There was a flood in 220 East 23rd Street last week. The carpets were ruined, the sheetrock walls were melted and the office entirely disrupted.
Our heroic staff and volunteers are carrying on as best they can, but disruption is inevitable as we temporarily relocate and work to put everything together again.
Members are asked to be patient during this period.
Meanwhile, the summer mailing is out, as well as, finally, a mail ballot on the School Safety and Traffic Enforcement Contract.
Finally, most members covered by the main OSA contract can look forward to the $1,000 (before taxes) one-shot payment arriving this September, either on the 10th or the 24th – at least that's the target date according to the City. As always, never spend the money until the check is in your hand or, better yet, cashed.
The retroactive 3% and the current 2% increases won't be paid until later this fall.
Meanwhile, we invite all members and friends to join us this year for a Labor Day Rally on Wednesday, September 1st. This year, we celebrate Labor Day, not with a parade, but with a massive citywide union demonstration against the Bush Administration's anti-worker agenda. We will be meeting at 2:30pm at the union office, 220 East 23rd Street Suite 709. Before leaving for the rally, members and friends will be issued OSA hats, tshirts and balloons. We will leave for the rally at approximately 3pm – our destination is 8th Avenue and 23rd Street. After the rally, there will be refreshments. Please consider taking a few hours of time to join us. The larger the crowd, the louder the message.
We ask that you download and print the flyer for the rally by clicking here. Please share it with your OSA brothers and sisters.
If you can attend, we ask that you call the office at 212-686-1229 and speak with Eric Mayr, Bobby Lee, Michael Spector, Michael Weiss. They are keeping track of who is coming.
Absent a further emergency, this newsline will not be changed until possibly mid-September, all things considered. The flood really did a lot of damage. Check in from time to time to see if any new disaster has befallen us.
And a few more images of the OSA offices. If you'd like to see them a little larger, right click on each photo and then click "view image":
Remember, how we said last week that unless something unexpected occurs, this page would next be updated this coming Monday. Well, the unexpected did occur.
A rather large flood, not biblical in size... but close, occurred this past Sunday morning in the office building in which OSA has its offices.
There were several hours of unchecked water damage. The flood affected everything from the eighth floor down to the basement. The results: waterlogged files, furniture, walls, ceiling tiles and personal belongings. With the exception of two small areas of our office, all parts of the union were affected.
As the building has begun to tear out carpets, tiles, wallboard and ceiling tiles and bring in massive dehumidifiers and blowers, as you can imagine, massive disruption to OSA's activities has occurred. Most staff will not be in the office the remainder of this week.
During this period, please do not call the office unless it's a job emergency. Please call the office first as there may be staff available to handle your case.
We realize this may inconvenience members a bit, but please bear with us as we develop plans to bring functions back "on-line." It may be some time before things return to normal.
We may be able to update the phone hotline more easily than this website, so if there is no news here, please call (212)330-8833.
Here are a few samples of the way the office looked last Sunday. It looks much worse now.
No major news this week and none likely now in the slow days of August what with City vacation schedules. Our yearly bulk rate mailing is nearly complete and should go out soon. The contents will be up shortly on this website as the September, 2004 edition of "News From OSA."
Meanwhile, we invite all members and friends to join us this year for a Labor Day Rally on Wednesday, September 1st. This year, we celebrate Labor Day, not with a parade, but with a massive citywide union demonstration against the Bush Administration's anti-worker agenda. We will be meeting at 2:30pm at the union office, 220 East 23rd Street Suite 709. Before leaving for the rally, members and friends will be issued OSA hats, tshirts and balloons. We will leave for the rally at approximately 3pm – our destination is 8th Avenue and 23rd Street. After the rally, we will return to the OSA office for refreshments. Please consider taking a few hours of time to join us. The larger the crowd, the louder the message.
We ask that you download and print the flyer for the rally by clicking here. Please share it with your OSA brothers and sisters.
If you will be attending, please call Eric Mayr, Michael Spector, Bobby Lee or Michael Weiss at the union office (212) 686-1229 and let them know you will be coming. We need an accurate count.
Unless something unexpected occurs, this page will next be updated on Monday, August 23rd.
Some members called to report that their drug rider deductions increased and, of course, they did, although significantly less than last year.
If you are interested in the costs of all the health plans and drug riders as of July 1, 2004, click here for the costs for active members and click here for the costs for retirees.
There was no other news from the City last week, so we just keep waiting on contract language