Requires employees of a public passenger ferry system employed as United States coast guard-licensed officers or in any position for which a United States coast guard officer license, endorsement or credential is required by law or by the relevant civil service job specifications, to be included under the phrase "laborers, workers or mechanics" as used under certain provisions of the labor law relating to the ability of employee organizations to negotiate with employers.
Summary
This bill amends section 220 of the Labor Law to clarify that references to “workmen” in that section should be read as “workers.” More substantively, it expands the definition of “laborers, workers or mechanics” for purposes of prevailing wage and related labor procedures to expressly include certain employees of a public passenger ferry system, specifically United States Coast Guard-licensed officers and other positions requiring a Coast Guard license, endorsement, or credential under law or civil service specifications.
The bill also gives those ferry-system employees, through their employee organization, access to collective bargaining impasse procedures and other administrative or legal remedies available to comparable public employees when an employer fails to bargain in good faith or engages in unfair labor practices. It preserves existing rights for any worker who already filed a verified complaint before the effective date and takes effect immediately upon enactment.
Impact
The bill would change New York Labor Law section 220 by broadening who is covered by the phrase “laborers, workers or mechanics” in certain public work and prevailing wage-related provisions. In practical terms, it would bring specified public passenger ferry employees under that umbrella and allow their unions to pursue prevailing-rate and labor-relations remedies that may not have been clearly available before, including impasse procedures and complaints for bad-faith bargaining or other labor violations. Public employers operating ferry systems and the employee organizations representing these workers would be the primary parties affected.
Sentiment
The available materials suggest a generally pro-worker, pro-union purpose, with the bill framed as a clarification and expansion of labor protections rather than a restriction. No committee transcript or recorded votes were provided, so there is no direct evidence of formal support or opposition in the record supplied. Based on the text alone, the bill appears designed to align ferry employees with other public employees for labor-relations purposes.
Contention
The main point of potential contention is the expansion of prevailing wage and collective bargaining-related rights to a specific category of public passenger ferry employees, which could increase obligations for public employers and affect how wage disputes are handled. Another possible issue is the bill’s use of statutory interpretation to redefine “workmen” as “workers,” which may be seen as a technical cleanup but also signals a broader modernization of the law’s coverage. No explicit opposing arguments or negotiated compromises are included in the provided record.
Public Officers and Employees; public employees to self-organize or to be represented by a labor organization and bargain collectively with the state; authorize
Requires small employers with one to fifty (1-50) employees and large employers with fifty (50) or more employees to pay overtime wages to exempt workers if their salary exceeds varying multipliers of minimum wage for a forty (40) hour workweek.
Requires small employers with one to fifty (1-50) employees and large employers with fifty (50) or more employees to pay overtime wages to exempt workers if their salary exceeds varying multipliers of minimum wage for a forty (40) hour workweek.
Requires small employers with one to fifty (1-50) employees and large employers with fifty (50) or more employees to pay overtime wages to exempt workers if their salary exceeds varying multipliers of minimum wage for a forty (40) hour workweek.
Requires small employers with one to fifty (1-50) employees and large employers with fifty (50) or more employees to pay overtime wages to exempt workers if their salary exceeds varying multipliers of minimum wage for a forty (40) hour workweek.
Requires certain employees and candidates for public school employment or service and youth camp employees to undergo child abuse record information check.