despite years and years of hard work delivered to our service, were we work three or four jobs because we don't know when they will be called back. some of them are leaving in june and they don't know if they'll be called back in six months, it is really an outrageous situation. i had breakfast with an as- needed employee last week and i will tell you that by the end of my breakfast, she and i were both in tears as i listened to her story. and that is why this is the priority at the bargaining table. this is not on either party, we have not yet discussed this issue. i hope you'll give directions to your principles of the table and to the mayor's office and entry that we resolve this problem this year, now, because it is so

unfair for all of the workers in this condition. i will tell you have been represented these workers for 25 years, this is the very worst i have ever seen. supervisor chu: i will call a few names. [reading names] >> i am a registered nurse at san francisco general hospital. staffing for nursing is a little bit different, advocated by title 22, and dictated by the operation of a patient classification system and a simultaneous buy hppd's. nurses were staffed by hot- permanente nurses. we had complaints coming forward

for making all this money. the bottom line here is that as some of the departments have said, we need this half-hour units to get the job done. we are a 24-7 operation. if we were to open permanent positions as opposed to per diem positions, we can eliminate the overtime problem. >> good morning, supervisors. i'm an as-needed employee for the fine arts museum of san francisco. we need to hire more permanent workers. currently in our department there are 60 permanent employees and about 170 as-rated employees from a range of one

year to 22 years. the last time there was a permanent hire was back in 2007. then there was an opening in 2010, several of us interviewed for that position. what they did was canceled that position and hired a bunch more per diems. for our department, that's not going to work. if they are out on permanent positions, there are not enough permanent workers. they are working five or six days a week sometimes, and we are not getting the benefits of permanent workers. some of us travel all the way for antioch to san francisco in the hope of becoming permanent and it has never happened. sometimes there is a little bit

of favoritism where certain people are hand-picked. we get overlooked for these jobs. i encourage you all to give the as-needed employees better benefits and hire more permanent workers. [applause] >> supervisors, as you've heard from union workers, neo opportunities are being given by our city to encourage middle- class workers. i remember when mayor willie brown was the mayor. over 1000 and a strip of assistance were hired, and i want to know how the director

accommodative this blatant corruption. the unions, you can come every year in advance, shout, scream, what ever. the time has come for a ballot measure and to hold our representatives to the fire. this city has always been known, i am talking 40 or 60 years ago to give opportunities to people so that they can contribute and be better citizens. it is a shame, people say that they are going to represent when they do nothing whatsoever to help poor people.

you want to go to some of the demonstrations, but in reality, over 30,000 families have left san francisco, something is wrong with our city. the time has come to walk the walk. there are too many people in management making over $200,000 in this city a year. the think about that. supervisor chu: next speaker, please. >> sent francisco has a long and nefarious history with casual labour. the maritime employees used in the curious shape up where workers would show up, the foreman would come out and pick out the workers that would work that day and the rest would go home hungry. there was no job security, it

was right with favoritism and nepotism. if ensured a hostile work force -- it ensured a docile work force. the center strong message to the rest of the workers and to all the workers, keep in line and keep your mouth shut. fast-forward to 2012, the city government as one of the biggest employers in this city and county and operates a similar labor scheme called of the temporary as-needed. they are hired at the whim of a supervisor and are consistent for favoritism and cronyism and nepotism. you will hear testimony today about the abuse of the system. does that speak out against the system are often retaliated against, and valerie retaliation is often swift and brutal.

they will be reacting -- retaliated against. what they will be told is that they are no longer needed. the first speaker you heard today worked for the city for 21 years. the day his picture showed up a lot of fire about the as-needed problem, he stopped getting phone calls that come to work. he was told that for the time ahead, we're probably not going to call you as much. in fact, we are probably not going to call you at all anymore. after that hearing today, there are no longer called, we will ask you to intervene with the department of human resources to undo that retaliation.

you called a name earlier from local 21, they have a similar problem and the local 21 that has to do with category 16, 17, and 18 workers. supervisor chu: next speaker. next speaker. >> i work at san francisco general hospital radiology departments. we have as dedicated employees -- as-needed employees that are supposed to replace people on vacation.

every three months, you have to go through new applicants and replacement of previous applicants. when they come, you have to be trained. and this is a big problem because along with the employees [unintelligible] patients are waiting hours because we don't have a good staff. this is a trauma center. it is a bad situation and the new hospital is not really

ready to have the staffing that can't do the work in san francisco general hospital. supervisor chu: thank you. a few more names. >> i work at san francisco general, i'm also a shop steward. i will talk about the problem that i see as a shop steward. many get retaliated on if they raise any kinds of issues related to work. any type of issue, they stop getting called. it has nothing to do with their work level. the managers use terms like they are not a good fit.

that is the excuse that they give. not that they don't have the skills they need, but they are not a good fifth. i hear that excuse over and over again, why as-needed people are let go and probationary people are let go. it doesn't matter why we let these people go, if i am a civil service employee, apparently i have more value. the reason they are not permanent is because they have to keep them in the status for years and years. that needs to be resolved. i have gone to talk about this with civil service because it is not fair. we are treated like second-class

citizens in the workplace. that should not be tolerated. that is why it is a big issue. i also want to say that the city should not expect us to pay for this is a city problem and the city needs to fix it. supervisor chu: next speaker. the other microphone. >> i'm susan word, a masters- prepared a registered nurse at san francisco general. i have been paying taxes and since the mid 70's, and i have never come to a meeting like this. i am very impressed with the level of democracy we have here.

we have the psychiatric unit of san francisco general since the mid '80s. i have had my hair pulled, i am at risk every time i draw blood from an agitated or aggravated patient. if a friend of yours has a psychiatric emergency, i am the nurse that you wanted take care of. i think i have become a bad fit. my point in being here is to let you know that a p as aer diem, my -- as a per diem, the extra money goes to the irs. i could work every day.

when i work -- when they want to cancel me, they can. the same insurance that i get now and i would get for free. it is much more beneficial to the department to have a non- benefit a person because i maintain all of my health care. what i would like to say, you have a wonderful city, but i think that sentence is good general, you're not aware of everything going on there. supervisor chu: thank you. next speaker, please. >> my name is robert hester, i represent the nurses at san francisco general hospital. i would like to speak on behalf

of the many nurses, many of whom are as-needed. it can range from one year to 20 years. imagine for a minute to bed after 15 years, for example, you have been applying for a test, working a full-time schedule of 40 hours a week for 15 years. yet, every time you take a test, you seem not to be good enough to be a permanent employee, hit good enough to be a 40-hour per week full-time on-call as-needed employee. it is unjust. it is not fair. we would like to get your support in ensuring that these people deserve the dignity and respect that they deserve.

thank you very much. supervisor chu: thank you. i have one last card. other than that, i do not have any cards. if folks have not heard their names or have not spoken yet, please lineup. >> supervisors to my name is jt. have been with the fine arts museum for 30 years. one of the problems we have noticed over the last four or five years is that we have had a ratio of like about 8 2/3 to 1/3 as far as per diems, like 160 to 170 per diems -- full-time permanent employees. we have issues with this. we want to make sure people have health benefits and make sure their art is secure, but they do not have this anymore, because the museum more or less went to

a different direction as far as our as-needed employees. we need to do something about this asap. the hiring problems are problems because they use favoritism, cronyism, and stuff like that. like hiring security that was a former supervisor as one of the employees who was replaced. we need to look at things like this throughout the city. thank you. supervisor chu: thank you. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon, supervisors. i am a member of local 1021 and a city employee. thank you for letting me speak to one of the jobs that do as a volunteer is sometimes working as a stop stewart. i was talking to an employee on a disciplinary issue. it was an as-needed employee who commutes every week from sacramento. she works the same schedule

friday through saturday every week. the grievances based on the fact that they inadvertently changed one of her days after she had been working the same schedule for like four months. they put one day in there and she did not know about it and was marked awol. i found out she was as-needed because she explained that she got hired in december and that she would work 1040 hours, at which time she would be separated and would be rehired again in july. the manager explained that to her. the problem with representing her in this disciplinary issue is the fact that she already knows she's not going to have a job at the end of june. and she has to interviewed again. i had to explain to her that, you know, it will be the manager's discretion it the one to hire her back. they could easily say they do not need her schedule or they have enough staff. frankly, as-needed is a way of union-busting. even though these are union dues that pay the members, they paid

dues, they have a contract, it is a really hard to enforce it. there are cases where we want it, the six front -- six months from now, they do not get called. thank you. supervisor chu: thank you. next speaker. >> good afternoon. let this purple yo-yo represent the medical department. it is purple. but -- ♪ >> the budget was all purple there was money in the department's going everywhere i know city that you really cared like overtime 19,000,099 and i know it is going to be fine say it there in night over time we're going to a party like it is 19,000,099 if you did not come to budget

do not bother knocking at the city budget door after all that is what medical money is for tonight we're going to party like the budget over time 19,000,099 ♪ >> it is like you sometimes -- ♪ >> disconnected the phone line relax make it today is the day you're going to make the budget obk because we're going to need some money and it comes from you today is the day you're going to make the budget ok and the money comes from you but did you ♪ [bell rings] ♪ >> and you worked hard like this and you worked budget hard like that and i knew all along

that the money would come back to you and your card like this and you work hard like that and i knew all along the overtime money and jobs were going to come back to you now ♪ [bell rings] >> thank you. supervisor chu: thank you. [applause] hold your applause. thank you. >> hetch hetchy water and power petraeus are here to represent the 50 members at hetch hetchy roughly. 280 hours in a work year, so as- needed are not allowed to work more than 1040 hours. the way to make sure than ever worked 1040 hours is you hire three of them. if you have three positions that 280 hours, you need nine as dedicated employees. that is why we have so many, and

rotate them. each one is guaranteed they will never ever get 1040 hours. and someday you'll get a permanent. after years and years, they realize that will not happen in the move on, and we have to train new people. we have people who have been there years and years still chasing that. it is a very unfair system. thank you. supervisor chu: thank you very much. next speaker. >> good afternoon. my name is douglas yep. listening to the previous speakers are about problems at san francisco general hospital, how the hospital exploits their as-needed workers, that is nothing new. nothing new at all. this past monday in the nearby federal building, the fbi and the department of homeland security at a conference on the second floor dealing with the subject of human slavery. in my opinion, it is a form of

human slavery being discussed right here and right now. in my opinion, it is called as- needed workers. maybe the union is too polite to call it human slavery, but since i am retired, i can call it human slavery in my humble opinion. i have one particular supervisor here present who kept telling me to my face that there were no problems at general hospital. why did you not listen to these workers? it is nothing new. i am telling the as-needed workers, you're going to suffer the same fate as the whistleblower at the ethics commission, oliver. you will suffer the same fate as this speaker. they are going to screw you because they know you're not the right fit. in other words, the only city workers the city wants are guys who work for 30 years, been down on their knees, a lick the boots of their superiors --

[bell rings] i do not think i want to be that worker. thank you. supervisor chu: thank you. next. >> good afternoon. i am is representative of sciu local 1021. i had the privilege of being on a labor-management committee that has studied this problem and the temporary and as-needed employees in the city and county of san francisco. we found that there are over 3500 employees in this category that we represent with our union alone, so it is a bigger number when you look at the other unions as well. that is a number that includes not only many, many different classifications, including city- wide classifications of all different types, as well as a registered nurses, including nurses in the nurse practitioner as a vacation, nurses in what is called the p103 or per diem classification

to the problem is this, we recognize that there are occasions when it it is a bridge for any employer to use as- needed or temporary employees, when the work is a temporary or unanticipated. the need has to be filled. the problem with the city and county is that the city has evolved into a system. the use temporary employees to do permanent ongoing work. that is the problem that we have. that is a problem that is artificially created by the bureaucracy of the city. it is a problem that only the city can fix. we want to do our part to help fix that problem. but the city needs to step up and say that it is only upgrade for permanent employees to do permanent work of the problem is, not enough permanent positions are being treated for the permanent work the city must do. and then when those positions are created, let's make sure that they are people that have been doing this work successfully for many, many years. at least have them get a fair

chance that these permanent jobs. that is what the civil service system is created to enforce, and that is what fair play demands. the white. -- thank you capito supervisor chu: -- thank you. supervisor chu: thank you. next speaker. this'll be the last speaker. otherwise, stand in line. >> i work at the department of elections. i know many of you, because i have been interested to file your candidacy papers. i have also administered the oath of office to youth, and i am interested to be the case for the department of elections. for the public comes through the door, i see petitions. i talked to the public all day long. i worked a i am an as needed employee, but i come to this job with a vast amount of experience. i work for san diego for 10 years as a filing officer for financial disclosure, which is handled here by at this. i worked for at&t 17 years as a

supervisor in sales and customer service. i come to this job with 100%, and i worked in the even year, february through november, and then i am laid off. i come back for the municipal election, which i will this year, to file paperwork for is reversers in 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, and i am interested to do that work, and i am an as-needed employee. what i want to say is sometimes you may wonder why we stay at these jobs. we are loyal to our jobs. we even take an oath for the department of elections. we have to take an oath as an election worker. we are interested with all kinds of confidential information. and most of us are as-needed. you cannot facilitate a successful election without us. there is no way. the people i work side-by-side with come back election-after- election knowing they're going to be laid off.

and during the year that they are employed, we save our money because we know that the layoff is coming. [bell rings] if we are being treated for medical situations, we lose our benefits in between our stand at the department of elections or at the city and county of san francisco. i would also like to say, for those of us that love our jobs and we do not want to find other work, in between the time we're laid off, it is hard to get somebody to hire you know when you're going to be leaving. thank you for hearing me. supervisor chu: thank you. are there other members who wish to speak on these two items, three or four? cnn, public comment is closed. colleagues of the two hearings have been heard. a number of questions were asked. supervisor avalos? supervisor avalos: thank you, chair. thank you to the members of the public who commented on their experience. it is important that we try to have as a level of a playing field for hiring workers and