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Record of Proceedings

Westchester County Labor Committee Meeting Summary - October 26, 2026

Board of Legislators & Committees — Monday, October 26, 2026
BodyWestchester County, New York
SessionBoard of Legislators & Committees
DateMonday, October 26, 2026
StatusNEW · FILED
Video Record
0:00 / 32:38

Original source
Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Unassigned speaker

0:03

So I'm starting on 64.

Speaker 1

0:05

Okay.

Speaker 2

0:07

Welcome everybody.

Speaker 1

0:09

Thank you for those of you joining us in person and virtually.

0:12

I'll call this labor committee meeting to order at 204.

0:17

I am here.

0:21

I don't see I don't see vice chair.

0:25

Legislator Tubiolo.

0:30

Committee vice chair Uli.

Unassigned speaker

0:32

Yeah.

Speaker 1

0:35

Uh minority with Nolan.

Speaker 3

0:38

Yeah.

Unassigned speaker

0:40

And

Speaker 3

0:40

my gosh.

Speaker 1

0:42

Okay.

0:43

So we are open.

0:44

And since we have a quorum, uh, if you don't mind, I'll start with the if I can get a motion on the minutes from August 5th.

Speaker 2

0:51

Oh,

Speaker 4

0:52

sure.

0:53

Second.

Speaker 1

0:55

And uh go down my list.

0:57

So I am a yes.

0:59

Committee vice chair Uli.

Speaker 5

1:02

Yes.

1:03

Minority with Nolan.

1:05

Yes.

Speaker 1

1:05

Okay.

1:06

So that passes.

1:08

And I wanted to mention we're also joined.

1:11

Um, I think I thought, yeah.

1:13

Okay.

Unassigned speaker

1:14

So

Speaker 1

1:14

the minority leader, Margaret, thank you for joining us.

1:17

Yeah.

1:18

Thank you.

1:20

Okay.

1:20

So I see a few people that are on virtually.

1:22

If you want to unmute and just introduce yourself and let us know the group that you're here with, and then we'll get started.

Unassigned speaker

1:32

I

Speaker 6

1:33

unmuted.

1:34

Yep, you're good.

1:35

I'm good.

1:36

Hi, I'm Dear Driver and I'm the vice president of uh the Westchester Community College Federation of Teachers.

1:41

Thank you for joining

Unassigned speaker

1:43

us.

Speaker 7

1:43

Good afternoon, all Anthony Retta, part of WCCFT's labor committee.

1:48

Joining my colleague Deedra as

Unassigned speaker

1:50

well.

Speaker 1

1:50

Thank

Unassigned speaker

1:51

you.

Speaker 1

1:52

Thanks for being here today.

1:53

Okay, so we're gonna start with our items for discussion.

1:57

Some are updates and some are uh continued discussion from our last meeting, and then we'll have time for other business if you are not on this agenda.

2:05

That's okay.

2:06

So uh Rich, if you wanted to speak a bit about the EV charging station update, I know that you've been in touch

Unassigned speaker

2:13

with

Speaker 1

2:13

the municipality and um and the county, and you've had several meetings since our last labor meeting.

2:21

So if you want to give us uh a bit of an update on that.

Speaker 8

2:24

Uh so um I've been going back and forth with the town of Mount Pleasant.

2:30

Uh to be honest, I don't know if I'm getting stonewalled or they don't know what's going on in their own town.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Labor Relations██████████████████████████████30%
Public Safety██████████████████████████26%
Public Sector Employee Benefits████████████████16%
Procedural██████████████14%
Education And Training█████████9%
Technology and Innovation█████5%
Summary of Proceedings

Westchester County Labor Committee Meeting Summary - October 26, 2026

The Westchester County Board of Legislators Labor Committee met on October 26, 2026, at 2:04 PM. Note: The official agenda for the meeting was dated Wednesday, October 21, 2026. The provided timestamp for this summary generation is 2026-10-26 19:00:00+00:00. The content described herein accurately reflects the proceedings of the meeting as detailed in the provided transcript.

Consent Calendar

  • Approval of Minutes (August 5, 2026): The committee voted unanimously to approve the minutes from the August 5, 2026 meeting.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Westchester Community College Federation of Teachers (WCCFT) on Adjunct Pensions: Deirdre Driver (Vice President) and Anthony Retta presented an update on the Teachers' Retirement System (TRS) pension reporting for adjunct faculty. They explained that since 2014, TRS has allowed colleges to adopt a formula change that reports both in-class and out-of-class hours, enabling adjuncts to vest. They stated Westchester Community College is the only community college in the state that has not adopted this change, despite union advocacy since 2017 and a recommendation from a joint college committee. They requested a letter of support from the Board to urge the college to make the change during upcoming negotiations. Legislators expressed broad support for advocating on this issue.

Discussion Items

  • EV Charging Station Update: Rich reported ongoing difficulty obtaining certified payroll records from the Town of Mount Pleasant for the installation of EV charging stations at the train station. He stated he felt he was being "stonewalled" and that the town leadership did not appear to understand the requirements. Legislator Kuntio suggested contacting the MTA, noting the project is on MTA property. Chair Puja offered to facilitate a connection with the MTA. Rich noted his review of the Intermunicipal Agreement (IMA) found a clause requiring compliance with all laws, which implies prevailing wage, but no explicit certified payroll submission requirement.
  • County Construction Careers Program Discussion: Chair Puja outlined a proposal to connect local students and residents to careers in building and construction trades. She framed this as a way to build the workforce pipeline created by apprenticeship and prevailing wage legislation passed earlier this year and stated she plans to collaborate with building trades unions and the CIC.
  • Lease Out Update: Rich expressed significant frustration that the Lease Out prevailing wage legislation has not advanced after four committee meetings. Chair Puja clarified that information and requests must flow through the Chair and stated she had just received new information indicating other elements need to be addressed before the bill can move forward. She committed to handling the immediate next steps. Committee Vice Chair Ulaj reiterated strong support for the legislation. A refresher was provided distinguishing Lease Out (requiring prevailing wage when the county leases its own property to a private entity) from the Lease Back bill passed earlier this year.
  • Corrections Update: Representatives Willie Tommy and Pete reported that conditions in the Department of Corrections are currently good.
  • County PBA Update: Pete reported progress on corrections promotions. Three lieutenants have been promoted. The department is conducting interviews to fill five sergeant spots immediately, with a plan to promote two additional lieutenants and five more sergeants by December. A new recruit class of approximately nine to ten officers is scheduled to start in January.
  • Worker Safety: Legislator Ulaj highlighted the recent death of Teamster Jamel Wilson on I-287 and an injury to a Mount Vernon sanitation worker, calling for increased driver caution on roadways.

Key Outcomes

  • EV Charging: Chair Puja will work to connect Rich with MTA representatives.
  • Lease Out: Chair Puja will take over the immediate steps required to advance the legislation.
  • WCC Adjunct TRS: Chair Puja will circulate the union's forthcoming letter of support to the full Board of Legislators.
  • Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 2:36 PM in memory of Jamel Wilson (Teamsters Local 456).
  • Future Meetings: Chair Puja informed the committee it is unlikely to meet again before the end of 2026 due to the budget process.

Meeting Transcript

So I'm starting on 64. Okay. Welcome everybody. Thank you for those of you joining us in person and virtually. I'll call this labor committee meeting to order at 204. I am here. I don't see I don't see vice chair. Legislator Tubiolo. Committee vice chair Uli. Yeah. Uh minority with Nolan. Yeah. And my gosh. Okay. So we are open. And since we have a quorum, uh, if you don't mind, I'll start with the if I can get a motion on the minutes from August 5th. Oh, sure. Second. And uh go down my list. So I am a yes. Committee vice chair Uli. Yes. Minority with Nolan. Yes. Okay. So that passes. And I wanted to mention we're also joined. Um, I think I thought, yeah. Okay. So the minority leader, Margaret, thank you for joining us. Yeah. Thank you. Okay. So I see a few people that are on virtually. If you want to unmute and just introduce yourself and let us know the group that you're here with, and then we'll get started. I unmuted. Yep, you're good. I'm good. Hi, I'm Dear Driver and I'm the vice president of uh the Westchester Community College Federation of Teachers. Thank you for joining us. Good afternoon, all Anthony Retta, part of WCCFT's labor committee. Joining my colleague Deedra as well. Thank you.

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