Aye. 3/14/13 - STATED - 2ND READING The ayes are 17; the nays are zero. A majority of all members present having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, 130018.
An ordinance establishing a parking regulation on Fitzwater Street, south side, Juniper Street to Broad Street.
This bill having been read on two separate days, the question is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, please call the roll.
Councilwoman Quinones-Sanchez. 3/14/13 - STATED - 2ND READING
Aye. The ayes are 17; the nays are zero. A majority of all members present having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, 130019.
An ordinance establishing a parking regulation on 13th Street, both sides, Bainbridge Street to South Street.
This bill having been read on two separate 3/14/13 - STATED - 2ND READING days, the question is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, please call the roll.
Aye. The ayes are 17; the nays are zero. A majority of all members present having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, please read the title of 130020.
An ordinance establishing a parking regulation on Moore Street, north side, 11th Street to 12th Street.
This bill having been read on two separate days, the question is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, please call the roll.
Aye. The ayes are 17; the nays are zero. A majority of all members present having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, please read the title of 130021.
An ordinance establishing a parking regulation on 12th 3/14/13 - STATED - 2ND READING Street, both sides, McKean Street to Snyder Avenue.
This bill having been read on two separate days, the question is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, please call the roll.
Aye. The ayes are 17; the nays are zero. A majority of all members present having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. Mr. Decker, please read the title of 130022.
An ordinance authorizing Farmtable to construct, own and maintain an open-air sidewalk cafe at 824 South 8th Street.
This bill having been read on two separate days, the question is shall the bill pass finally. Mr. Decker, please call the roll.
Aye. The ayes are 17; the nays are zero. A majority of all members present having voted in the affirmative, the bill passes. 3/14/13 - STATED - 2ND READING Mr. Decker, please read the title of 130004.
An ordinance enacting a new Chapter 9-3300, entitled "Promoting Healthy Families and Workplaces," to provide that certain employees are entitled to paid leave.
Thank you, Mr. President. I know there's a lot of people here that are waiting for the next act in this room, but I ask them to bear with me for just a couple minutes. In just a few minutes we'll be voting yes or no on earned paid sick leave, but I believe we'll be saying a lot more than simply yes or no. Will we say yes that a key aspect of this bill is about health, the health of the workers, the health of their families, the health of their co-workers and the health of the general public? Or will we say no, like the 3/14/13 - STATED - 2ND READING Nutter Administration has said no? And they're getting pretty good at saying no. They even refused to allow the Health Commissioner to testify before the Health Committee of this Council. So much for transparency and open government. So apparently the Administration does not think health is an issue, which is ironic given in other settings they talk a whole lot about health. I guess health is only an issue when they want it to be. Something like binding arbitration is only an issue when they want it to be. (Applause.)
Will we say yes that it's only fair that lower-wage workers, many of whom lack proper healthcare, should be shown the same respect as those in higher-paying jobs, that when it comes to one's health, it shouldn't matter if you come to work in a suit or a server's uniform? Or do we say no, that basically 3/14/13 - STATED - 2ND READING people should just be happy to have a job no matter what kind it is? Will we say yes that, as Councilman Goode has said, earned sick leave is not an either/or, it can be good and has proven to be good for workers and businesses, that a healthy workforce will be more productive and beneficial for everyone, including financially for everyone, as it has been proven and as other cities have shown? When an employee is respected -- and I think a lot of people want to talk about respect in here -- when an employee is respected, they give respect back. (Applause.)
Or will we say no, that despite evidence to the contrary, workers will abuse the law and take time off frivolously, even though that hasn't happened in other cities and studies show the average worker takes much less time than is allotted? Is somebody trying to say that workers in 3/14/13 - STATED - 2ND READING Philadelphia are less honest than other cities? Do we say yes, that we recognize that these are difficult times for businesses and that we have offered after many, many, many meetings with business groups and individuals, we've added 23 changes to this bill? Councilwoman Sanchez said it well at the end of the last hearing. Council has and will continue to work with the business community to reasonably address their needs. Or do we say no, no matter what we do to accommodate businesses, we will listen to those who dismiss all dialogue and offer amendments -- and/or offer amendments that make this bill meaningless? We haven't come this long to do that. Some of those opponents provide way more sick time than we ask for in this bill, like Comcast, and yet they use the argument that earned sick leave gives the wrong perception about 3/14/13 - STATED - 2ND READING the City to businesses and prospective businesses. So I must comment on this perception issue. First, as was said at the hearing, people don't perceive to be sick. They're sick. And if I'm someone, Mr. President, who is thinking about opening a business in this city, I don't believe sick leave would be my major concern, especially since it's worked elsewhere with little or no negative impact. What would concern me is what I saw and heard at the hearing we had last week. The Commerce Director of the City, the Chamber of Commerce, and other business leaders talking about how bad this city is, and that if they were in the suburbs, they would use this bill as a reason for business to move to the suburbs. They are the people supposed to be cheerleading for us and they're talking about what's bad about this city. And in many cases, the business owners that testified badmouthed workers. 3/14/13 - STATED - 2ND READING I think the ultimate -- you came in, Mr. President, and asked a question from a restaurant owner about why he thinks lower-wage workers will more abuse sick leave than higher-income people, and that gentleman said he knows his workers will call in sick to go to the Phillies game or call in with a hangover after getting drunk. A great business leader there, right? And they say we're giving a bad perception, the supporters of this bill are giving a bad perception? I think they need to look in the mirror. Finally, do we say yes, that earned sick leave is simply the right thing to do, and in the end, that really should be the deciding factor? Or do we say no, that while it may be the right thing, it's not the right time, which then I must ask this question, and I think a lot of City workers are asking the question about how long. Well, my question is, how many of the 180,000 3/14/13 - STATED - 2ND READING workers in this city who do not get paid sick time will force themselves to work or not get paid before somebody decides the time is right? Well, I believe the obvious answer to this Council and the City is an overwhelming yes. Yes, health is of paramount issue. Yes, earned sick leave is fair. Yes, business and workers can benefit. Yes, it can work here as it has in other cities. And, yes, earned sick leave is the right thing to do. (Applause.)
And, Mr. President, yes, as Dr. King so famously said, it is always the right time to do the right thing. Thank you, Mr. President. (Applause.)
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Oh.
Thank you very 3/14/13 - STATED - 2ND READING much, Mr. President. I would like to thank the leadership of Bill Greenlee and all the other Councilmembers, Councilman Jones, for their leadership in really trying to improve the City and help people. I will disagree, and I'm going to state why. Our city, more than anything, needs jobs. Yes, good-paying jobs. We need family-sustaining jobs, but right now we just need jobs. A lot of people don't have jobs, and we are losing jobs, even low-skill jobs. Our population right now is challenged, as our city is, to grow, and if we look at the 350,000 manufacturing jobs that our city had in 1960 and look over the 30-year period that we lost 300,000 of those jobs, in 1970 our city had 766,000 jobs. By 2010, we had lost a lot of jobs and only had 542. According to Econsult and other economic forecasters, if we don't do something to turn around the City, 3/14/13 - STATED - 2ND READING including ensure that our workers are paid and we have great services in the City, we're going to lose 75,000 jobs by 2021. What I believe we have to do at this time -- and timing is important -is to ensure that people choose Philadelphia to stay and start their businesses, to come to start their businesses. The issue is not that businesses are going to close over the sick day bill. The issue, in my mind, is that we are going to over time lose a certain number of businesses that fail or move out. We have to have more businesses that open and succeed than fail. If people decide not to make Philadelphia a place to start their businesses, we will lose jobs. The 75,000 jobs that we're going to lose, I am going to guess, are not for people with Ph.D.'s, Master's degrees, and high skills. It's going to be for people who have low wages, who 3/14/13 - STATED - 2ND READING have low literacy, who have no prior job experience, and may have a criminal record. More than anything, I believe we need to create and establish good jobs for people in our neighborhoods. And so I will be voting no. Thank you very much.
Thank you, Mr. President. As many of you know, I'm a founding Board member of Local Progress, the national municipal policy network. Last spring, about a dozen City Councilmembers and allies, including those from SEIU and AFSCME from around the country, met in DC to discuss progressive issues. Several months later, in November, several dozen of us, City Councilmembers and allies from across the country, convened a founding 3/14/13 - STATED - 2ND READING conference to discuss economic justice issues like paid sick leave. In fact, I moderated that discussion. We then formed Local Progress. The Chair of Local Progress is Nick Licata, the City Councilman who was the primary sponsor of paid sick leave in Seattle. The Program Chair of Local Progress is Brad Lander, a co-sponsor of paid sick leave in New York, where a majority of City Councilmembers support it. One of our newest Board members is John Avalos, a City Councilmember from San Francisco, where paid sick leave has been successfully implemented. Needless to say, the Local Progress Board supports paid sick leave. More importantly, Local Progress now boasts a membership of over 200 local elected officials from across the country, and we continue to grow. But some want you to believe that paid sick leave is an issue limited to Philadelphia and a few other cities. 3/14/13 - STATED - 2ND READING They're wrong. Some want you to believe that we should wait for the state and/or federal legislatures to pass paid sick leave. They must be kidding. That's why we call our group Local Progress, because we know that too many state and federal officials around this country are the enemies of working-class men and women. In many places, progressives are simply outnumbered. Here in Philadelphia we should not be. So we fight our battles on every level of government as we start close to home, where we hope to build multiple local victories together. We start locally in places where elected representatives are supposed to understand working-class values and working-class issues. This is where we start to build national movements, locally. So today is when we allow other cities to see where Philadelphia stands in terms of working-class people. It's 3/14/13 - STATED - 2ND READING time to stand tall, and it's not time to come up short. Progressives from around the country are watching this vote. Don't talk the talk unless you're willing to walk the walk. (Applause.)
Don't say that you're for working-class people, but you're afraid to offend the business community. This vote counts for the people who need it the most. Most importantly, they're watching you right now. (Applause.)
Thank you, Councilman. The Chair recognizes Councilman Green.
Thank you, Mr. President. The City of Philadelphia has an unemployment rate of 10.6 percent, higher than any city just mentioned. It has one of the highest unemployment rates of any major city in the country. It has 3/14/13 - STATED - 2ND READING one of the highest business tax rates of any city in the country, and one of only five cities that has a net income tax on businesses. Philadelphia is doing everything it possibly can to prevent, when you combine all our policies, to prevent businesses from moving into the City and creating jobs. I am concerned about the health of the job market in creating jobs for those who most need it in this city, and so I will be voting no. Thank you, Mr. President, and I urge my colleagues to do the same. (Audience members booing.)