You know how we said in this week's newsline message below "hopefully, the hurricane will not turn out to be as bad as expected," well it clearly turned out even worse than expected, with power out to wide sections of the region and the city, including most of Manhattan below the 40's, including the union office.

Based on Con Ed predictions, we hope power will return to Manhattan by Monday and Union activities can return to something that more closely resembles normal.

Do not forget that the union office will be closed in any event on Tuesday, November 6, for Election Day.

Hopefully, the hurricane will not turn out to be as bad as expected.

A mailing will be going out by this Thursday and should be received by most members by next Monday. If you don't get it by Wednesday, November 7th, call George Morgan at the union office, 212-686-1229, to check our records and send you a copy. In the meantime, the contents are already posted on this website as the October edition of the OSA Newsletter at this link.

In the mailing is the notice of our holiday party, set for late December of this year. We are pleased with the timing, since last year some members complained that they did not have enough time between the mailing and the party to respond.

Also in the mailing is the union leadership's take on the presidential election. The OSA membership did vote to endorse Barack Obama at our last membership meeting and our union's executive board did so as well.The union membership's vote was not unanimous, but the executive board's vote was.

As you will learn from the mailing, the union leadership's position is more extreme on taxes than that of either candidate. We think that the very well-off should start to pay their fair share of taxes. Of course, you can argue the meaning of "fair," but for us a person with billions in income who pays a lower tax rate than any member of OSA is taking unfair advantage of the rest of us.

We also note that Governor Romney disapproves of workers being allowed to create unions. So, we disapprove of him, in return.

We do approve of workers voting, so however you do vote, do vote.

The Administrative Staff Analyst Levels M2 and M3 were determined by the Office of Collective Bargaining to be mostly non-managerial in duties. That determination - in July of 2010 - was challenged by the City in a lawsuit. They lost in court. They planned to appeal.They did not appeal.They meant to work out details with OSA. Discussions fell apart and so forth and so forth.

The nice thing about this delay of over two years is that there were no raises lost. Neither manager nor Union member has been offered a penny by the mayor between 2010 and today.That's the bright side. On the dark side, that's two more years of pure discretion the City has won over its improperly designated managerial workforce. No due process. No right to grieve. And the Mayor, of course, is happy to delay and delay.

We will be meeting in November with the Office of Collective Bargaining to insist upon compliance with the 2010 decision. Our Administrative Analysts Levels 2 and 3 non-managerial are overdue the representation that is their right under the City Charter and all the existing laws.

We are not going away and we will win. Be sure of it.

This week, on Tuesday evening, Rochelle Braunstein will discuss Long Term Care Insurance between 6 and 9 PM. Ms. Braunstein will explain the benefit, cost and pitfalls involved in securing coverage for Long Term Care.

Then, on Thursday, John Turley will be discussing Medicaid, a topic of interest if we find ourselves or a member of our family in need of long term health care.

Rochelle knows the industry side of the story and John was one of our top City officials overseeing Medicaid before his retirement.

Thus, on Tuesday and Thursday nights this week, you can probably learn all you need to know about this topic.

There is room for a few more members to attend. If you are interested in attending, please call George Morgan at the union office at 212-686-1229, so we will know to lay out a few more cookies or a bit more cake. Remember, the start is 6pm and it may not last until 9pm.

We hope you enjoyed your Columbus Day.There continues to be progress on the exam lists, although we also continue to have a small number of agencies where we are dissatisfied with the actions thus far.

We had two bits of bad news recently. Michael Weiss, who used to work with our organizing team, passed away after a long illness. Also, Ida Chin, currently active for the organizing team, passed out while at her desk at OSA. She was taken to Bellevue and is now in the intensive care unit. Cards can be sent to the union office for either of the two and will be forwarded.

As reported at last week’s general membership meeting, District Council 37 had a negotiating session with the mayor’s folks on September 24th, as scheduled. We had predicted that there would be no progress, given the mayor’s attitude. Unfortunately, that prediction appears to have been fulfilled as the mayor remains adamant that we not only agree to the state pattern of three years of no raises, followed by two years of two percent, but he remains committed to a long list of givebacks he wishes us to offer. We have posted at this link the city’s original contract demands and DC37's explanation of why its members – and by extension all City workers – need and deserve a raise. When will the parties return to the table? We’ll let you know as soon as we know.

October is the month for seminars and training at OSA. We remind you that there are a number of upcoming class sessions. If you have not yet signed up for the courses or seminars that interest you, coupons are available on the union website at www.osaunion.org under the button for Member Services. We encourage you to download the relevant forms, complete them and fax them in to the union at 212-686-1231 as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, due to the small number of people signing up, we have cancelled the Drivers’ Improvement course originally scheduled for Thursday, October 4th and Thursday, October 11th. The Conflicts of Interest Law seminar originally scheduled for Tuesday, October 2nd is now cancelled as well. And, the pre-retirement seminar originally offered in two separate sessions, depending on the first letter of your last name, has been combined into a single session to be held on Tuesday, October 23rd. If you signed up for any of these seminars, you should have received a call from the union, informing you of the cancellation or change in date. If you have any questions about a specific seminar, please call George Morgan at the union office at 212-686-1229.

Finally, we’d like to express our appreciation to Lauren Shapiro, one of our attorneys, for her service to our union. After three and a half years ably serving OSA members, Lauren is taking a new job with a social services agency. Congratulations, Lauren, and best wishes in your new job.