News From OSA - March, 2018

The Supreme Court will soon likely rule against agency shop. In preparation, we sent 995 OSA-represented agency shop fee payers a request for them to sign up with our union as members. As of this writing, over 200 have responded by signing cards and becoming members of OSA. We are grateful for the response already received.

If you are an agency shop fee payer and have not signed a union membership card yet, please sign the card and return it to the union. The union’s strength lies in the basic concept of solidarity, that we are all here for each other and, therefore, we need all of you with us.

NEGOTIATIONS... Our contract expired last year (as did DC 37's and a number of other union contracts), but there has not been much progress in obtaining our next contract. This is not unusual. The City of New York normally does not begin negotiating the next contract until well after the expiration of the prior contract.

Negotiations, at least to set the financial pattern, have actually started. There is a sort of ritual dance going on at present. The City, knowing that our members would like a raise, arrives with false offers and large smiles.

The City will offer us a lot of money if we will agree to a few, tiny, unimportant changes. Only, on close examination, it turns out that those changes are neither tiny nor unimportant and, if we agree, our members would lose massively.

At present, the city is saying we can have, at most, a 1% raise (per year), but if we will make a few small changes to our health benefits, we can have more. Since those changes are not at all small and since those changes would, on average, eat up more than the raises being offered, it is clear they are not yet being serious with us.

It is as if the City was asking us to give them a dirty, wrinkled and torn one dollar bill and in return they will give us one or two or maybe even three bright and shiny, freshly minted quarter dollar coins.

No thanks.

Our municipal unions jointly refused Mayor Bloomberg's offers for us to negotiate permanent losses and finally, eventually, we got a far better (if still not really good) settlement from Mayor DeBlasio.

Members should be clear that the City would like us to be in a hurry so that we accept a bad deal. Instead, we will be wise if we are patient and negotiate the best deal possible.

STAFF ANALYST TRAINEE EXAM TRAINING ... If you or any friends or relatives do not already hold a permanent competitive civil service job, you may be interested in the Staff Analyst Trainee exam, due soon. The exam filing is set for March 7th through March 27th. The exam itself is set for early July.

The Notice of Examination is on our website and the DCAS website starting at the beginning of the filing period. Since it is for the Trainee job, most of those who are 4-year college graduates by this coming June should qualify.

This is a real exam (not an education and experience exam) so our union is offering training.

Present members are offered training at no cost, but others are required to join our related professional organization, the Organization of Staff Analysts & Related Titles. OSART dues are $97.50 a year. The OSART membership form is on this website on the “Exams, Lists and Training” page.

Please fill out and return the training registration form which is also on the "Exams, Lists and Training" page in order to register for the training.

Please Note: Many of our members are on current civil service lists. Even so, if you are not yet appointed to a permanent position, taking this exam may be wise. DCAS can “kill” an existing list if a new list for that title is released based on a later exam. The current Staff Analyst Trainee list from the 2014 exam is up to #900 and more appointments are expected, but the union does not know how many will be made

GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING ... Mark your calendar for the March general membership meeting, which will take place Thursday, March 29, 2018 at 6:00 pm at the union office on 23rd Street. A flier can be downloaded at this link to remind you of the date, time and location.As we have done in recent membership meetings, refreshments will follow the meeting and an Activists’ Classroom Training session will follow that. Participants in the training are asked to read the materials previously handed out and bring them with you, as we hope to have a discussion during this session.

News From OSA - March, 2018 The Supreme Court will soon likely rule against agency shop. In preparation, we sent 995 OSA-represented agency shop fee payers a request for them to sign up with our union as members. As of this writing, over 200 have responded by signing cards and becoming members of OSA. We are grateful for the response already received. If you are an agency shop fee payer and have not signed a union membership card yet, please sign the card and return it to the union. The union’s strength lies in the basic concept of solidarity, that we are all here for each other and, therefore, we need all of you with us. NEGOTIATIONS... Our contract expired last year (as did DC 37's and a number of other union contracts), but there has not been much progress in obtaining our next contract. This is not unusual. The City of New York normally does not begin negotiating the next contract until well after the expiration of the prior contract. Negotiations, at least to set the financial pattern, have actually started. There is a sort of ritual dance going on at present. The City, knowing that our members would like a raise, arrives with false offers and large smiles. The City will offer us a lot of money if we will agree to a few, tiny, unimportant changes. Only, on close examination, it turns out that those changes are neither tiny nor unimportant and, if we agree, our members would lose massively. At present, the city is saying we can have, at most, a 1% raise (per year), but if we will make a few small changes to our health benefits, we can have more. Since those changes are not at all small and since those changes would, on average, eat up more than the raises being offered, it is clear they are not yet being serious with us. It is as if the City was asking us to give them a dirty, wrinkled and torn one dollar bill and in return they will give us one or two or maybe even three bright and shiny, freshly minted quarter dollar coins. No thanks. Our municipal unions jointly refused Mayor Bloomberg's offers for us to negotiate permanent losses and finally, eventually, we got a far better (if still not really good) settlement from Mayor DeBlasio. Members should be clear that the City would like us to be in a hurry so that we accept a bad deal. Instead, we will be wise if we are patient and negotiate the best deal possible. STAFF ANALYST TRAINEE EXAM TRAINING ... If you or any friends or relatives do not already hold a permanent competitive civil service job, you may be interested in the Staff Analyst Trainee exam, due soon. The exam filing is set for March 7th through March 27th. The exam itself is set for early July. The Notice of Examination is on our website and the DCAS website starting at the beginning of the filing period. Since it is for the Trainee job, most of those who are 4-year college graduates by this coming June should qualify. This is a real exam (not an education and experience exam) so our union is offering training. Present members are offered training at no cost, but others are required to join our related professional organization, the Organization of Staff Analysts & Related Titles. OSART dues are $97.50 a year. The OSART membership form is on this website on the “Exams, Lists and Training” page. Please fill out and return the training registration form which is also on the "Exams, Lists and Training" page in order to register for the training. Please Note: Many of our members are on current civil service lists. Even so, if you are not yet appointed to a permanent position, taking this exam may be wise. DCAS can “kill” an existing list if a new list for that title is released based on a later exam. The current Staff Analyst Trainee list from the 2014 exam is up to #900 and more appointments are expected, but the union does not know how many will be made GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETING ... Mark your calendar for the March general membership meeting, which will take place Thursday, March 29, 2018 at 6:00 pm at the union office on 23rd Street. A flier can be downloaded at this link to remind you of the date, time and location.As we have done in recent membership meetings, refreshments will follow the meeting and an Activists’ Classroom Training session will follow that. Participants in the training are asked to read the materials previously handed out and bring them with you, as we hope to have a discussion during this session.