OSA Newsline - March 29, 2004 Special thanks are due to all the teachers and staff who have assisted candidates filing their education and experience papers for the Staff Analyst exam. Over one thousand individuals will have been assisted by close of filing on the 31st and it was a big and somewhat pressured job. Special thanks to Sheila Gorsky, who was in overall charge, and to those dedicated souls who worked until late at night. Special mention goes to Tom Anderson, whose last paper done one night cost him the last bus home and led to a 3 mile post-midnight stroll. Good work one and all. Training classes for the test will begin in late April with information in a mailing going out now. The same information can be downloaded by clicking here for the cover letter and clicking here for the signup information. There are many rumors circulating about an early out program, but our union has no solid information. A bill was submitted to the state legislature, but neither the Mayor nor the Governor has expressed any interest in an early retirement package. Some members have not yet received the longevity increases due them. The first step is to approach your payroll office and inquire. If necessary, fill out a payroll complaint form.

OSA Newsline - March 22, 2004 Our staff and trainers are getting exhausted helping candidates fill out their experience and education papers for the Staff Analyst exam. Training is going well but, if anything, demand for it seems to be increasing every day. Executive Director Sheila Gorsky has put out a call for additional persons willing to do training on the education and experience paper preparation. The training will continue for one week from March 23rd to March 31st. If you are able to spend some evening or weekend hours helping candidates fill out their forms, call Sheila at the union office. A training class will be held for the new trainers on Tuesday, March 23rd at 6pm. We don't really pay well, but you will be helping others and that's a good deed. The New York City Housing Authority has agreed to consider voluntary leaves of absence as a way of possibly mitigating the current set of layoffs planned for that agency. OSA members serving in their permanent titles at NYCHA will be surveyed by mail this week If we can even save one member from involuntary layoff the effort will be worthwhile. Our scheduled membership meeting may be a bit hectic this week, since it will be going on at the swme time as the training. It is set for this Thursday at the union office. Please identify yourself as coming to the membership meeting so the people at the desk will route you to the right room.

OSA Newsline - March 15, 2004 The training sessions on the Education and Experience papers for the Staff Analyst exam have gone well so far. The Department of Citywide Administrative Services has announced that it will extend filing until March 31st, but all members should file as soon as their work is complete. Executive Director Sheila Gorsky has announced that candidates for the Staff Analyst exam can expect to be notified of classroom training schedules in about two weeks. Notice will come by mail, so please do not call for dates at present. Many members did get their increased longevity as of March 12th. The amount of retroactivity due on that day for a ten year plus member was $463, if there was neither overtime nor days without pay. A fifteen years and up member was due $925 and change under the same circumstances. There are, however, many variations depending on one's anniversary date and date of entry into our union. The next mailing will go into some detail on the topic, so save your pay stubs.

OSA Newsline - March 8, 2004 (Revised March 11, 2004) The Department of Citywide Administrative Services (DCAS) informed the union on Thursday, March 11, that the filing period for applications for the Staff Analyst exam has been extended to March 31, 2004. The amended notice of exam will be posted on this website as soon as we have it. The application forms and the notice of examination for the Staff Analyst exam can be obtained by scrolling down to the March 1st newsline. The training for the staff analyst exam has proceeded smoothly so far. Any member taking that exam should call George Morgan at the union office for an appointment. On Friday, some of our teachers took a break from the training to hold OSA's black history celebration. The affair has grown over the years and Friday's event was held in the basement of St. Andrew's Church near 1 Police Plaza. Nearly 300 were in attendance and credit is due to the committee that planned it and carried it off so smoothly. A mailing is due out this week and should arrive by mid-week. The contents will be posted on this website as the March 2004 News From OSA. Enclosed is a copy of a news article from Union County, New Jersey. The article recounts how the local government was able to avoid layoffs by using a variation on our furloughs. Our union is seeking to use that example to persuade the Housing Authority to avoid the scheduled layoffs from that agency. Finally, our Housing Authority members report that members due the increased longevity payments under the prior contract did get their rate increase last Thursday, with retroactive monies to follow. City agencies are due this week.

OSA Newsline - March 1, 2004 This is very important. The notice of examination for the Staff Analyst exam is now out. Many of our members should be taking this exam but only about 200 have signed up for union help on correctly filling out their education and experience application papers. If a candidate does not know how to properly fill out an e&e application paper, it is very easy to do it wrong. If it is done wrong, a candidate can either be forced into a lengthy appeal process or, worse yet, be unable to take the exam. This exam should be taken by any one of our provisional members -- trainee, staff, associate or administrative staff analyst -- if they have not previously taken, passed, and been appointed from the staff analyst exam. OSA has years of experience helping on e&e exams, but we can't help if a member does not schedule an appointment. Since only a portion of the membership calls the phone hotline or consults this page regularly, we are asking you to remind any of your coworkers who should be taking this exam. Have them call George at (212) 686-1229 to schedule an appointment. For those coming in for help, try to obtain and bring with you the tasks and standards of your current and/or previous jobs. We post below the notice of exam, the application form, the education and experience form, the special circumstances form for sabbath observers, people with disabilities, and veterans, etc., and the foreign education fact sheet. Notice of Examination - Staff Analyst Exam No. 3045 Please have patience. This is a large pdf file and it takes a while to download on dial-up connections. Exam Application Education and Experience Form Foreign Education Fact Sheet Special Circumstances Form If you are not currently an OSA member, we suggest you read the information on the OSA Campaigns and Updates page which explains how you can qualify for union training for this exam by joining our related professional association OSART. Call George to schedule an appointment for help on the e&e and let him know you are not now an OSA member, but wish to join OSART and take the union's training classes. Be sure to bring your OSART application form and postal money order for $97.50 to your first appointment. And, don't forget to bring along your tasks and standards from your present and/or previous jobs.