OSA’s Women’s Committee had a nice evening last Thursday. The conference was well attended and all seemed pleased with the event. There was a little food left over, so the staff was made very happy the next day.

This week, we have our union’s general membership meeting set for this Thursday evening. Since we have some new members, directions can help. The meetings are held at 220 East 23rd Street, Suite 707. The location is between Second and Third Avenue and the IRT, BMT and IND subways all have a stop on 23rd Street. Even the PATH, the Port Authority Trans Hudson subway, stops on 23rd Street before heading to New Jersey. The 23rd Street crosstown bus runs pretty often near rush hour, but if the weather turns warm, it’s actually pretty interesting to walk along 23rd Street.

We start at 6pm and usually end by 7:30 or 8pm. Cookies and fruit are provided. You are definitely invited.

A mailing went out last week and should be received by the weekend. If you don’t get the mail by Monday, call George at the union office. He will check your address and send you a copy. The same content is up on this website as the March 2013 OSA Newsletter.

In the mailing is a flyer for a conference being held by OSA’s Women’s Committee. The event is this Thursday from 6 to 9pm. There will be food and music, discussions and entertainment.

The list of invited guests is most impressive. See the flyer. If you are interested, it is free to OSA members and friends, but please RSVP by calling Carol Moten in advance. Otherwise, the food could run out.

On another front, our mayor was told off by the judge in the 32 ounce soda cup case. The judge seemed to believe the City Council or some other democratic body should make laws and not the mayor acting on a whim.

The mayor has stated he will fight the decision and it is amazing that he can afford frivolous lawsuits but has not one cent for cost of living increases or raises in salary for civil servants.

The last lawsuit, the one he lost against the Office of Collective Bargaining, did delay our Administrative Staff Analysts II and III collective bargaining rights for over two years. Meanwhile, if you are an Admin II or III, OSA would like to know if you were required to work overtime without compensation anytime after July of 2010. If you had to work and you documented it and you were not compensated, please call our grievance section and give them the details.

Finally. if you are free at lunchtime this Wednesday, March 20th, from 12pm to 1pm, Workers United/SEIU and the Remember the Triangle Fire Coalition will commemorate the 102nd anniversary of the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory Fire at the site of the fire at Greene Street and Washington Place in NYC. Nearly 150 young women were burned to death in one of the most pivotal industrial tragedies in American Labor History.

"On March 25, 1911, a fire broke out on the 8th floor. Workers ran to the fire escape. It collapsed, dropping them to their deaths. On the 9th floor a critical exit was locked. People on the street watched as the workers began to jump out the windows. Fire trucks arrived but their ladders only reached the 6th floor. The elevators ran as long as they could as workers pressed into the cars; some tumbled down the elevator shaft. In the end 146 people died. There was a trial but the owners, long known for their anti-union activities, got off. The fire became a rallying cry for the international labor movement. Many of our fire safety laws were created in response to this tragic event. We remember because we are still fighting for social justice for all."

We do continue to get phone calls from our new members (the Administrative Staff Analysts Levels II and III) regarding overtime. Some are being told that they are expected to work overtime. Of course, this is true so long as they are compensated with time or money.

There is no disagreement about the work. If it has to be done, it has to be done. However, some bosses still think that it should be done without compensation because our new members used to do it without compensation.

That was then, before the union, and this is now. Management has two choices – to compensate in time or money for work done or to see the work go undone.

The requirement for compensation in return for work is part of the legally binding contract that covers each and every union member.

It may take some bosses or agencies longer than others to accept the fact, but our new members no longer have the obligation to work extra hours for free.

And don't forget to make plans to join us for the OSA Women's Committee program on Thursday, March 21. A flyer for the event, with details, can be downloaded by clicking this link.

Our union is a busy place these days. Last week the OSA Women’s Committee firmed up plans for their event set for March 21st. Details will be in this month’s mailing. You can download a flyer for the event, which features a panel of local labor activists and leaders by clicking this link.

This week, there will be oral argument heard in court on our case against HPD for their failure to promote a number of our members in that agency.

Also, the New York Labor History Association will have its executive board meeting at OSA, as will local 375, the Architects and Engineers and the Central Labor Council’s subcommittee on a proposed May Day rally.

We also, during the 9-5 period, provide an office for a number of displaced DC37 staff, as well as our own staff and volunteers doing their normal tasks.

It’s not lonely here, day or night