By Vito R. Pitta, Esq.

CITY LEGISLATION
"There are quite a few pending NYC Council Introductions and Resolutions of interest to Local 237.

Band Scoring
One of the more important resolutions, Resolution No. 76, which was sponsored by City Council Members Amanda Farias and Farah Louis, called on Citywide Administrative Services to use the band scoring method for establishing eligibility for competitive civil service titles.
    Instead of basing hiring decisions on a choice among the three highest scoring candidates – the 1-in-3 rule – band scoring establishes a statistically equivalent range – between 96-100 for example. Supporters of band scoring believe it expands the diversity of the hiring pool. Many labor unions have come out against it because the more likely outcome is a surge in nepotism and favoritism in hiring decisions. The objection of labor lead to the resolution being laid over in committee or postponing any action on it.

Continuation of Health Insurance for City Employees
Of particular importance for health insurance for city employees, was Introduction No. 265, which had 12 City Council sponsors from the Committee on Civil Service and Labor. Introduction 265 would require city agencies to make every effort to prevent any lapse in coverage for any city employee transferring from one city agency to another.

School Safety Turnover
Introduction No. 576, sponsored by City Council Members Eric Dinowitz and Sandra Ung, requires the NYPD – and later, after the transfer of jurisdiction – the City Department of Education, to provide annual reports on personnel turnover of School Safety Agents (SSAs) and other school safety personnel. The reporting would be mandated to include those agents who were involuntarily terminated, those that were transferred, and those that resigned. The reporting would also be required to provide the average length of employment for SSAs and other safety personnel each year.

NYCHA Task Force
Sponsored by Public Advocate Jumaane Williams and City Council Members Alexa Aviles, Julie Won, Jennifer Gutierrez, Farah Louis and Lincoln Restler, Introduction No. 710, would create a NYCHA task force to study, report and make recommendations on how to improve the City’s housing authority’s communication and engagement with tenants, particularly tenants’ concerns about safety and quality of life.
    The task force would be made up of two members appointed by the mayor, two by the speaker of the City Council, and two by the Public Advocate. One of the Public Advocate’s appointees would serve as chairperson, and both NYCHA and the NYCHA Federal Monitor would each appoint a member. Exactly one year after the task force’s first meeting, 710 requires they issue a report.

STATE LEGISLATION
Though on its face it might seem like a relatively quiet state legislative session for Teamsters Local 237, there are a few issues that are certainly important to our members.

Tier 6 Reform
Some Tier 6 reforms were included in the New York State Budget that will enhance an employee’s retirement benefits and are intended to address the retention challenges that continue to plague state and other public employers and recruit a much stronger and skilled public workforce.
    The Fiscal Year 2025 State Budget includes two reforms to the retirement benefits for Tier 6 mem- bers (Tier 6 Final Average Salary & Overtime Ceiling). First, the change to the final average year salary to determine a public employee’s retirement benefit – it will change from the highest 5 consecutive years to the highest three consecutive years.
    And second, it will extend the two-year exclusion of overtime earnings when determining a Tier 6 member’s contribution rate to their pension benefit.

CUNY Staff Contract
In January, Governor Hochul announced a tentative labor agreement that will cover over 10,000 CUNY employees. The agreement, which will last over 5 years, is between CUNY and our Local 237 members, DC 37 and SEIU Local 300, and will cover custodial staff, college assistants, and IT and public safety officers.
    The announcement comes as good news to our members who serve as CUNY Campus Peace Officers, Campus Security Officers, Campus Security Assistants, and Public Safety Sergeants.

Congestion Pricing Suspended
At the time of this column’s writing and quite literally in the 11th hour, Governor Kathy Hochul shocked the whole of New York State by announcing that she was suspending indefinitely the start of congestion pricing, which was due to begin at midnight on June 30th.
Citing concern over the New York’s economy and its full recovery from COVID, the Governor shelved implementation of the congestion pricing plan and in turn, cast serious doubt on the MTA’s planned $51.5 billion capital program to improve transit operations. Congestion pricing was projected to generate $15 billion toward that capital program.
    The Governor’s last-minute decision has earned her both praise and vilification in equal measure.
    Much is still unknown at this point, and it remains a very fluid situation. First, the Governor needs the approval of the 23-member MTA board for the suspension. It is unclear when the MTA will conduct a vote or what is to become of the $500M of contracts signed for congestion pricing infrastructure. The Governor could try to cover the funding shortfall by tapping into state reserves or there is chatter that she might try to pass a business tax through the state legislature. In short, there are more questions than answers with the only certainty being congestion pricing will not start on June 30th.

Vito R. Pitta is a partner at Pitta LLP, a firm whose practice consists primarily of traditional union-side labor law, employment law, employee benefits law, and campaign finance compliance law. The firm counts more than forty local and international labor unions as its clients. Mr. Pitta’s practice consists of counseling the firm’s clients on traditional labor and employment matters, as well as advising the firm’s political campaign and political action committee clients with respect to federal, state, and local campaign finance laws. Mr. Pitta is also a Partner in Pitta LLP’s affiliated personal injury firm, Pitta & Baione LLP, which represents victims of the September 11th terrorist attacks; and a member of Pitta LLP’s affiliated lobbying firm, Pitta Bishop & Del Giomo LLC.