Thank you for your testimony. Please state your name and begin with your testimony.
My name is Tori Rodgers. Good afternoon -- well, yes, good afternoon to City Council and my fellow employees. My name is Tori Rodgers, Secretary of District Council 33, Local 696. I work for the Office of Human Resources and have been doing so since 2007. Since the pandemic, I've been coming into the office as mandated by my department first three days and then two. I am also an employee that is immune- compromised as I have Lupus. I and other employees like me have a safety concern when it comes to being mandated to come in the office for five days. As COVID has not gone away, we are at a greater risk to getting infected. Recently my department conducted a mandatory in-person meeting to talk about the return- to-work mandate. After the meeting I found out that one of my coworkers have been exposed to COVID and came into the office for the meeting. I found out that she had tested positive and I was in fear that I was going to be at risk of doing the same. This could potentially happen to others like me if the hybrid situation is no 10 longer in effect. Thank you. (Applause.)
Thank you for your testimony. Please state your name and begin your testimony.
All right. My name is Brett Bessler. I'm the Vice-president Business Agent for AFSCME D.C. 47, Local 2186. If you support Philadelphia municipal workers and their unions, let me get a hell yeah. (Hell yeah.)
All right. I want to take a second -- mine is very short. I want to take a second to thank each and every member, everybody in the district, both District Councils that made today happen. This is truly one of the largest and I think most impactful Union actions that I have ever been a part of. And I do also want to thank management here. You know, they kind of prove that they don't have a case. So if Philadelphia is a union town, it needs to act like it. This unilateral change is an attack on labor and our rights to collectively bargain. It's a slap in the face to the idea of labor relations. It is amazing to me that the Mayor wants to make this move to increase collaboration, but simultaneously wants to shut unions out of their most collaborative process. It's a directive that will only harm our members and the communities that we serve. We must stand up. We must fight back against this decree. If we don't, we're going to give the City an inch and we all know, all the Union members in here know, give them an inch, they're going to run a mile. If the City of Philadelphia wants to be the premier employer in the region, it needs to act like it. The City is becoming less and less attractive as an employer and it can't bring in and retain new talent, constant issues with hiring and retention spinning a revolving door that only leads to an exit. And this is one of the answers: To make hard-to-fill positions even less attractive and ignore their unions. With a 20 percent-plus vacancy rate citywide, it is absurd that the City would make such a unilateral change that will only prolong our city's vacancy crisis. If this is the fashion in which the City of Philadelphia wants to move, our members and our unions are here to ensure that that style will go out of style real quick. Do not forget who runs this City. Let's all remind them. Who runs this City? (We do.)
Thank you everyone for your testimony. That concludes, ma'am. We've heard from a lot of people. It's repetitive now. You're preaching to the choir here too. We're all with you. Okay, come on. One more. You're who we want to hear from anyway because that's part of the issue.
Thank you. My name is Shaheedah Tinsley- Cobbs. I'm a Housing and Development Officer for PHDC and a member of AFSCME D.C. 33, Local 1971. There was an article 4 published by CNN this month, Women in the Workforce Hit an All-time High at 77 percent. Homebased work allow for more flexibility in hours, help improve access to child here with schedules that allow for easier drop-offs and pick-ups, and that includes myself. My husband and I are committed to creating a home for our children that consist of us both being present and at the greatest extent possible. I've made a conscious decision to earn less money in the real estate consultant industry by working as an independent contractor over the years in exchange for more flexibility. At that point, I've been able to attend all of my children's events for that purpose. In my view, my four sons ranging from ages to and my daughter who was 9 years old have never appeared in any negative news reports or in the principal's office for any behavioral issues because of the consistent presence and investment in their lives. After the onset of COVID-19 pandemic. I saw firsthand how affordable housing became beyond reach for a lot of Philadelphians. I wanted to lend my expertise and experience in real estate professionalism to focus on providing affordable housing. So when a friend sent me a posting for a hybrid position as a Housing and Development Officer, I was quick to apply. I took on this position for two reasons. The first reason was because it was advertised as a hybrid position. The second reason is because it aligned with the passion for making housing affordable and accessible to low- to medium-income families. As far as productivity in the PHDC Housing Finance Department goes, our team of four Housing Development Officers have been able to increase productivity at 35 percent since COVID has started. Therefore, it's in the best interest of the City and the taxpaying constituents to help alleviate challenges for commute, managing an increasing cost of child care and before and after care. And professionals like myself can devote more time, energy and effort to ensure that the City has increased access to affordable housing for everyone. In closing, I am grateful for the opportunity to be able to do the kind of work that I'm passionate about. And I'm hoping that you will preserve the remote hybrid work arrangement so that my colleagues and I can efficiently meet the demand for increased access to affordable housing in the city of Philadelphia where I was born and raised. And if you didn't hear me, I have five children. (Applause.)
Okay. Before you go anywhere, just because you're actually getting to the core of what we wanted to know, so you were hired how long ago?
And the reason you took the job was because it was a hybrid job?
Hybrid, yes. I always have headhunters calling me. And I've over the past years decided not to work a 5 9-to-5 because it's not flexible 6 enough. I only came here because 7 of the remote position. 8
Right. 9 And you would be able to make more 10 money in your field if you were 11 willing to work nonremotely -- 12
-- but 14 you choose to work remotely because 15 of the access to your children and 16 stuff like that, that's correct? 17
All 20 right. And of course you wouldn't have taken a job any other way?
All right. This concludes the business before this Committee on Labor and Civil Service. We will now recess this hearing to the call of the Chair. Thank you. - - - (Committee on Labor and Civil Service concluded at 5:28 p.m.) - - C E R T I F I C A T I O N I, hereby certify that the proceedings and evidence noted are contained fully and accurately in the stenographic notes taken by me in the foregoing matter, and that this is a correct transcript of the same. __________________________________ TANEHA CARROLL