Four items of good news this week.

First, Randi Weingarten, Harry Nespoli and Carl Haynes announced the formation of a joint bargaining coalition on Friday. This is good news because Mayor Bloomberg has had a lot of success in negotiating with us one-by-one, but he will probably not do as well if we negotiate as a group. It is a matter of great regret to the Organization of Staff Analysts that DC37 has not yet signed on with the Coalition, but that option remains open and we will hope for the best.

OSA used to be a part of a bargaining coalition led by DC37 in years gone by and we regret the change in policy that excluded non-DC 37 locals from being at the table.

We have, of course, committed ourselves to work with the new coalition. The coalition assembled represents about 170,000 municipal workers, at present, but ideally would include all municipal workers.

Second, our Transit Authority members will be pleased to hear that a negotiating session is set for this Thursday and we expect to conclude a package identical to the one reached for our City members. The proposed package would be worth 3.25% retroactive to July 1, 2005 and would hold the 1% in abeyance, subject to continued negotiations.

The third bit of good news concerns provisional promotions from Staff to Associate Staff Analyst or, once the current lists are exhausted, from Associate to Administrative Staff Analyst. OSA had recently requested DCAS to revise the existing ruling that required a four year college degree of anyone in line for provisional appointment to a higher title. Deputy Commissioner Joe DeMarco has responded favorably to our request. Members who are in a Staff Analyst series title may now apply for and may be appointed to step-up promotions within the Analyst title series without reference to educational background.

Finally, Personnel has also agreed to begin to prepare for a Staff Analyst Trainee exam for FY2007. Staff Analyst Trainees who are provisional do not mature to Staff Analyst, but Staff Analyst Trainees who are permanent in status do become Staff Analysts upon completion of two years of satisfactory service

The New York City Employees' Retirement System (NYCERS) informs us that the Tier 3 and 4 loan and repayment schedule change fees will increase from $15 to $20 as of July 1st. They encourage affected NYCERS members to visit the NYCERS website at www.nycers.org for more information.

Rob Spencer has posted information important to candidates on the Administrative Staff Analyst list here. Among the points covered are the details of how the City is handling longevity pay for those appointed. If you have co-workers who don't have access to this website, you might wish to share this information with them. In addition, we ask Admins to download this coupon and mail it back to the union when they are called from the Admin list. It will help us to monitor the movement of the list and ensure it is being done properly.

The other news this week is that negotiations are taking a dramatic turn. As members are aware, the Mayor has been exploiting the divisions within the City labor force to his advantage. Efforts are underway to change the terms of engagement to our advantage.

At present, the Mayor is willing to give labor 2% a year versus what looks like a 4% expected rate of inflation. He would be willing to give us a higher raise only if we give him back still more money in what he keeps calling productivity and what some of us might even call theft. This is not acceptable nor can we go on this way.

Finally, Karen Mongiello, an Admin Staff Analyst in HRA informs us that she will be hiring an Associate Staff Analyst who will serve as a "Technical Services Analyst." You can find the job posting in the Member Services section of this website under Agency Job Flyers. Scroll down and look for HRA as the agency, ASA as the civil service title and Technical Services Analyst as the functional title. The posting closes on July 14, 2006.

The person she is looking for is "a responsible employee, who is very detail oriented and able to finish projects within time frames." The ability to think creatively is appreciated as well.

We have some very good news this week. The Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) appears to have acted positively on their agency list of candidates for promotion to Administrative Staff Analyst. Early reports indicate that the entire 41 name list was either promoted or confirmed in place.

Now,it could be argued that DEP is only acting reasonably. After all, it has been about 20 years between exams and it was a really tough test and anyone who did pass is probably overqualified for the position.

Even so, the Organization of Staff Analysts is absolutely delighted when any City agency does the right thing. If we are quick to criticize wrongdoing, and we are, we are also impelled to offer praise when an agency plays it straight and does not cheat at all.

We commend the Department of Environmental Protection for its action. It increases loyalty and improves staff morale when an agency behaves honestly towards its employees.

Good work DEP. You have earned our respect.

Apparently, a number of agencies are planning on making appointments to the position of Administrative Staff Analyst over the next few weeks.

This is good. Meanwhile, some agencies have informed members that only managerial appointments will be made. That would be a disaster and it is not true.

Most candidates serving in managerial positions already will be confirmed in place, but those serving in non-managerial positions and Associates newly appointed to Administrative Staff Analyst will continue to be represented by the union.

If you are being told that in order to be appointed you must leave the union, call Sheila Gorsky or Michael Schady at the union office and let us know.

Aside from that problem, it is good that the agencies are moving quickly.