Westchester County Board of Legislators

Committee on Labor

Minutes: Monday, October 28, 2002

Present

Committee:           G. Latimer (Chair), R. Wishnie, L. Mosiello, M. Kaplowitz, J. Maisano

Board Staff:          B. Dodds (Program Specialist), J. Perez (Secretary)

Others:                  Allie Restaino (CEO), Bill Randolph, (CEO), Carl Finger, (Counsel to Committee), Michael Carriere (District Council 9), W. Dennaro Gore (IBEW-Local 3), Michael Whalen (IBEW-Local 3)

Meeting called to order by Chair Latimer at 4:30 p.m.

Motion made by Legislator Wishnie to accept minutes of September 23, 2002, seconded by Legislator Mosiello.  All in favor – Aye.

On motion by Legislator Wishnie items # 4, 5, 6, 7 were received and filed, seconded by Legislator Mosiello. All in favor – Aye.

Chair Latimer introduced Allie Restaino from the County Executive’s Office. Discussion ensued regarding an investigation, in which canceled checks were been cashed by other than the individual to whom they were issued. Grievances, investigations, and implementation of policies are affected because of the limited personnel available in the office.

Legislator Kaplowitz asked about the courthouse project. Mr. Restaino responded that the only thing done by Westchester County is to receive and certify the payroll to look at the canceled checks to see that the proper allocation of monies has been done and properly authorized.

Prevailing wage implementation was discussed with representatives from local unions (IBEW - Local 3 and District Council 9) regarding the ongoing efforts to implement prevailing wage (i.e. prevailing wages on schools districts cannot be check on the contracts because many are done as work orders). The NYS Department of Labor implements the law as it applies to prevailing wage on contracts. The state has the power to fine. New York State has a list of contractors that have been disqualified and small governments get the same list.

Legislator Wishnie informed the Committee that municipalities have a responsibility to report these cases as they find out about them.

According to Mr. Restaino, the State has the authority to fine the contractors, not the County, when they violate the law. If a client inquires about a contractor’s work for Westchester County, we can report any violation on prevailing wage.

Legislator Maisano requested that a copy of the standard boilerplate from Westchester County contracts be available to read. Chair Latimer requested from Bill Randolph, County Executive’s Office, for this information to be available to the Committee.

Michael Whalen, IBEW - Local 3, spoke about a problem with the courthouse contract and that he had reported to Westchester County about someone working for $10 an hour off the books and he collects unemployment. According to Mr. Restaino, if the contract had federal funding we can get the Feds. Chair Latimer requested that Michael Whalen submit to Mr. Restaino the information for further investigation.

Legislator Wishnie informed that the Board of Legislators has requested a meeting with Dashney and we will discuss this as a concern.

Legislator Maisano requested that once we receive the letter from Local 3, we should officially put the administration on notice and ask for an immediate review.

Legislator Maisano made a motion to adjourn meeting at 5:15 p.m. Seconded by Legislator Wishnie. All in favor – Aye.