REMARKS
Council Member Paladino addresses workforce vacancies and calls for rehiring of terminated employees
1:38:59
·
3 min
Council Member Vickie Paladino addresses the issue of workforce vacancies in New York City, emphasizing the contrast between the current situation and pre-COVID conditions. She argues for the reinstatement of workers who were terminated due to vaccine mandates, citing examples of long-term employees who lost their jobs.
- Paladino highlights the case of a 29-year veteran teacher who was denied entry to her school despite winning her case.
- She criticizes the decision to lay off tens of thousands of workers, calling it a mistake that needs to be reexamined.
- Paladino suggests that rehiring fired workers is the solution to the current vacancy crisis of about 20,000 workers.
Vickie Paladino
1:38:59
Thank you very much, chairman Ressler.
1:39:01
And I wanna thank you both, for bringing this hearing.
1:39:05
It's very important.
1:39:07
What we're seeing here today is, we're shining a very bright light on, what has happened pre COVID.
1:39:16
In pre COVID, this city worked, and it worked well.
1:39:22
And I wanna compliment my colleague, council member Carr in articulating it really far better than I could.
1:39:32
We have laid off tens of thousands of able-bodied people.
1:39:38
We did not have this problem.
1:39:41
So, for example, I have a woman who works in my office, teacher for 29 years.
1:39:49
29 years.
1:39:50
Lone wolf, her case was won.
1:39:53
She taught in Astoria, same school, 29 years.
1:39:57
She was told to report back to her school on the 1st day of school where she did go, where they refused her entry.
1:40:07
29 years, a school teacher turned away.
1:40:11
So I know it falls within legal.
1:40:14
She goes there every day.
1:40:16
She just recently stopped going, but she went every single day where they were very nice.
1:40:21
Everybody in the school knew her, including her principal, of course.
1:40:24
29 years is a long time.
1:40:26
But we need to understand that, to find a phrase would be that chickens have come home to roost.
1:40:37
In light of all the new, CDC and everything that's come to pass, we've now know that anyone was vaccinated that was really really didn't do much good for anybody.
1:40:52
Good, hardworking people as a as a council member in my district.
1:40:56
I had my first 6 months in office from January, right through to December.
1:41:04
My commissioners were saying goodbye to me because they were leaving after 20 years on the job.
1:41:12
So I really think we really need to echo what councilman, Carr here said, and we really need to take a look at what we let go.
1:41:22
They do not wanna be compensated.
1:41:25
They wanna be reinstated.
1:41:27
And that goes from everybody from police to fire to teachers.
1:41:31
As David also said, people who worked during the pandemic.
1:41:35
So for us to have this type of emptiness of 20,000 workers is insane.
1:41:44
This is New York City, the greatest city on the planet, in my opinion, and I love it.
1:41:50
But we really need to reexamine the mistakes that we made.
1:41:53
We can do that if everybody works and figures this out.
1:41:59
There's no such thing as a problem.
1:42:01
There's only a solution.
1:42:04
Hiring back the fired workers are your solutions.
1:42:07
Thank you very much.
