Good morning.

This meeting will come to order.

Welcome to the May 7th, 2026 regular meeting of the government audit and oversight committee.

I'm Supervisor Stephen Cheryl, chair of the committee, joined today by Vice Chair Mahmood, and our guest today, President Raphael Mendelman.

Um, committee clerk is Monique Creighton.

Um, thank you to Clina Mendoza of SFgov TV.

Uh Madam Clerk, do you have any announcements?

Yes.

Public comment will be taken on each item on this agenda.

When your item of interest comes up and public comment is called.

Please find up to speak on your right.

Alternatively, you may submit public comment in writing either of the following ways.

Email them to me, the government audit and oversight committee clerk at M O N I Q E.

T-O-N at SFGOV.org.

If you submit public comment via email, be forwarded to the supervisors and also included as part of the official file.

You may also send your written comments to UL to us via U.S.

Postal Service to our office in City Hall.

Number one, Dr.

Carlton B.

Goodlit Place, room 244, San Francisco, California 94102.

If you have documents you would like to be included as part of the file, please submit them to me before the end of the meeting.

Please make sure to silence all cell phones and electronic devices to prevent any interruptions to today's proceedings.

Finally, items acted upon today are expected to appear on the Board of Supervisors' agenda of May 19th, 2026, unless otherwise stated.

Thank you, Madam Clerk.

Will you please call item number one?

Yes, item number one is a resolution authorizing a six-month waiver of the city's behested payments ordnance for the mayor, members of the mayor's office, and the executive director of the Office of Economic and Workforce Development, and each of their direct reports to solicit donations from nonprofit private organizations, grant makers, foundations, and other persons and entities for the purpose of supporting the continued economic revitalization of San Francisco persuaded section 3620 of the campaign and governmental conduct code.

Thank you.

San Francisco and its downtown area have faced unprecedented challenges resulting in part from the COVID-19 pandemic, including a decline in tourism, the closure of businesses, an increased number of residents living in or near poverty, and a lack of affordable housing and residents relocating out of the city.

More resources are urgently needed to support downtown's evolution into a live-work-play destination and promote greater prosperity and opportunity for all San Franciscans.

Urgent need led the mayor's office to pursue and secure a waiver of the behested payments ordinance.

The waiver has enabled the mayor's office and OEWD to coordinate with organizations like the San Francisco Downtown Development Corporation, a public benefit corporation that is raising funds to revitalize San Francisco, specifically its downtown area.

Through these efforts, more than $60 million has been pledged to support downtown revitalization, with $34.3 million already secured.

Funds raised through the existing waiver have supported numerous key initiatives and successes, including over 175,000 visitors to DDC funded activations, including downtown First Thursdays and Winterwalk, a 40% drop in crime in Union Square and the Financial District in 2025.

600 plus blocks of power washing enabled through DDC grants.

The Market Street Safety Program, which initially placed ambassadors at Embarcandero and Montgomery BART station exits.

Safety ambassadors are now deployed seven days a week in Union Square and the convention center.

Launch of the Downtown Business Fund, 25 million dollar program by the San Francisco DDC and SF New Deal that provides technical assistance, accessible capital, and move-in grants of up to $500,000 to support existing businesses, opening new storefronts in downtown.

The program is also available to establish operators on key corridors who are making meaningful investments to attract new audiences and communities downtown.

Public art, major installations in partnership with the San Francisco Institute of Contemporary Arts, including a signature piece for the Super Bowl, artist Jeffrey Gibson's installation across the vacant Bloomingdale space, and Sadie Barnett vinyl art on the City College building.

And last but not least, an uh holiday programming, winter walk and let's glow SF generated foot traffic and direct business revenue.

During winter walk 2025, an estimated 1.3 million people visited Union Square, up 7% compared to 2024.

Through this waiver renewal, OEWD and the mayor's office will continue to raise funds with a focus on five key areas safety, cleanliness, events and activations, support for small and large businesses, and improvements to the public realm.

These investments are essential to ensuring that downtown remains a vibrant, competitive, and welcoming center of economic activity.

The staff covered the staff covered under this waiver may participate in conversations with potential funders to continue these revitalization efforts.

Businesses, foundations, property owners, and other private employers and parties could be solicited under this waiver.

These parties are increasingly recognizing how vital downtown success is, not only for their own operations and employees, but for the broader economic prosperity of San Francisco as a whole.

Staff covered under the previous waiver have engaged with the following entities that may be considered interested parties.

This list was also sent to all members of this committee and the entire board of supervisors in advance of this hearing on April 21st, 2026.

The entities engaged under the previous waiver that may be considered interested parties were as follows: Amazon, BXP, GAP, Google, JP Morgan Chase, OpenAI, Ripple Labs, and Salesforce.

In closing, the renewal of this behested payment waiver is a critical public interest tool that enables us to continue to mobilize the private sector support necessary to accelerate economic health and to deliver visible, meaningful improvements for residents, workers, and visitors alike.

OEWD and the mayor's office remain committed to full transparency, and under this legislation will be reporting all donations solicited under the waiver to the board of supervisors, including any third party that was solicited under this waiver within 60 days of the expiration date authorized by this waiver and will include the donor, the amount of the donation, the party that received the donation, and the interested relationship the donor has with the city.

Thank you for your time, and I'm happy to answer any questions.

Thank you very much.

Colleagues, any questions or remarks?

Seeing no one on the roster, um, Madam Clerk, let's take public comment.

Yes.

Members of the public who wish to speak on this item should line up now on the side by the windows.

All speakers will have two minutes.

Seeing no one else for public comment, public comment is now closed.

Um, and I'd like to move to send this item to the full board with a positive recommendation.

Uh Madam Clerk, can you please call the roll?

Yes, and on the motion to forward this I this resolution to the full board with a positive recommendation.

Vice Chair Mahmood.

Vice Chair Mahmoud, I.

Chair Cheryl.

Aye.

Chair Cheryl, I have two eyes.

Thank you.

Motion passes.

And Madam Clerk, can you call item number two, please?

Yes, item number two is a hearing to discuss the ongoing master contract negotiations at the San Francisco International Airport.

Thank you.

This morning we were joined by board president Raphael Mandelman.

Thank you for joining us, sir, who called this hearing.

President Mandelman, I'd like to hand over the floor to you.

Thank you, Chair Cheryl.

And thank you both to you and uh Supervisor Mahmoud, Vice Chair Mahmoud for keeping the GAO committee going in our current um moment of personnel challenges.

Um the hearing that we have today is um to hear about the ongoing contract negotiations between passenger service workers uh at SFO, represented by uh SCIU USWW, uh, and their employers.

Those employers are uh seven companies, and they are Menzies, G2, ABM, Prime Flight, Unify, Compass, and Flick.

SFO, of course, we all know is one of San Francisco's most important uh economic engines, the really the regions and the workers who keep it running play an essential role in making sure every passenger who walks through those doors is taken care of.

Um, those workers uh uh work for the seven subcontractors I just um mentioned under a passenger service agreement that covers wages, health care, paid leave, and other critical conditions of employment.

Um these workers do the essential work of the airport, um uh the some of the hardest uh least glamorous and most important work to keep the airport functioning, including acting as baggage carriers, wheelchair attendants, jetway cleaners, and more.

Without them, the airport would grind to a halt.

Um, the most recent master agreement expired in April of 2025, uh a year ago.

Um workers have been operating under an extension system since then, but that extension expired on May 1st.

Um, and so these negotiations have now stretched on for more than a year, and the parties, it is my understanding have only recently moved from non-economic to economic bargaining.

Um it is also my understanding that as of today, uh the subcontractors have yet to submit a wage proposal.

These workers currently earn on average uh in the low $20 uh per hour.

Um many of them have to work two or three jobs uh just to afford uh the cost of living for them and their families in the Bay Area.

Um we're gonna hear from some of them today, and uh I think you will agree that uh as San Francisco has long been a leader and on worker protections, um, we should be asking ourselves uh why our airport workers uh are being left behind.

My um interest uh in this particular fight um goes back or my particular interest in this fight goes back a few months ago uh when a number of us heard about retaliatory abuse that was being directed by one of the subcontractors um at uh workers who had been um exercising their rights.

Um had been suspended, some had been laid off.

Um I think a number of us on this board um uh were very troubled by that.

Um I was able to go out and meet with some of the workers and learn not just about that retaliation but about their overall fight.

Um, and I do think uh that this board has an interest in this negotiation um for a number of reasons.

One is uh it is in our interest, it is in the interest of our constituents and our city for there to be labor peace at the airport.

We want our airport to be functioning.

Um and uh we want people to be able to uh use our airport uh and not worry about the conflicts between uh labor and management there.

Secondly, um our constituents, you know, expect that the airport that uh bears uh this city's name and that serves the entire region uh is gonna uphold values that are important to San Franciscans, including fair compensation and fair benefits for uh the workers who do our work.

Um so uh it's concerning to me when I see those you know priorities in jeopardy, and it feels like they are in this situation.

Now I want to be clear about the board, this committee's role today.

SFO is not a party to the negotiations.

They are here to answer questions to provide a little bit of context about what is going on at the airport from their perspective with this uh master agreement.

Um we are not they cannot, and we cannot uh direct the outcome of those negotiations.

We can ask reasonable and hard questions, however, and make clear that we expect good faith bargaining from everyone at the table uh so that these workers can get a fair contract without further delay.

We're gonna be hearing today uh from Diana Volek, who's uh with uh SFO Government Affairs, then I believe we're gonna hear from uh Sanjay Garla and Casey Howard with uh Casey Coward with SCIU USWW, um, who we're gonna present from the union's perspective.

Um I do want to thank Karen Pinto from COMPASS, uh unique among the subs, they are showing up today, and uh that in some ways makes them um, you know, uh I mean it's unfortunate in some ways because they are you know the only representatives of uh these contractors, but we are grateful to them for being here.

Um and with that, uh Mr.

Chair, unless there are any comments or questions from either of you, I think we should bring up uh Ms.

Voleck to begin.

Let's do it.

Good morning, supervisors, Deanna Voleck with SFO.

Um, as President Mandelman has detailed, uh SEIU, local 1877 has been currently negotiating a new passenger services master agreement with the companies that he stated.

Um, just a brief overview.

The airlines each have their own independent service agreements with the passenger service providers.

Um the collective piece is specific to the CBA negotiations between the union and the passenger services group.

Um with SFO's role in this, as President Manelman stated, we are not a party to these negotiations and also must remain neutral, but we are also focused on maintaining labor harmony and operational continuity.

Uh we have encouraged all parties to support constructive engagement and good faith dialogue.

As President Mandelman has stated, these passenger service workers support nearly all domestic and international carriers at SFO.

They provide aircraft services, passenger and baggage services, security, custodial, wheelchair services, ground support, and sky caps.

Um these roles are essential to daily operations, particularly for airport turnaround, aircraft turnaround, accessibility services, and passenger experience.

Um in our roles, we've ensured all partners are aware of the ongoing uh passenger services contract negotiations.

We've encouraged engagement, that supports productive dialogue and operational stability at SFO.

That looks like providing facilities and doing outreach to encourage communication between the parties and making sure that we have open lines of communication, transparency, and dialogue.

I'm happy to answer any other questions you might have regarding um these negotiations, and as President Mattelman has said, the previous service agreement expired in 2025, and so they've been going through negotiations since then.

Thank you for that overview.

And I think you've sort of said this, but could you just sort of restate for me?

Because I think it's complicated.

The relationship between the airport, yes, the airlines, and the subcontractors that are parties to the master agreement.

So, as you know, through the airport's relationship with the airlines is defined by our lease and use agreement that comes before the board.

The last time was in 2023, it's a 10-year agreement, and that sets out things like our rates and charges, terminal space, rental, et cetera.

With that relationship, the airlines then have their own independent service agreements with the passenger service providers.

I believe prior, they used to have negotiated separate CBAs, but then the 2023 master agreement established common terms and conditions across the employers.

And so that negotiation is directly between these subcontractors and the master passenger service agreement with this group.

Okay.

And then again, SFO doesn't have any particular ability to influence the negotiations themselves or the contracts that are arrived at between these subs and SCIU.

What is the airport's role, if any, in preventing retaliation, or addressing retaliation against workers at the airport?

As you had mentioned previously, with there was that previous incident, and when that was brought to our attention, again, we provided um dialogue, we investigated what those retaliatory accusations were, brought the companies uh brought the parties together, ensuring that that is not happening or or it does not continue, um, rectify the situation that was brought to our attention and make sure that our all the workers at the airport are operating under good um conditions.

The um SFO does issue operating permits to the firms, and those permits contractually require compliance with city ordinances, such as the MCO, the minimum compensation ordinance, the care health care accountability and ordinance, etc.

So it's that permit um mechanism that gives us that leverage to make sure that our operators are operating in a fair and consistent way.

Um but the negotiations itself on these terms are whipped between the two parties.

Okay, um, and I think my last question for you is whether there have been any disruptions to airport passenger services since the contract is expired last April and how that may have impacted airport operations.

There have not been any operational impacts directly related that we can tell from the ongoing negotiations, but as you were from um aware of the last um uh action at the airport on May Day, um, there was a free speech activity that occurred that um impacted um travel as the we had to close down our upper roadway at the international terminal um to ensure the safety of the passengers and those um partners that were participating in their right to free speech protests.

Um, but as of now, there isn't any, we haven't seen any direct operational impacts.

Okay, all right.

Looks like uh no no further questions from my colleagues, so thank you, uh Ms.

Voleck.

Thank you.

Um and then I'd like to invite up uh Sanjay Garla and Casey Coward.

Um, maybe Sanjay first.

All right, good morning.

Um I think you covered a lot what of what I was actually gonna start with, so thank you.

Uh my name's Sanjay, I'm the first vice president of SEIU United Service Workers West, and I want to appreciate uh supervisors Mahmoud and Cheryl and President Um Mandelman for inviting us into this space.

We we feel honored that we have allies and supporters within the Board of Supervisors, and I also want to appreciate the airport as they've been a great partner with uh USWW on addressing a lot of the difficult issues that we face.

Um, and I think you have the background.

Uh, so I just am going to cue up uh Casey Coward to give a little bit more of the facts and figures, but before we get into the facts and figures, I just want to say that this group of workers, I mean, this is uh over 2,000 workers that work for Fortune 500 companies uh that are making record profits, and these workers are, you know, mothers, fathers, grandparents.

They are the backbone of a lot of immigrant communities here in San Francisco and San Mateo counties.

And what is happening at the airport is a microcosm of what's going on in this country as a whole, where we have we have companies that are making hand over money hand over fist, and the workers that are helping create that prosperity are struggling to get to get their share of that prosperity.

And I'm hopeful that this board and this airport can work with us to write a different story for San Francisco that will write a different story for this country, and it's a story that we we very much need to rewrite.

Um I think the only thing that I would, you know, I just want to add to the mix is that uh you can't see the backs of these shirts, but the back of the shirt.

If can you stand up and turn around?

It says we make SFO fly.

And that is meant in the multiple versions of the meaning there.

Uh folks here, despite working for what are what are considered poverty wages, are um show up and greet people with a smile, and they're the they're the folks that are helping your disabled uh grandma get through the airport, and I think that by investing in this workforce and by encouraging the parties to invest in this workforce, we actually have a better airport and we have a better, you know, our better community here in the Bay Area.

So with that, I wanted to bring up uh Casey Coward, our researcher, to um walk through a short presentation.

Got some slides here, so if we can get that going.

Uh are you guys able to see it on the screen?

Oh, cool.

Okay.

Um hi, my name is Casey Coward.

I'm a research lead with uh United Service Workers West, where I've spent about seven years supporting our airports division, um, and following the commercial airline industry.

Um, this is a brief look at the economic realities facing the thousands of workers we represent at SFO and the importance of ensuring they have a livable wage.

So, first off, a quick recap of the um wage policies underpinning economics at the airport.

Uh we have the MCO, the city's uh minimum compensation ordinance.

Um currently at 2154 an hour.

This is the for-profit rate.

It covers most city service contractors and tenants at the airport.

It is indexed to the consumer price index for the Bay Area.

Uh it goes up each year in July.

We're set for a 47 cent bump here in a few months.

Uh then for SFO specifically, we have what's called the quality standards program, the QSP.

The wage portion of that is directly linked to the MCO rate is essentially a 50 cent differential on top of the MCO.

Um, and to be clear, the base wage rate for entry-level hires in our master passenger services agreement is the QSP rate.

Uh, we have a wage scale in the contract that goes beyond that to reward seniority and um differentials for specialized work.

Um, and in the current bargaining, we propose to go further at the floor.

Um, but the contractors and their client airlines can be doing their part here to address costs.

Um, and so far they're refusing to engage with us on wages and health care.

Um, so where's the problem?

Costs in the region.

Um these tables are from MIT's living wage uh calculator.

Uh for decades now, they've been tracking data on what constitutes a living wage in different parts of the country, defined as uh what you need to earn to cover the cost of basic needs.

Um the SF Metro is one of the most expensive regions in the nation with a living wage for one adult with no children estimated at um needing nearly $34 an hour.

Uh that's a $12 an hour gap from the QSP.

Um two working adults with one child uh have to be earning $35 an hour each.

Uh the only thing that makes supporting a family even remotely imaginable right now in a lot of cases for these workers is the healthy airport ordinance, the healthcare law that the industry has fought for years now to challenge.

So let's look at what are usually the two largest expenses for people housing and transportation.

Uh, this data is from a research group that studies affordability in communities.

Average transportation spending in San Francisco, where over a thousand of our members live, uh, is about 12,000 a year.

Housing costs are about 33,000.

Those two categories alone will eat up essentially the entire annual pre-tax pay of a full-time MCO wage earner.

Daily City, where more than 1,200 of our airport members live, is even more expensive, combining for nearly $50,000 a year.

Things, of course, do not get cheaper as you go further south into San Mateo County where tech drives a lot of the prices up.

The traditional mark of affordability in housing is about 30% of household income.

Even if you had a household of two wage earners at the QSP rates, you're looking at spending closer to 40% of your household income, again, pre-tax on housing alone.

And that is in the least expensive area here, which is actually San Francisco.

So those are the costs, but the airport workers are falling behind on the wage side too.

The MCO actually consists of three categories.

There's the for-profit rate, nonprofit, and public entities.

We've been discussing the for-profit rate, which again is what the QSP is based on, and it's what the contractors have consented to as a wage floor in this contract.

Just five years ago, the for-profit rate was the highest in the MCO.

Since then, it has increased at about half the rate of the other categories.

It is now several dollars an hour behind them.

Now that every category is simply indexed to regional CPI, that gap is going to stay there unless we do something.

If costs are ever rising faster than what CPI captures, and there's analysis that they are, the gap will widen.

Now, something that makes this an even bigger concern, a regional concern, it is not only that these are essential workers that deserve a living wage, it's also that they are serving an airport that is an economic hub of the region.

SFO directly supports nearly 140,000 jobs.

It creates over $19 billion in labor income, $54 billion in revenue.

The indirect impacts add another 50% to two thirds to those figures.

It is very hard to understate how important SFO is to the regional economy.

This image is of the business revenue generated by the airport.

We're talking billions in the adjacent counties and hundreds of millions as far out as Sonoma and Solano counties.

And where's the industry in all this?

For years now, they have consistently opposed higher standards for their lowest wage workers all over the country.

They often say that they are in crisis, that these policies will kill jobs and spoil demand for flights.

They've been saying that for years all over.

Their research has consistently refuted claims that minimum wages reduce employment, and that has been specifically studied at SFO with respect to the QSP.

There is similarly no evidence to support the idea that the wage standards for these workers has slowed passenger activity or contributed significantly to increases in ticket prices.

This is also a heavily subsidized industry.

They get bailed out when there are large industry crises, like after 9-11 and during the pandemic, and every single year California and its cities are giving them tax breaks on their fossil fuels worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

I expect they'll be making those same arguments here, despite the fact that the industry is coming off its most profitable year ever, its highest demand year ever, and a year where every single one of the big four domestic airlines saw record revenues.

So that's where we are right now.

Rising costs have left these workers behind.

The wage policy on its own isn't keeping up, and the contractors aren't doing their part on economics beyond that.

Meanwhile, the industry has gone so far as to sue the city to undermine the health care ordinance.

One of the key ways we were bridging this gap.

Later this year, SFO will have the same base wage rate as LAX, despite the cost of living here running about 15 to 40% higher than Los Angeles.

And in just a few years, Los Angeles will be at $30 an hour.

It'll massively outpace San Francisco.

This is a gap that the airport stakeholders and leaders need to address.

And we're not set to do that if the employers are refusing to engage with basic economics like wages or health care.

So whether it's through updating the MCO or ensuring that these airlines do not shortchange their subcontracted workers or making sure that the employers do the right thing at the table, we have an opportunity and an obligation here to ensure that all SFO workers are earning a livable wage.

Thank you.

All right.

Thank you for those um for those presentations.

Um one of you but I'm not sure which one.

Just talk a little bit about the pace of the negotiations and what you understand to be the reason for the delay.

Uh I think Sanjay would be better, better equipped to speak to the bargaining.

Uh yeah, I mean, basically we've been in bargaining for over a year, and that we've been pushing and demanding that the employers submit an economic proposal so that we could actually get into what what this what this could look like.

We have yet to receive one.

And is that the main I mean that's the main sticking point, presumably, is is that that's the hard part, right?

That is probably the biggest sticking point.

Yeah, but health care uh and retaining uh in the last contra in the last in 21, we were we were able to negotiate uh fully paid for family health care coverage for every single uh SFO employee uh that that's covered by our contract, and uh we we want stronger protections to make sure that people keep that.

Um so those two things are the big issues, and and like the last the other another issue is hours of work because the employers um have some of them have a practice of hiring new people despite the fact that some of the existing folks don't have full-time work.

Um talked a little bit about the range of the sort of living wage and the the range of wages and disparity between uh what people are earning and and what it costs in different Bay Area uh counties.

Um but as you compare the wages and benefits of SFO workers to workers at other airports on the West Coast.

Can you talk a little bit about what you're seeing there and how you know how you're thinking about this in the context of what's happening at other airports?

Yeah, that's a good question.

And Casey touched upon this.

Uh SFO was one of the first airports to establish a airport living wage in the country.

I think Oakland might have beat SFO by a year or something, but SFO was one of the first uh and has always had the highest standard, partly because the cost of living here is so high and it's always been higher than many other places.

Uh the SFO still retains a little bit of a gap between some of the neighboring airports, like I think it's a dollar or two more than Oakland, um, and it it has a little bit over some of the other airports on the West Coast, but uh that's changing.

And LA uh has been the first at the gates where they established a $30 uh minimum wage for airport workers and hospitality workers in the city, and um that's that'll be phased in uh by 20 2028.

And how did that happen in LA?

In LA, that was the city council that that moved that.

And in our contract, we were able to negotiate uh differential above that that's based on seniority to help retain uh retain employees into in the jobs.

Right.

Thank you.

Thank you both.

Thank you.

Um now do we have Karen Pinto here?

Oh, I said such nice things about Karen Pinto and Compass, and now I have to retract them.

All right.

Well, none of the subs have shown up.

Um, and that is disappointing.

Um, Mr.

Chair, I think we should open this up to public comment.

Thank you, President Mandleman.

Um let's open this up to public comment.

Yes, members of the public who wish to speak on this item should line up now along the side by the windows.

All speakers will have two minutes.

Good morning.

Um, my name is Cam and I work for SEIU USWW.

SFO is an exceptionally beautiful airport with um with a reflection room, art installations, uh, meditation room.

It's as you've said, the international and economic hub for the Bay Area.

Unfortunately, however, SFO's underbelly hides break rooms without water, contracted companies with vans with cockroaches, invisibilized workers who work without proper safety materials, people who work up to 16 hours a day because of low wages and have precarious housing, or head into retirement after decades of work with little financial stability.

We're clear, however, that the conditions faced by thousands of airport workers is not inevitable, but a result of airline greed and a lack of accountability, both of the contractors and the airlines.

We've been in negotiations for over a year for basic decency like sick time, safety materials, protection around hours, higher wages, and reliable health care coverage.

Employers have made little movement, and if anything, they mock some of our requests.

But just to kind of ground it in the bigger picture, these workers live full lives raising families and kids and grandkids, taking care of sick and disabled loved ones, hold multiple jobs, go to school.

Many are actually artists like painters and professional singers.

Truly the people who make SFO fly.

Thank you for your comments.

So if you support the item, just we ask a thumbs up or thumbs down.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Good morning, my honorable uh board of supervisors, Mr.

Menderman, and good morning to my respective uh colleagues here.

My name is Nestor Dolde.

I work at the airport, and I've worked in this industry for over 40 years.

I am now 73 years old.

That means we provide services to disabled passengers to get through and from the flights.

So I can give a decent living to my family.

That we buy continues to increase, and it's skyrocketing.

But our wages are so low.

I am sacrificing myself, my health, just to support my family within our living.

As travel picks back off.

They're generating billion of dollars, generating profits, a billion of dollars.

My co-workers disgusted with the long negotiation.

We work hard and help make San Francisco in the comments.

Thank you so much.

Thank you.

Next speaker, please.

365 days alone.

And the día, the noche, bajo la lluvia, bajo el sol, sin importar el cansancio, sin importar el sacrificio.

Pero mientras todo in nosotros, nuestros salarios are subido centavo in los ultimos años.

Andy, no estamos pediendo lujos.

Gracias.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Oh, okay.

Good morning, everyone.

My name is Joshua Chavez.

I'm one of the union reps representing Unified Workers at SFO.

I'm going to be translating for some of our members.

Good afternoon.

My name is Sonia Trujillo.

I am the mother of two daughters, and I live in the Bay Area.

I have been working at San Francisco Airport for five years, coordinating airplane cleaning crews.

But while we give everything we have, our wages have only gone up by a few cents in the recent years.

While the cost of living keeps rising as a mother, I don't think about just myself.

I think about my daughter's future, about being able to give them stability and a decent life.

We are not asking for luxuries.

We are asking for justice, a wage of 30 an hour that reflects the true value of our work and the sacrifice we make every day because we deserve to live, not just to survive.

Because of our families, they deserve it.

It does not function without us.

Today we ask you to listen to us to see us and to take action.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Hello, everyone.

I'm a San Francisco native, one of the few still around.

My name is Jaime Gonzalez, and I work for ABM at SFO as a baggage handler, and I'm also one of the shop stewards in our union.

I'm here today to point out the obvious and yet avoided issue in regard to our currently underpaid wages.

We need to make $30 an hour at least, at the very least, without discussion for several reasons, but the biggest three are number one, the cost of living in the Bay Area is ridiculously high.

Two, United Airlines can very easily afford to pay all of us at ABM twice as much as we're currently getting paid now, which is a little over $22 an hour.

And three, we are the ones doing the heavy lifting and pushing throughout the airport.

We work way too hard on a daily basis to continue to be as underappreciated as we've been.

That stops right here, right now.

As a kid, I grew up in a household here in the city of San Francisco, first in Patrol Hill, and then in the Excelser District.

Back then my father was the sole provider for a family of eight with his one job.

My mother was a stay-at-home mom, and my dad was the only breadwinner in our household.

We weren't rich, but we still got along, got by just fine.

Fast forward about 40 years later, and here I am, a baggage handler for ABM, working full time at the San Francisco International Airport.

I am married and have one daughter, and yet between my wife and I, who also works, we're just getting by financially, paying for all of life's basic expenses, rent bills, food, transportation, and more bills.

That itself is an indicator of the economic crisis we're living in.

And real San Franciscans are suffering, and the only other alternative is taking on a second job for me to dedicate to my family.

God help us see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Thank you for listening.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

And uh let me say this in English.

So today we have to clean some aircraft, a Boeing 777 that can uh well they have the capacity of around 400 passengers, and we have to clean every seats in almost 17 seconds.

So uh 17 seconds, just think about it.

So I just want you to keep in mind that that number when you are traveling in an aircraft, that the sea that you are using.

Uh we only have 17 minutes to uh make sure that we are preventing any issue as to what happened in November 11 in 2001.

Thank you for your comments.

Next speaker.

Translation, yes.

Good morning, everyone.

My name is Carlos Zapata.

I am originally from Nicaragua, and for the past three years I've been working at the aircraft cleaning industry at SFO.

Every work day is a battle against time, exhaustion and the constant pressure.

In recent years, staffing has been reduced by nearly nearly 30%, yet the demands have not decreased.

On the contrary, they have increased.

Today we are expected to clean international aircrafts carrying up to 420 passengers with only 30 minutes to prepare each cabin.

That means that in just 17 seconds, right, we have to clean each seat right in total.

Um, even so we continue because we know our work is essential.

We make it possible for the airport to operate every single day behind every flight, behind every passenger who boards a clean and prepared aircraft, there are invisible workers sustaining this operation with our own hands.

But while airlines announce record profits, there is a painful reality.

Those of us who keep this industry running continue to earn wages that are not enough to live with dignity.

While the cost of housing, transportation, fuel, and food continues to rise, our paychecks disappear in one of the most expensive cities in the country.

Today we are here united, raising our voices for an economy for an economy that works for everyone, not just for large corporations and airlines.

It is time for us to earn the wages we deserve.

It is time for the effort, sacrifice, and importance of our work to be recognized because we make it possible for this industry to prosper, and we also deserve the opportunity to live, not merely survive.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Good morning.

My name is Noira, and I work with ABM.

I'm also an executive board member of the SEIU US W.

And I am here representing my brothers and sisters of the International Airport of San Francisco.

We are the workers that help millions of people travel safely to our city.

And yet, despite uh the hard work that we do, the essential work that we do, we feel left behind.

We are earning poor wages in a city that doesn't match this cost of living.

Many of my co-workers have to sleep at the parking lot in their cars.

Some of them sleep at the airport, working two, three jobs.

I had to sleep in a couch for two years with no stability, no privacy, and not even a place to store food.

And this airport is one of the major engines of the San Francisco City.

Thank you for your comments.

Do we have any additional speakers?

Next speaker.

And here in San Francisco, we are struggling to make ends meet.

Many of us have to work over time.

Every second it is available, or work multiple jobs.

Our employer, ABM, has been laying people up and reducing our hours.

Every chance they get.

We work hard to provide get service to our passengers at SAPO.

If the minimum wage of SEPO increased to $30 per hour, it would be a huge help for all of us to make ends meet.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

My name is Jordanis Ascalona.

I work in Unify for two years at SFO.

First of all, I want to say that we have recently seen a significant increase in the cost of food, rent, transportation, and other basic necessities.

As a result, many of us have had to work two jobs just to cover our expenses.

Every day, we remain committed to making sure this operation runs smoothly.

We have spent nearly a year negotiating this new contract while our wages continue to lose value and the cost of living keeps rising up.

Even so, the companies have not been willing to agree to improvements and benefits such as better health insurance, increased PTO, sick leave, and other essential protections.

This contract is not only about wage increases, but also about recognition, stability, and better working conditions that allow us to perform our jobs efficiently and fairly.

Next speaker.

So we are on end of the plane in the last 15 minutes.

But barely make enough to survive in the area.

In order to make it to make it by, most of us they need to have a second job.

Or they have a side business.

And uh and my own website, and spend my free time making delivery across the area.

It's hard work that I do on top of my full job.

We all need some rest.

We need to improve condition at SFU so that we don't have to spend every minute of our lives working to survive.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Next speaker.

Thank you.

We are gonna do it.

My name is David Trujillo.

I work that I work for Unified SFO as a laboratory service agent.

I have worked at the airport for three years.

I am here today because we have been working too hard and waiting too long to earn a living wage.

Not only are we underpaid, but when we fight to improve for our workplace, we face consequences.

When several of my coworkers and I decided to lead a delegation to address poor working conditions, we were eventually suspended.

We eventually returned to work thanks to the union, but as soon as they found a convenient reason to get rid of me, they fired me.

While all this was happening, my co-workers were earning only 23 dollars an hour.

Many of us hold a second job just to make ends meet.

I also work as an Uber driver just to support myself.

Wages for passenger services are nowhere near where they need to be to live with dignity in the Bay Area.

While airlines uh rake in billions of dollars and their CEOs earn millions, we struggle to cover our basic needs.

That is why we need thirty dollars an hour at SFO.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker.

Good morning, Your Honor.

Hi everyone.

My name is Carmi.

I have I have been working at Friend Flight as a wheelchair agent and a former aircraft ground security at SFO for nine years.

It is hard to live here on the small wages we earn.

We work so hard for the airlines, giving the best services possible, making sure that planes are safe to take up and treating our past our passengers well.

However, we as workers are not treated well.

Many of us are immigrants and we depend on our jobs to support our families.

Our employers take advantage of this, cutting our hours as they please and using us however they want.

Thank you for your comments.

Do we have any additional commenters for this item?

Good morning, board of supervisor.

Uh, my name is Nathy Hain.

I'm a baggage handler for ABM in San Francisco.

I am here today is to just reconfirm uh with my co-worker about our demand.

We have been negotiating for our contract since last year for wage and create unsustainable.

However, the company hesitated to come to the agreement.

Meanwhile, cost of living, housing, food, gasoline, it's going up.

While the airport growing, the airline make million profits on the other hand, the worker ability afford to rent all food gas.

Any necessity, it's surging.

I am here again with my co-worker.

Just ask the plea help, board of supervisor.

You have a power to negotiate with them so we can smooth this thing up so we can get the contract settled as soon as possible.

I thank you very much.

Thank you for your comments.

Next speaker.

Hello, I'm Daniel, a TSA contractor and security screener at SFO.

I chose to come here with my passenger service colleagues because they deserve $30 an hour for their necessary service.

These workers have made our airport operational and safer every day.

I have seen wheelchair services push disabled passengers and their cumbersome luggage to the planes, helping with each task along the way.

Hey, during and during the pandemic, social distancing with the person in the wheelchair wasn't possible.

Baggage handlers are transporting heavy equipment such as heavy machineries as well as irreplaceable items such as crates of medical equipment.

And often these workers transport fragile goods such as crates that contain a in a single bottle of wine that is worth more than their daily wage.

Hey, these workers have served with integrity and vigilance.

Their financial security is an element of the stability of SFO.

They have supported us, which is why other branches of the airport support them.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Next speaker.

Good day by everyone.

First of all, my name is George Lemidow.

I want to express my gratitude for having the opportunity to speak and work at the ABM as a wheelchair sleeper.

For more than two years of working at the airport, I was challenged to work with and for people from all walks of life.

But because of my family and necessities, I accept the job.

I strongly believe that it must be worth it.

Working at the airport, but as I work at the job that I was security, protection, my health and my savings.

I start to count how much I have to earn in order to meet this priority demand.

Despite working honestly and dealing with you, many of us is struggled to budget our hard and money just to meet our daily needs.

It is emotional and physical, challenging to continue providing quality service while worrying about whether we can pay meals by groceries or support of our families.

We are simply asking for fair compensation that reflects value of our work of our dedication and economy realities with pace today.

Airport workers like us play uh important role in keeping operation running through smoking asking passenger with the care and professionalism.

I sincerely hope management will consider as rental increase if paid and help employees.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Next speaker, please.

Hello, good morning, everyone.

I could see Abraham Cruz and Dr.

Box Airport.

Insurance.

I'm asking family.

Pangalopuang wage $30, California.

I'm PTO, Bagasion Siklib.

I Malaga Hitosha Ming Mangapamiliat Mungagawa Salamatpo.

Thank you.

Next speaker, please.

I am Abraham Cruz.

I have been working at the airport for 28 years.

Our problem is with our health insurance.

When we go on vacation, our health insurance disappears.

In my family, this is the most important thing.

And the wages of $30 is the second most important thing.

In California, the cost of living is so high.

Everyone at my work has to work double jobs to survive because everything is so expensive.

Gas, groceries, everything.

PTO, vacation, and sick leaves are so important to our workers at SFO.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Do we have any additional speakers?

Hello?

Hello, my name is Owen Klein.

I've been working with G2 now Menzies for about a year.

Um I just before that, I moved from Pennsylvania in order to be closer to my parents.

Um, despite living here for over a year, I've really only been able to see them close to once a month.

The issue is the things I need to do in order to make ends meet on my end.

Um I work 40 hours a week.

I have to live in an apartment in East Oakland with four other roommates and commute about three and a half to four hours a day in order to get to SFO via public transportation.

And I eat rice and oatmeal most days for food.

Uh and with all this together, I'm able to make ends meet every month.

I don't have much in the way of savings.

If I was to get significantly injured, that'd be it for me.

If um I'm out riding my bike, I get hit by a car.

I don't know how I'd be able to pay for uh ongoing medical bills.

And I'll never be able, I don't think I'll be able to start a family on the money I'm making.

Um I'm barely able to see my family right now.

I'm barely able to make new friends or put down roots in the area.

I'm able to go to my synagogue maybe once every couple of months um by requesting a day off.

But but what really strikes me is that I feel like I'm in one of the best positions out of my co-workers that I'm able to make ends meet on one job, and they can't, and that terrifies me.

Because if I'm the best, if I'm doing the best, how that we can, and this is what I have to do to get by.

What are they going through?

That's why I'm here today.

We need better.

We need $30 an hour from the airline so that we can have our lives and our families and our futures back.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Any additional speakers?

Hello, my name is Dan Nuin.

I work as a dispatcher at Unify SFO for the past three to four years.

Uh I understand how hard my workers over at uh cabin cleaning work because I dispatched them over to their flights over at United.

Sometimes we're only able to get flights out within 10 minutes, so imagine having 10 minutes for your cabin cleaners to clean every single aircraft.

Sometimes they only give them about 15 minutes, especially security searches, such as international flights.

Um I believe that we do deserve $30 an hour, especially cabin cleaners who are for how hard they work.

And today I'm here to fight with them.

A couple years ago, I was diagnosed with angliosin' spinalitis, which is an inflammatory arthritis which affects my spine.

I was in constant pain until I was given treatment.

And I was out of work for about almost a year, and uh I could have lost my health care if I did not fall for FMLA.

Um, our employers and airlines have been making record profits since last year.

United Airlines has made more money than it's ever made before.

But the people at SLO will make that possible are struggling to survive.

We are the workers who make it possible.

We deserve better pay, safer working conditions, and dignity not the job.

Thank you.

Thank you for your comments.

Do you have any additional speakers?

Mr.

Chair, that conclude public comment.

Um public comment is closed.

Um before I turn this back over to you, President Mandelman, I just want to thank all of you for being here today.

For those of you whom I had the pleasure and the honor to meet in my office, I want to thank you all for coming.

Um at the end of the day in all these stories, um, there is only, obviously, so much the Board of Supervisors can do in these specific contract negotiations, but we do have an obligation to help on the cost of living side.

Um what I hear today are stories about cost of living.

What I hear about stories about 40 years of service to the people who make San Francisco home and who visit here and to the businesses that have been successful here.

And at the end of the day, if we don't do more to alleviate the burdens on the cost of living side, we'll have failed.

That's about transit, that's about housing, um, that's about child care.

So I really would just want to thank all of you for making the effort to come here.

You all have incredibly busy lives and families and jobs, obviously.

Um, and I just want to thank you all for being here.

And President Mandelman, I want to thank you for holding this hearing and for your advocacy um last week at SFO directly as well.

Uh thank you, Chair Cheryl.

And uh thank you, Vice Chair Mahmoud, for uh making time this morning.

Um I am uh I'm always impressed by these workers when I when I hear from them.

Um I was uh struck though um by the comments of the first speaker, Cam.

Um and this this is I think sort of gets to the heart of um the problem here, the contrast between the beauty of uh the physical beauty of a gorgeous airport that is the reflection of the incredible wealth um of the region and the economic activity that is happening and the leisure that people have and the wealth that people have to enjoy that leisure, and the fact that that stands on it is built on a foundation uh that is um frankly uh inadequate right now in terms of the support that's given to the people at the very bottom doing the core essential work.

We used to talk, I think we still probably should continue to talk about the bravery of these workers during the COVID pandemic as frontline essential workers who had to go to work every day regardless of what was going on with uh the risk of illness, but even to this day, um, you know, uh people having to work multiple jobs, um, and even worse than that, the sort of the indignities of uh the workplace conditions um that are uh not what any of our constituents would feel is adequate for an airport that has San Francisco's name on it, and the fact that some of these workers have been retaliated against and had to confront the threat of not having a job because they're doing, you know, they're exercising their actual legitimate rights to try and better um their conditions.

They're an extraordinarily brave set of folks.

I'm glad that they were able to come out today.

Um, I don't know if unions are able to share other unions slogans, but I do think that one job should be enough.

So, little nod of the cap over to local two and unite here, which also has, you know, workers at the airport.

Um, so you know, this board I think is with these workers.

Um we would love to see a speedy and just resolution to this um to this uh period.

Um I'm gonna ask that this hearing be filed, but uh to the extent that we need to have additional action at the Board of Supervisors, I know I and my colleagues will be um available to think about and consider that and uh try to support these workers in any way that we can.

Uh thank you, President Mandelman.

Um, for this important hearing, um, I concur with you on additional action as necessary.

Um, for now I'd like to move to file item number two.

And Madam Clerk, can you please call the roll?

Yes, and on the motion that um item number two be filed, heard and filed.

I Chair Sheryl, I have two eyes.

Thank you.

The motion passes.

Madam Clerk, is there any more business?

That concludes our meeting agenda.

Seeing no other business, we are adjourned.