LEEBA. In the recent jurisdictional challenge, the Organization of Staff Analysts trounced the Law Enforcement Employees Benevolent Association by a vote of 50 to 1. This is a better result than we achieved in 1985.

In 1985, OSA sought the support of Analysts working at the Board of Elections. After a one month campaign, those Analysts voted 20 for OSA, 0 for CWA Local 1180, and 7 for no union. That crucial vote in 1985 established OSA as a union for the first time. It also led to a “no further conflict” pact between CWA and OSA and that led to a mutual support pact now in its thirty-first year.

The OSA/LEEBA election results owed a lot to the local leadership of our uniformed forces chapter. In return, Naomi Aice from School Safety has been asked to move up to the OSA executive board. Sheila Skinner has become Chairperson of the School Safety Chapter and Cheryl Hodge and Pete Murillo will co-chair our Traffic Enforcement Chapter.

MABSTOA. The leadership of OSA has been seeking to bring together the unions trying to represent currently non-represented employees at the Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority. The task is challenging, but our union, once before, accomplished that goal in regard to the NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation between 1993 and 1996. The result was a surge in union representation and new members added to OSA, CWA and Locals 768, 1407, and 2627 of DC37.

Our current efforts involve the Transport Workers Union, CWA Local 1180 and DC37, AFSCME. OSA does believe in organizing unrepresented workers and we always prefer to do so in concert with other unions. The tragedy of recent years has been the rarity of organizing efforts by the City unions.

By this fall, we will be able to judge if our efforts will result in successful joint campaigns.

THE FOUR DAY WEEK. We were distressed in 2015 when the City spent six months negotiating in bad faith on the four day week. We were not pleased that it took a further three months to win our goals through impasse proceedings.

We are now encountering difficulties in getting the four day week portion of our contract put into practice.

Excellent work has been done by John Harper for our office. There has been energetic and effective organizing done at, to name a few, NYC H+H, the Administration for Children’s Services and the Corrections Department. There were even kind words of support and encouragement from the management at these and other agencies and yet.

The leadership of OSA will continue our effort, and we are taking different routes. We will report in more detail at the September membership meeting.

DELEGATE TRAINING. The Organization of Staff Analysts has a membership that is spread out across scores of agencies. In addition, we have reached, on average, our middle years and are often absorbed with our careers, children, aging parents and other distractions from union activity. Nonetheless, our union membership benefits hugely from a knowledgeable, informed, and active on-location leadership. In order to encourage an increase in the knowledge of our active members, we will be sponsoring an activist training program this fall.

BENEFIT COVERAGE. The annual report on our Welfare Fund benefits can be downloaded below as a four page report. One change, for next year, will be life insurance. We went out to bid. We were able to secure a decrease in premiums from the Metropolitan Life Insurance Company, effective September 1st. We have had many different life insurance companies serving us over the years and “Met” promises better service, along with lowered rates.

A letter explaining the changes can be downloaded below.

LABOR DAY PARADE. We hope you will attend the Labor Day Parade this year on Saturday, September 10th. You can download a parade flyer with the details of where we are gathering that day and when -- 12 noon on 47th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues at 6th Avenue. Look for the union banner. Please invite your friends and family to join us. In the last few years we have had between 60 and 100 members, relatives and friends marching with us. We’d love to duplicate or exceed that number.

The parade is both important and fun for those who do attend. Our organization spent 15 years trying to be recognized as a union, and for many years thereafter we were too small to be invited to march in labor parades. Finally, we were asked to march by the NYC labor unions, and each year that there has been a parade some of us have walked up Fifth Avenue. We wear t-shirts and hats with the bold OSA symbol. We show pride in our own union and, equally important, stand together with the other unions to demonstrate NY City remains a union town.

So, we hope you won’t miss the Labor Day Parade this year. Come and join us and share the cheering, get free clothes and a bit to eat, and spend some time with friends. Call John LaGuardia, Rob Spencer or Kim Vann at the union office to let us know you are coming and how many others you are bringing.

GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING. Mark your calendar for the September general membership meeting, which will take place on Thursday, September 29, 2016 at 6:15pm at the union office on 23rd Street. Pizza will be available before the meeting. A flyer can be downloaded at the link below to remind yourself of the date, time and location.

BITS AND PIECES...