are purchasing from them so we are indirectly purchasing from them that i sort of feel that number should be zero. 3 of our total food purchases is still 6,966,000. So, i would ask that Everything Possible be done to make sure that we go with a more responsible manner and even that to me is something that i would dont want to see the city even indirectly buying from taylor farms. I think thats the only way that you deal with someone as irresponsible as taylor farms. Thank you with that, colleagues i would like to open up to Public Comment did i know that theres a number people have been waiting no wonder thank them. I dont know if shes here anymore. Sandy lee fewer, who is a commissioner on the board of education was here. M johnson, mike castro, but anyone would like to speak on this item, please, come forward and thank you for your patience. Thank you members of the board. My name is mike johnston. Im here on behalf of Teamsters Joint Council seven. Our leadership is currently at her International Convention in las vegas they send you their gratitude for taking up this item. Thus 20 as we represented 2500 workers at taylor farms in salinas and have had a good working relationship with them that. Only nine are workers in tracy i try to organize with teamsters local 601 the situation could not have been more different. This really started as a unit but the workers came to us because of the horrific conditions in that plant, just talk a little bit about that. Taylor farms has been cited in the last year for over 70 violations by calosha fined over 100,000 which is huge in terms of cal osha fines. After 20 workers including two pregnant women were sent to the hospital after Chemical Spill last year, when they started complaining about the fumes they were given paper taskmaster put on to defend against chlorine fumes. Taylor farms is being invested by the California Department of fair employment and housing for a legit harassment towards gay and lesbian workers. Just a couple of examples. One day worker reported months and months of sexual comments and unwanted touching and groping by another worker. The only response by the company was to move that coworker to another work area of discipline at all. A taylor another day worker was punched by a coworker. Zero discipline. And as you will hear, the companies also been cited by the National Labor Relations Board for terminating workers who are exercising their democratic right to organize as a union taylor farms has run a Vicious Campaign against his own employees and tracy and we think its important the city and county of San Francisco take a stand and sysco and united foods need to two vendors that you purchase through our big customers of the tracy plans. So, if you told him that you dont want product from their and has an impact past the small percentage of your food purchases at that represents. Thank you there much thank you very much. Next speaker, please. Again, i want to thank folks for weighting and the workers for being here. Hi my name is that pastoral organize with the teamsters and web into the last two years and the stories ive heard one of the workers [inaudible] all the workers were coming were hideouts from undocumented workers [inaudible] and i was surprising. Just from the heart had been able to spell undocumented workers at the plant. Earplugs in everything from the vending machines [inaudible] you have to buy all that. You would buy from them . You would buy from them essentially spewing yes. The workers needed like earplugs they would have to go to vending machine. Your aspirin, it looks like it if you gloves get what you have to buy your own gloves again. So those of the some of the stories i heard from sexual abuse some of stories ive talked to mike 85yearold grandpa that [inaudible] indoors [inaudible] i dont think San Francisco should buy anything from these people. Thank you thank you very much. Im going to translate thank you if you can speak into the microphone spewing my name is rodney li work at taylor farms in tracy california. I was ready to speak [inaudible]. I think i figured this is terrible how the company is been treating us that were. At work. To say they have the best product [inaudible] and may step all over his. Not to allow us to form our union. I was trying to intimidate other people so [inaudible] everybody at the plan is scared. I think its not fair that were not related what buddy buddies with somebody, they get to heaven they get the best spots in the Company Supervisors or assistant supervisor. When theres people that dont work there for years have not got a . 50 raise. We work hard in the company. We produce a lot of money for the company. Hes not grateful. He just ups all over us. Im very very mad. I do have the words but i dont want to say them. Because all the people that are working there for years that got hurt for example this woman that got hurt, that afternoon one of her veins i guess in her head popped into this into the hospital and was she when the hospital she got a call from supervisors saying basically chill tomorrow and work were you dont have a job. Somebody that works hard and see the supervisors on their phones doing whatever it were the ones working hard for the company. Theres a lot more to say but i can say. He is very very disappointed. Thank you. Thank you. I know how hard it is for a worker, especially working with such a horrible company under these horrible conditions that the courage to come forward and speak good so i want to say to the workers that come here thank you for that courage. The point of this is to send a message that youre not alone in San Francisco is with you. All fleet, because San Francisco is doing that other jurisdictions will do the same thing. [spanish translation] thank you. Any other person would like to speak . I guess that concludes Public Comment. But i think that in terms of our contracts office, you can see that this is something thats pretty serious and that as much as weve made were in an okay place 02 to the size, for us, for my perspective, any amount directly or indirectly that benefits his company is not something i want to see and so that would be might ask. That we make sure that the numberits not 0. 3 but we spend actually 0. 0. Thats what i want to go. So, with that, colleagues, thats okay to actually continue to the call of the chairs that we can maybe come back and see how we are doing in the near future. I also want to thank the chief of staff hillary rowman was worked very hard on this issue. Thank you for your leadership, hillary. Thank you supervisor campos. I know theyre doomed many more members of the public that want to speak on this issue. So i also do apologize were not able to hear everyone because this is incredibly important. Everyones voice should be heard. Im happy to support and continue this to the call of the chair motion and i see that supervisor avalos is not as that so we can do that without objection if theres no further Public Comment and thank you for all the public were able to state the patient. Will continue this item to the call of the chair. [gavel] mdm. Clerk in any other items no other items thank you to everyone. This meeting is adjourned. [gavel] [adjournment] youre watching quick bite, the show that has San Francisco. Were here at one of the many food centric districts of San Francisco, the 18th street corridor which locals have affectionately dubbed the castro. A cross between castro and gastronomic. The bakery, pizza, and dolores park cafe, there is no end in sight for the mouth watering food options here. Adding to the culinary delights is the family of business he which includes skylight creamery, skylight and the 18 raisin. Skylight market has been here since 1940. Its been in the family since 1964. His father and uncle bought the market and ran it through sam taking it over in 1998. At that point sam revamped the market. He installed a kitchen in the center of the market and really made it a place where chefs look forward to come. He created community through food. So, we designed our community as having three parts we like to draw as a triangle where its comprised of our producers that make the food, our staff, those who sell it, and our guests who come and buy and eat the food. And we really feel that we wouldnt exist if it werent for all three of those components who really support each other. And thats kind of what we work towards every day. Valley creamery was opened in 2006. The two pastry chefs who started it, chris hoover and walker who is sams wife, supplied all the pastries and bakeries for the market. They found a space on the block to do that and the ice cream kind of came as an afterthought. They realized the desire for ice cream and we now have lines around the corner. So, thats been a huge success. In 2008, sam started 18 reasons, which is our community and event space where we do five events a week all around the idea of bringling people closer to where the food comes from and closer to each other in that process. 18 reasons was started almost four years ago as an educational arm of their work. And we would have dinners and a few classes and we understood there what momentum that people wanted this type of engagement and education in a way that allowed for a more indepth conversation. We grew and now we offer i think we had nine, we have a series where adults learned home cooking and we did a teacher Training Workshop where San Francisco unified Public School teachers came and learned to use cooking for the core standards. We range all over the place. We really want everyone to feel like they can be included in the conversation. A lot of organizations i think which say were going to teach cooking or were going to teach gardening, or were going to get in the policy side of the food from conversation. We say all of that is connected and we want to provide a place that feels really Community Oriented where you can be interested in multiple of those things or one of those things and have an entree point to meet people. We want to build community and were using food as a means to that end. We have a wonderful organization to be involved with obviously coming from buy right where really everyone is treated very much like family. Coming into 18 reasons which even more Community Focused is such a treat. We have these events in the evening and we really try and bring people together. People come in in groups, meet friends that they didnt even know they had before. Our whole set up is focused on communal table. You can sit acro