OSA Newsline - December 20, 2004 The holiday party was wonderful, but too crowded. Much as we like the Armory, and we do, we may need a larger site next year. It was a great party! As members are mostly aware, the City has recently begun requiring a four year college degree for appointment to Analyst positions. This will not affect permanent appointments nor will it be a problem for members on promotional civil service exams or lists. This should not even impact on candidates from the recent Staff Analyst exam. That exam list should be established in January or February. We have, however, been notified that some of our members who have been promised advancement, provisionally, while awaiting their promotional exams, have now had those appointments denied due to lack of academic credentials. That would be wrong. If any member falls into that category, write the union office with details, attention Sheila Gorsky. We'll see what we can do. There won't be much news this week as the City slows down a bit for the holidays, so the next newsline will be the first week in January. Happy New Year to all members and retirees.

OSA Newsline - December 13, 2004 The Transit Authority contract was put to a vote by mail ballot last week. It was approved by a vote of 122 to 10. Members can anticipate payment of retroactive raises as soon as the MTA board has voted on the contract. Members awaiting the results of the Staff Analyst exam will be pleased to learn that the second of two milestones has been passed. The test validation board has apparently finished their work and the education and experience papers have been graded. We can hope for results to be published early next year and for list movement before Spring. We hope to see you at the holiday party.

OSA Newsline - December 6, 2004 It's ten days until OSA's Holiday Party. It will be held at the Park Avenue Armory between 66th and 67th Streets on Park Avenue. We do request that you fax the invitation back to us letting us know you are coming. We are already buying 200 charlotte russe, but if you are coming, we will add a few more. You can download the invitation here. The rest of the news as well as our yearly financial statement is in a mailing you should receive by this week. If you don't get the mail by Friday, call Noreen at the union office, so we can correct the address and send you a copy. In the meantime you can find the same information on this website as the December, 2004 edition of "News From OSA."