Employment Advisory Committee Meetings
EMPLOYMENT COMMITTEE
MINUTES
May 5, 2005
Members Present
Commissioner Larry Lee, Commissioner Faye Woo Lee, Molly Baier, Bridgett N. Brown, John Crowley, Jerry Jones, Suzanne Korey, F. Ross Woodall
Members Absent
Malik Looper, Ronnie Rhoe
Staff Present
Linda Chin, Kabir Hypolite, Mary Gin Starkweather
Call to Order/ Roll Call
The meeting was called to order at 1:35p.m. A quorum was present.
Approval of Agenda
F. Ross Woodall moved to adopt the agenda. Bridgett Brown seconded and the motion was carried unanimously.
Approval of April 7, 2005 Minutes
Molly Baier noted that Hadas Rivera-Weiss needed to be added to "Staff Present." Faye Woo Lee moved to adopt the minutes. John Crowley seconded and the motion was carried unanimously.
Commissioners Report
Commissioner Faye Woo Lee announced that Commissioner Larry Lee was leaving the Commission and thanked him for his service to the Committee. Commissioner Larry Lee thanked the Committee members and staff and said that he will come back to visit. He especially wanted to thank Commissioner Faye Woo Lee and HRC staff member Frank Anderson. He will still be doing his work with High Schools and CBOs as well as continuing his community work with minorities and women to encourage them to enter the trades.
Staff Report
Mary Gin Starkweather announced that Ken Nim had left the Committee because he left VVJET and took a new position at Goodwill. It was also announced that the Committee is also seeking representative from the Filipino and Latino communities.
The regular Committee meeting for June will be cancelled and a Special Meeting will be held in its place. The meeting will be held from 5:00pm – 8:00pm on June 2, 2005 in Room 408, City Hall. There will be an informational and educational panel discussion regarding the proposal of All of Us or None (AOUN) to modify the City and County of San Francisco’s application and hiring process as it applies to formerly incarcerated persons.
Public Comment for items not on the Agenda
No comments.
New Business
- Presentation by James Lewis, Program Coordinator, City College of San Francisco – The Bridge to Bio-Technology
The program was started 3 years ago. At least a high school diploma or GED is needed before qualifying for an entry-level job. Immigrants with comparable foreign diplomas can qualify. Any drug conviction would need to be expunged because of the variety of chemicals that are used in a lab. There is no need for a previous science background.
Orientations are held on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays at three campuses. After orientation, applicants are given an assessment test for basic math and language. Scores are kept in-house and tests can be taken multiple times. Reasonable accommodations can be made for some disabilities; however, many jobs require the ability to lift, or take data readings.
SF Works has a 10 week pre-bridge (On-Ramp) program. They follow the students right through the full program and move them into internships ($10/hr. for 10-15 hours/week) and jobs.
After one year, a student could get a job in bio-manufacturing, packaging and working with the fermenters.
They learn to work with certain protocols.
After two years they can move into research and development. Entry level salaries range from $26,000 to $32,000. People can often move up very quickly to salaries of over $50,000. Companies want responsible people who they can get early and train in their own methods and philosophy. Often companies will pay for the higher education of their employees. (City College has classes both in the mornings and evenings in order to accommodate different peoples’ schedules and needs.)
The majority of students are minority – 60% African American, 39% Latino and Asian, 66% are on public assistance.
They have outreach at one-stop career centers and offer ESL and transitional skills classes.
The On-Ramp program has 10-15 people per section and the Bridge has 20-25 students. At the end to the Bridge, students are ready to start in the Certification program. 35 to 40 people finish each semester. There will be a stem-cell module offered after the first year.
Interested persons can call the Biotechnology Program at City College at (415) 239-3627.
Old Business
- Discussion of Committee Projects for 2005-2006
Kabir Hypolite gave a synopsis on the four top projects chosen by the Committee at the April 7, 2005 meeting. Committee members also added their thoughts throughout the presentation.
- Construction trades reporting –
This includes consideration of such areas as:
- Timeliness of receipt of reports – the committee wants to get reports in the beginning and mid-parts of a job so they can make recommendations
- Standardize the reporting format
- Identify methods of efficient collection, extrapolation and analysis of Certified Payroll Reports
- Identification of projects – Laguna Honda, Golden Gate Park Concourse Garage, International Hotel and quarterly reports from the PUC.
- Consider inclusion of statistics on employees of the architectural and engineering firms and vendors as well as the trades.
It was suggested that the prime contractor for the project also come to the meeting at the time the report is presented.
It was also suggested that Chris Iglesias, the new Director of CityBuild be invited to give a presentation to the Committee.
Molly Baier, John Crowley, Ronnie Rhoe and F. Ross Woodall have expressed interest in being members of the working group. The group will meet early in July to further "flesh out" their ideas and then schedule a meeting with the Director.
- Proposed Resolution from All of Us or None (AUON),
This is a project of Legal Services for Prisoners with Children. This project entails consideration of the resolution that AUON brought before the Committee in February regarding the challenges that previously incarcerated people face when seeking employment. (See February 3, 2005 Committee minutes).
It was decided that a panel discussion would be held at a Special Meeting. Members of the panel will include representatives from AUON, the San Francisco Public Defender’s Office, and the San Francisco Department of Human Resources, among others. Members wanted to know if it would count as an absence if they were unable to come to the meeting since it was "Special" and was not being held at the usual time. Staff will check on this and email the answer to the members.
- The "Unfinished Agenda" Revisited –
Malik Looper introduced this project. It would include presentations by persons who were involved in the original "Unfinished Agenda" study (which focused on the African American community) and the expansion of the concept to include a study of the current situation of not only African Americans, but all persons who are unemployed or underrepresented in the San Francisco workforce.
Mr. Hypolite stated that before working on this issue, the following must be kept in mind:
- The original report cost $50-70,000 in 1980s
- An update would be required to proceed with new report
- No funding is currently available for this project
There was a recommendation to shift focus to Civil Service Reforms (Proposition 63) proposed by Mayor’s office because it may impact diversity of City’s workforce.
- Assistance to Displaced Garment Industry Workers –
This project would include considering the challenges faced by mono-lingual immigrants facing unemployment as well as poor working conditions in the factories. A fact-finding informational presentation would be made before the Committee
At the last meeting Ronnie Rhoe agreed to give a periodic committee updates. The goal is to highlight the Garment Worker’s plight including areas such as:
- pending unemployment (NAFTA quota expiration date?)
- current working conditions (Presentation)
- Language challenges
- presentation by Sweatshop Watch local signatory agency (e.g. Asian Law Caucus)
Announcements/Calendar Matters
The next regular meeting of the Employment Committee is cancelled. A Special Meeting of the Committee will be held:
Date: Thursday, June 2, 2005
Time: 5:30pm – 8:00pm
Place: City Hall
Room 416
#1 Carlton B. Goodlett Place
San Francisco, CA, 94102
Adjournment
Jerry Jones moved and F. Ross Woodall seconded the motion to adjourn at 3:20pm.