News From OSA - January, 2019

NEGOTIATIONS…At this link you will find a list of contracts due to be negotiated by New York City. We are on the list, but it is a long list. We have had our first session and we have already requested more sessions, so we can complete the task. We will do so as quickly as possible, short of hurting ourselves in the process.

Every union contract since any of us started employment with New York City has always paid raises retroactively, so this is normal.

Patience.

ELECTIONS. On this occasion, the biannual election of our union officers did lead to significant changes, even though the election itself was uncontested.

First and foremost, our Vice-Chairperson, Tom Anderson, stepped down to be replaced by Michael Daflos. Tom has retired and moved to Philadelphia. Mike worked alongside Michael Falzarano and John Harper helping the recent, successful, organizing drive in which OSA assisted the UFT in bringing previously unrepresented Education Analysts into the UFT.

Next, Jeanne O'Sullivan, our current OSA Corresponding Secretary, left that position to replace Al Milton as Vice Chairperson of OSART. Al has retired. Jeanne's former position as Corresponding Secretary of OSA, will now be filled by John Mazzarella. John, incidentally, is a grievance representative plus one of our two retirement experts.

Naomi Aice has been promoted out of our represented title into a currently “managerial” title. As a result, she had to leave the OSA board as Delegate-at-Large, but can now take on the same role for OSART.

She is joined on the OSART board by Dolores Parson who also moves over from OSA, in Dolores’ case due to retirement.

Sandra Thompson-Reid is being replaced on the OSART board by Stephen Werner of HPD.

The vacancies created in Delegate-at-Large for OSA will be filled by Esther Blount of HRA and Viviana Matwichuk of our upstate DEP workforce.

Our union was formed as a professional association in 1969 and has held annual or, now, biannual elections every year since.

Any member who would like to play a larger role with our union should start by attending membership meetings and enrolling in our Activists Classroom Training Program.

GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING. Our next general membership meeting will take place on Thursday, January 31st starting, as usual, at 6pm in the union office. A flyer to remind you of the date, time and location can be downloaded at this link. The meeting will be followed by food and then the latest session of our Activists Classroom Training.

A few bits and pieces that will be reported on at our January membership meeting:

ALTERNATE WORK SCHEDULES. A report will be given by Alice Moise on the progress we are having with AWS. Alice will be reporting on a number of agencies now cooperating and our plans to spread the program to still others.

LONGEVITY GRIEVANCE. We have long awaited resolution of our longevity complaint. We insist that our Associate Staff Analysts are sometimes not properly credited for their full longevity entitlement when promoted to Administrative Staff Analyst. Grievance Department head and union attorney Adam Orgel will report on the recent hearings.

INSTALLATION OF OFFICERS. The newly elected officers will be sworn in at the meeting and will also attend the Activist Classroom Training session that will follow the meeting.

Finally, OSA Chair Bob Croghan expresses his thanks to the members of OSA for giving him the chance to serve for another two years as Chairperson. "It is an honor, a privilege and a responsibility. I, and the other elected officers, will seek to make the members proud of OSA and OSART."

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