5 20-0259 Subject: Creation Of The Department Of Workplace & Employment Standards
From: Office Of The City Administrator
Recommendation: Adopt An Ordinance Amending Chapter 2.29 Of The Oakland Municipal Code Entitled "City Agencies, Departments And Offices" To Create The Department Of Workplace And Employment Standards Focusing On Workplace Protections And Employment Standards To Implement Measure Z (Hotel Minimum Wage And Working Conditions Ordinance (Oakland Municipal Code Chapters 5.93 And 2.44 And Sections 2.36.010(A) And 5.92.050).
I'm an Oakland resident and I work as a contractor. I'm asking that you please approve items 5 & 6 on todays agenda. Please do the right thing and uphold what your constituents have already voted for! I support working families in the City of Oakland, and I urge the City Council to stand up the new Department of Workplace and Employment Standards (DWES) to uphold the rights of workers and enforce our city's labor laws. Oakland voters created this Department when we passed Measure Z with 76% of the vote in 2018. We are in a critical moment in history. We need our local government and elected leaders to step up for working people and to prioritize resources towards addressing economic inequities which are racial inequities. The city needs to prioritize funding for this Department and others that uplift the needs of our communities and advance racial and economic justice. Any funding cuts should come from OPD, not on the backs of workers.
As an Oakland native and Field Manager at Oakland Rising, I support working families in the City of Oakland, and I urge the City Council to stand up for the new Department of Workplace and Employment Standards (DWES) to uphold the rights of workers and enforce our city's labor laws. Oakland voters created this Department when we passed Measure Z with 76% of the vote in 2018. The city needs to fulfill the will of the voters and make this Department a reality. We need our local government and elected leaders to step up for working people and to prioritize resources towards addressing economic inequities which are racial inequities. Any funding cuts should come from OPD, not on the backs of workers. This department can be a tool for advancing justice for workers, especially workers in some of the lowest-paying jobs. Please approve items 5 & 6 on today's agenda to demonstrate your commitment to uplifting the workers that hold up our economy and community. Thank you.
I support working families in the city of Oakland and I urge the city council to stand up the new Department of Workplace and Employee Standards to uphold the rights of workers and enforce our city’s labor laws. Please approve items 5 and 6 on the agenda to demonstrate your commitment to the workers that hold our economy.
Thank you
I support working families in the City of Oakland, and I urge the City Council to stand up the new Department of Workplace and Employment Standards (DWES) to uphold the rights of workers and enforce our city's labor laws. Oakland voters created this Department when we passed Measure Z with 76% of the vote in 2018. The city needs to fulfill the will of the voters and make this Department a reality. Now is the time. We are in a critical moment in history. We need our local government and elected leaders to step up for working people and to prioritize resources
towards addressing economic inequities which are racial inequities. The city needs to prioritize funding for this Department and others that uplift the needs of our communities and advance racial and economic justice. Any funding cuts should come from OPD, not on the backs of workers.
My name is Peter LaFreniere and I live in Oakland and work in a Hotel in Oakland. The hotel I work at shorted me $5 an hour for eight months and has never implemented any of the safety measures set forth in measure Z - mainly providing us workers with panic buttons to protect from assault and threatening behavior. The hotels continue to break the law and will not stop until they are forced to through a real enforcement agency. I submitted a complaint to contracts and compliance in November 2019 and never even received a follow up email. I urge the City Council to stand up the new Department of Workplace and Employment Standards (DWES) to uphold the rights of workers and enforce our city's labor laws. Any funding cuts should come from OPD, not on the backs of workers. Please approve items 5 & 6 on today's agenda to demonstrate your commitment to uplifting the workers that hold up our economy and community.
We need to have this department to secure worker's rights. This can be funded by reducing the police department budget. Enforcing labor laws does much more to help our community than having more police.
My name is Embely Juárez I work in Emeryville and I urge the City Council to stand up the new Department of Workplace and Employment Standards (DWES) to uphold the rights of workers and enforce our city's labor laws. Oakland voters created this Department
when we passed Measure Z with 76% of the vote in 2018. The city needs to fulfill the will of the voters and make this Department a reality. Now is the time. We are in a critical moment in history. We need our local government and elected leaders to step up
for working people and to prioritize resources towards addressing economic inequities which are racial inequities. The city needs to prioritize
funding for this Department and others that uplift the needs of our communities and advance racial and economic justice. Any funding cuts should come from OPD, not on the backs of workers.
This department can be a tool for advancing justice for workers, especially workers in some of the lowest-paying jobs. Thank you.
My name is Francisca Carranza and I work in Oakland. I support the creation of the Department of Workplace and Employment Standards because workers deserve to have their rights respected. Voters have decided what they need and you must stand up by their decision or you will lose credibility; OPD does not need extra funds, those funds belong to workers that are in need in this critical time and are being abused by some employers. Please approve items 5 & 6 in the agenda and show your commitment to your constituents.
I urge the City Council to stand up the new Department of Workplace and Employment Standards (DWES) to uphold the rights of workers and enforce our city's labor laws. Oakland residents voted for this and the city needs to fulfill the will of the voters. We are in a critical moment in history. We need our local government and elected leaders to step up for working people and to prioritize resources towards addressing economic inequities which are racial inequities. Prioritizing funding for this Department would uplift the needs of our communities and advance racial and economic justice. Any funding cuts should come from OPD, not on the backs of workers. This department can be a tool for advancing justice for workers, especially low-income. Please approve items 5 & 6 on tomorrow's agenda to demonstrate your commitment to uplifting the workers that hold up our economy and community. Thank you
I am grateful for how this council has spoken on behalf of Black lives in recent days and also on behalf of immigrant lives and workers' lives in general. Because our commitments are only as valuable as the policies that back them up, I and the whole city are counting on you to make sure a solid enforcement mechanism is put in place with a Department of Workplace and Employment Standards. The citizens already supported measure Z assuming it would be enforced. If Black lives matter, Black workers' lives matter. If immigrants' lives matter, immigrant workers' lives matter. If we march for women, then the safety and dignity of working women matters. The excess of funds dedicated to militarized policing is a great place to find the funding for this urgently needed initiative at a time that all of you, like me, are fearful of the growing wealth inequity and the ways it particularly affects our Black and Brown family and neighbors. Please approve items 5 and 6 on today's agenda.
I urge the City Council to stand up the new Department of Workplace and Employment Standards (DWES) to uphold the rights of workers and enforce our city's labor laws. Oakland residents voted for this and the city needs to fulfill the will of the voters. We are in a critical moment in history. We need our local government and elected leaders to step up for working people and to prioritize resources towards addressing economic inequities which are racial inequities. Prioritizing funding for this Department would uplift the needs of our communities and advance racial and economic justice. Any funding cuts should come from OPD, not on the backs of workers. This department can be a tool for advancing justice for workers, especially low-income. Please approve items 5 & 6 on tomorrow's agenda to demonstrate your commitment to uplifting the workers that hold up our economy and community. Thank you.
I support Oakland working families. I urge the City Council to support the Department of Workplace & Employment Standards (DWES) to uphold the rights of workers and enforce our city's labor laws. Oakland voters created this Department via Measure Z with 76% of the vote in 2018. The city needs to fulfill the will of the voters. Now is the time. We need our local government & elected leaders to step up for working people & prioritize resources that address economic inequities which are racial inequities. Prioritize funding for this Department and others that uplift the needs of our communities and advance racial and economic justice. Funding cuts should come from OPD, not from funds for workers. This department should be a tool for advancing justice for workers, especially workers in some of the lowest-paying jobs. Please approve items 5 & 6 on today's agenda to demonstrate your commitment to uplifting the workers that hold up our economy and community. Thank you. Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
My name is liz suk, Political Director at Oakland Rising. I strongly urge the City Council to finally uphold the will of the majority of Oakland voters and fulfill the electoral process and establish the DWES as passed by Measure Z in 2018. It is two years now and we need the city to enforce it's own labor laws and uphold the rights of its workers. As the pandemic shows, the establishment of the DWES could help to alleviate the gaps in our current social safety nets by instituting enforcement of labor protections. We need employers in Oakland to stand up for its workers, particularly low-wage workers, who are majority Black and Brown neighbors. Oakland needs leadership that will stand up for the most vulnerable in the community. Now we are stepping into a moment that will be the test for Oakland and how we step into this moment of history will be captured in votes like this. Stand on this side of worker protections and we can all make Oakland Stronger together.
Hello, my name is Summer and I am a resident of North Oakland. The Department of Workplace and Employment Standards (DWES) should have been created already as it was voted on and passed in November of 2018 by an overwhelming majority of Oakland voters. Furthermore workers need this department, as laws are meaningless if we cannot ensure that they are being enforced. The city needs to prioritize funding for this Department and any funding cuts should come from OPD, not on the backs of workers. This department can be a tool for advancing justice for workers, especially workers in some of the lowest-paying jobs. Please approve items 5 & 6 on today's agenda to demonstrate your commitment to uplifting the workers that hold up our economy and community. Thank you.
My name is Tamara Wyman and I work in Oakland. I urge the City Council to stand up the new Department of Workplace and Employment Standards (DWES) to uphold the rights of workers and enforce our city's labor laws. Oakland voters created this Department when we passed Measure Z with 76% of the vote in 2018. The city needs to fulfill the will of the voters and make this Department a reality. We are in a critical moment in history. We need our local government and elected leaders to step up for working people and to prioritize resources towards addressing economic inequities which are racial inequities. The city needs to prioritize funding for this Department and others that uplift the needs of our communities and advance racial and economic justice. Any funding cuts should come from OPD, not on the backs of workers. Please approve items 5 & 6 on today's agenda to demonstrate your commitment to uplifting the workers that hold up our economy and community. Thank you.
My name is Alyssa and I work in Oakland. I urge the City Council to stand up the new Department of Workplace and Employment Standards (DWES) to uphold the rights of workers and enforce our city's labor laws. Oakland voters created this Department when we passed Measure Z with 76% of the vote in 2018. The city needs to fulfill the will of the voters and make this Department a reality. We are in a critical moment in history. We need our local government and elected leaders to step up for working people and to prioritize resources towards addressing economic inequities which are racial inequities. The city needs to prioritize funding for this Department and others that uplift the needs of our communities and advance racial and economic justice. Any funding cuts should come from OPD, not on the backs of workers. Please approve items 5 & 6 on today's agenda to demonstrate your commitment to uplifting the workers that hold up our economy and community. Thank you.
Hello, my name is Moira and I am a resident and homeowner in San Antonio (District 2). I urge the City Council to stand up the new Department of Workplace and Employment Standards (DWES) to uphold the rights of workers and enforce our city's labor laws. Oakland voters created this Department when we passed Measure Z with 76% in 2018. The city needs to fulfill the will of the voters and make this Department a reality. Now is the time! We need our elected leaders to step up for working people and to prioritize resources towards addressing economic inequities which are racial inequities.
The city needs to prioritize funding this Department and others that advance racial and economic justice. Any funding cuts should come from OPD, not on the backs of workers.
This department is a tool for advancing justice for workers, especially workers in the lowest-paying jobs. Please approve items 5 & 6 of the agenda to support workers that hold up our economy and community. Thank you.
My name is Renee Amador, and am the Legal Director of the Maintenance Cooperation Trust Fund, a statewide janitorial watchdog group that helps janitors enforce their rights in the workplace. We commonly work with state and local enforcement agencies to ensure that employers comply with state and local minimum wage and sick leave ordinances, among other workplace rights and protections. The DWES is essential to supporting workplace rights. We need our local government and elected leaders to step up for working people and to prioritize resources towards addressing economic inequities which are racial inequities. In our experience local government enforcement offices are very successful tools in ensuring its residents maintain their workplace rights. We hope that you'll stand with us and stand up the DWES. Thank you.
I'm an Oakland resident and I work as a contractor. I'm asking that you please approve items 5 & 6 on todays agenda. Please do the right thing and uphold what your constituents have already voted for! I support working families in the City of Oakland, and I urge the City Council to stand up the new Department of Workplace and Employment Standards (DWES) to uphold the rights of workers and enforce our city's labor laws. Oakland voters created this Department when we passed Measure Z with 76% of the vote in 2018. We are in a critical moment in history. We need our local government and elected leaders to step up for working people and to prioritize resources towards addressing economic inequities which are racial inequities. The city needs to prioritize funding for this Department and others that uplift the needs of our communities and advance racial and economic justice. Any funding cuts should come from OPD, not on the backs of workers.
As an Oakland native and Field Manager at Oakland Rising, I support working families in the City of Oakland, and I urge the City Council to stand up for the new Department of Workplace and Employment Standards (DWES) to uphold the rights of workers and enforce our city's labor laws. Oakland voters created this Department when we passed Measure Z with 76% of the vote in 2018. The city needs to fulfill the will of the voters and make this Department a reality. We need our local government and elected leaders to step up for working people and to prioritize resources towards addressing economic inequities which are racial inequities. Any funding cuts should come from OPD, not on the backs of workers. This department can be a tool for advancing justice for workers, especially workers in some of the lowest-paying jobs. Please approve items 5 & 6 on today's agenda to demonstrate your commitment to uplifting the workers that hold up our economy and community. Thank you.
I support working families in the city of Oakland and I urge the city council to stand up the new Department of Workplace and Employee Standards to uphold the rights of workers and enforce our city’s labor laws. Please approve items 5 and 6 on the agenda to demonstrate your commitment to the workers that hold our economy.
Thank you
I support working families in the City of Oakland, and I urge the City Council to stand up the new Department of Workplace and Employment Standards (DWES) to uphold the rights of workers and enforce our city's labor laws. Oakland voters created this Department when we passed Measure Z with 76% of the vote in 2018. The city needs to fulfill the will of the voters and make this Department a reality. Now is the time. We are in a critical moment in history. We need our local government and elected leaders to step up for working people and to prioritize resources
towards addressing economic inequities which are racial inequities. The city needs to prioritize funding for this Department and others that uplift the needs of our communities and advance racial and economic justice. Any funding cuts should come from OPD, not on the backs of workers.
My name is Peter LaFreniere and I live in Oakland and work in a Hotel in Oakland. The hotel I work at shorted me $5 an hour for eight months and has never implemented any of the safety measures set forth in measure Z - mainly providing us workers with panic buttons to protect from assault and threatening behavior. The hotels continue to break the law and will not stop until they are forced to through a real enforcement agency. I submitted a complaint to contracts and compliance in November 2019 and never even received a follow up email. I urge the City Council to stand up the new Department of Workplace and Employment Standards (DWES) to uphold the rights of workers and enforce our city's labor laws. Any funding cuts should come from OPD, not on the backs of workers. Please approve items 5 & 6 on today's agenda to demonstrate your commitment to uplifting the workers that hold up our economy and community.
We need to have this department to secure worker's rights. This can be funded by reducing the police department budget. Enforcing labor laws does much more to help our community than having more police.
We need the Department of Workplace and Employment Standards! Please carry out the voter’s will and get Measure Z passed!
My name is Embely Juárez I work in Emeryville and I urge the City Council to stand up the new Department of Workplace and Employment Standards (DWES) to uphold the rights of workers and enforce our city's labor laws. Oakland voters created this Department
when we passed Measure Z with 76% of the vote in 2018. The city needs to fulfill the will of the voters and make this Department a reality. Now is the time. We are in a critical moment in history. We need our local government and elected leaders to step up
for working people and to prioritize resources towards addressing economic inequities which are racial inequities. The city needs to prioritize
funding for this Department and others that uplift the needs of our communities and advance racial and economic justice. Any funding cuts should come from OPD, not on the backs of workers.
This department can be a tool for advancing justice for workers, especially workers in some of the lowest-paying jobs. Thank you.
My name is Francisca Carranza and I work in Oakland. I support the creation of the Department of Workplace and Employment Standards because workers deserve to have their rights respected. Voters have decided what they need and you must stand up by their decision or you will lose credibility; OPD does not need extra funds, those funds belong to workers that are in need in this critical time and are being abused by some employers. Please approve items 5 & 6 in the agenda and show your commitment to your constituents.
I urge the City Council to stand up the new Department of Workplace and Employment Standards (DWES) to uphold the rights of workers and enforce our city's labor laws. Oakland residents voted for this and the city needs to fulfill the will of the voters. We are in a critical moment in history. We need our local government and elected leaders to step up for working people and to prioritize resources towards addressing economic inequities which are racial inequities. Prioritizing funding for this Department would uplift the needs of our communities and advance racial and economic justice. Any funding cuts should come from OPD, not on the backs of workers. This department can be a tool for advancing justice for workers, especially low-income. Please approve items 5 & 6 on tomorrow's agenda to demonstrate your commitment to uplifting the workers that hold up our economy and community. Thank you
I am grateful for how this council has spoken on behalf of Black lives in recent days and also on behalf of immigrant lives and workers' lives in general. Because our commitments are only as valuable as the policies that back them up, I and the whole city are counting on you to make sure a solid enforcement mechanism is put in place with a Department of Workplace and Employment Standards. The citizens already supported measure Z assuming it would be enforced. If Black lives matter, Black workers' lives matter. If immigrants' lives matter, immigrant workers' lives matter. If we march for women, then the safety and dignity of working women matters. The excess of funds dedicated to militarized policing is a great place to find the funding for this urgently needed initiative at a time that all of you, like me, are fearful of the growing wealth inequity and the ways it particularly affects our Black and Brown family and neighbors. Please approve items 5 and 6 on today's agenda.
I urge the City Council to stand up the new Department of Workplace and Employment Standards (DWES) to uphold the rights of workers and enforce our city's labor laws. Oakland residents voted for this and the city needs to fulfill the will of the voters. We are in a critical moment in history. We need our local government and elected leaders to step up for working people and to prioritize resources towards addressing economic inequities which are racial inequities. Prioritizing funding for this Department would uplift the needs of our communities and advance racial and economic justice. Any funding cuts should come from OPD, not on the backs of workers. This department can be a tool for advancing justice for workers, especially low-income. Please approve items 5 & 6 on tomorrow's agenda to demonstrate your commitment to uplifting the workers that hold up our economy and community. Thank you.
We need the Department of Workplace and Employment Standards! Please carry out the voters' will and get Measure Z moving along!
I support Oakland working families. I urge the City Council to support the Department of Workplace & Employment Standards (DWES) to uphold the rights of workers and enforce our city's labor laws. Oakland voters created this Department via Measure Z with 76% of the vote in 2018. The city needs to fulfill the will of the voters. Now is the time. We need our local government & elected leaders to step up for working people & prioritize resources that address economic inequities which are racial inequities. Prioritize funding for this Department and others that uplift the needs of our communities and advance racial and economic justice. Funding cuts should come from OPD, not from funds for workers. This department should be a tool for advancing justice for workers, especially workers in some of the lowest-paying jobs. Please approve items 5 & 6 on today's agenda to demonstrate your commitment to uplifting the workers that hold up our economy and community. Thank you. Rev. Kurt A. Kuhwald
My name is liz suk, Political Director at Oakland Rising. I strongly urge the City Council to finally uphold the will of the majority of Oakland voters and fulfill the electoral process and establish the DWES as passed by Measure Z in 2018. It is two years now and we need the city to enforce it's own labor laws and uphold the rights of its workers. As the pandemic shows, the establishment of the DWES could help to alleviate the gaps in our current social safety nets by instituting enforcement of labor protections. We need employers in Oakland to stand up for its workers, particularly low-wage workers, who are majority Black and Brown neighbors. Oakland needs leadership that will stand up for the most vulnerable in the community. Now we are stepping into a moment that will be the test for Oakland and how we step into this moment of history will be captured in votes like this. Stand on this side of worker protections and we can all make Oakland Stronger together.
Hello, my name is Summer and I am a resident of North Oakland. The Department of Workplace and Employment Standards (DWES) should have been created already as it was voted on and passed in November of 2018 by an overwhelming majority of Oakland voters. Furthermore workers need this department, as laws are meaningless if we cannot ensure that they are being enforced. The city needs to prioritize funding for this Department and any funding cuts should come from OPD, not on the backs of workers. This department can be a tool for advancing justice for workers, especially workers in some of the lowest-paying jobs. Please approve items 5 & 6 on today's agenda to demonstrate your commitment to uplifting the workers that hold up our economy and community. Thank you.
My name is Tamara Wyman and I work in Oakland. I urge the City Council to stand up the new Department of Workplace and Employment Standards (DWES) to uphold the rights of workers and enforce our city's labor laws. Oakland voters created this Department when we passed Measure Z with 76% of the vote in 2018. The city needs to fulfill the will of the voters and make this Department a reality. We are in a critical moment in history. We need our local government and elected leaders to step up for working people and to prioritize resources towards addressing economic inequities which are racial inequities. The city needs to prioritize funding for this Department and others that uplift the needs of our communities and advance racial and economic justice. Any funding cuts should come from OPD, not on the backs of workers. Please approve items 5 & 6 on today's agenda to demonstrate your commitment to uplifting the workers that hold up our economy and community. Thank you.
My name is Alyssa and I work in Oakland. I urge the City Council to stand up the new Department of Workplace and Employment Standards (DWES) to uphold the rights of workers and enforce our city's labor laws. Oakland voters created this Department when we passed Measure Z with 76% of the vote in 2018. The city needs to fulfill the will of the voters and make this Department a reality. We are in a critical moment in history. We need our local government and elected leaders to step up for working people and to prioritize resources towards addressing economic inequities which are racial inequities. The city needs to prioritize funding for this Department and others that uplift the needs of our communities and advance racial and economic justice. Any funding cuts should come from OPD, not on the backs of workers. Please approve items 5 & 6 on today's agenda to demonstrate your commitment to uplifting the workers that hold up our economy and community. Thank you.
Hello, my name is Moira and I am a resident and homeowner in San Antonio (District 2). I urge the City Council to stand up the new Department of Workplace and Employment Standards (DWES) to uphold the rights of workers and enforce our city's labor laws. Oakland voters created this Department when we passed Measure Z with 76% in 2018. The city needs to fulfill the will of the voters and make this Department a reality. Now is the time! We need our elected leaders to step up for working people and to prioritize resources towards addressing economic inequities which are racial inequities.
The city needs to prioritize funding this Department and others that advance racial and economic justice. Any funding cuts should come from OPD, not on the backs of workers.
This department is a tool for advancing justice for workers, especially workers in the lowest-paying jobs. Please approve items 5 & 6 of the agenda to support workers that hold up our economy and community. Thank you.
My name is Renee Amador, and am the Legal Director of the Maintenance Cooperation Trust Fund, a statewide janitorial watchdog group that helps janitors enforce their rights in the workplace. We commonly work with state and local enforcement agencies to ensure that employers comply with state and local minimum wage and sick leave ordinances, among other workplace rights and protections. The DWES is essential to supporting workplace rights. We need our local government and elected leaders to step up for working people and to prioritize resources towards addressing economic inequities which are racial inequities. In our experience local government enforcement offices are very successful tools in ensuring its residents maintain their workplace rights. We hope that you'll stand with us and stand up the DWES. Thank you.