Negotiations will be the main topic at this Thursday’s membership meeting. Our union has a number of contracts to negotiate. The one contract due first is the superior officers for traffic and school safety. That one goes back to 2008 and meetings have been held. There, we are being held up by the city’s interpretation of back pay. They owe our members the 4% and 4% that those members did not get but the rest of us did. We are having difficulty because the city is suggesting we should pay out using a formula that would deny retroactivity to those who retire – and that seems wrong.
There is also the main union contract, as well as the Transit and Housing Authority contracts and all are now due for negotiation. Details about our progress on these will be discussed at this Thursday’s general membership meeting.
Some progress has been made on the Welfare Fund negotiations and that will be shared as well.
Also at this week’s meeting, Zephyr Teachout, candidate in the recent Democratic primary for governor will be attending to thank our members for their support. Refreshments will be provided and the meeting itself will start at 6:15pm.
Last week our bargaining team met with the city on the topic of the costing of the UFT contract versus the DC37 contract.
One issue that was clarified consisted of the alleged gain of 150 minutes per week. A couple of contracts back, the UFT gained 6% over the rest of us by agreeing to an extra 2.5 hours of work per week. The program, as outlined years ago, was changed in the current UFT contract and this aroused our curiosity. If the UFT had gained time back, with no loss in salary, we were interested in an equivalent gain for our own members and we were willing to take it as an added raise in pay.
It turns out the matter is not at all clear and that teachers will still be working the extra hours, although not as previously agreed.
Details of what we learned last week will be provided on paper to our members at the October 2nd membership meeting.
There were other items of interest learned at the session and our union will be better prepared for the bargaining to come.
Other news. The Municipal Labor Committee, a group of over one hundred unions representing New York City employees, had its election for positions on the Steering Committee. The chairperson of our organization was re-elected to his position on that committee and for that we are pleased.
The bargaining team for OSA will be meeting on the 19th. This meeting is with the city and the Office of Management and Budget on the costing of the contracts negotiated with the UFT and DC37.
It is the impression of the leadership of the Organization of Staff Analysts that there is a need for explanation of what appear to be discrepancies between those two contracts. The city has agreed to hold this meeting and we look forward, with interest, to their presentation.
Thank you to those who took the time to march in the Labor Day Parade. It was our largest attendance ever (at least 116 members, relatives and friends) and it was commented upon favorably by the announcer at the reviewing stand.
The following individuals turned out:
Annis Ambris, Walter Armstrong, Iris Bailey, Rafiu Balogun, Ganiat Balogun, Maxine Batie, Andrea Behrens, Audra Berger, David Berger, Esther Blount, Roseann Boodhoo, Timothy Boos, Carol Brooks, Courtney Burke, Myrtelle Cadet, Jackie Camp, Jackie Campbell, Jing Cao, Martha Castellanos Chin, Conrad Chiang, Ben Chiang, Joyce Cleveland, Stanley Cohen, Robert Croghan, Jasmine Crosby-Miller, Loretta Cunningham, Esther Curenton, Nadine Daniels, Regina Davis, Maximillian Dosamantes, Celia Dosamantes, Zahra Edwards, Pernida Edwards, Gloria Edwards, Jeanette Emmarco, Cicero English, Serena Freeman, Almeta Gadsden, Jose Garcia, Thomas Garvin, Lorraine Gittens, Sheila Gorsky, Kris Gounder,,Camille Graham, Pamela Graham, Suzanne Gresick, Anna Grigoratos, Hanane Hamada, Jasmine Hamada, Abdel Hamada, John Harper, Sharon Harris, Marisa Hill, Verina Hilton-Thomas, Sylvia Hodge, James Hsi, Burt Hurwitz, Henry Ilian, Glennis James, Brenda Jimenez, Colleen Jinks, Evadney John, Yuliy Karahanov, Keith Kelly, Tony Lee, Bobby Lee, Ron Lehman, Webster Leung, Michael Madonia, Anna Malcolm, John Manning,,Josefa Marcelino, Robert Marzen, Thyatiral Mattox, John Mazzarella, Anna Metzger, Sumintra Mohan, Lillian Morrison, Paula Morrison, Susan Neuffer, Olivia Parker, Stephen Parker, Belinda Parris, Dolores Parson, Charles Parson, Marilyn Percy, Mattie Pettiford, Tyrone Pettiford, Sandra Prendergast, Edgar Ramirez, Viviana Ramirez, Sheldon Ranz,S. Rivera, Maria Ruparsio, Nancy Russell,,John Savarese, Karina Schroeder, Sam Sills, Michael Spector, Robert Spencer, Paulette Starks, Sallie Stroman, Otto Thomas, Nick Titakis, Kathy, Titakis, Kieran Toale, Gene Towba, Cindy Voorspuy, Darlene Williams, Stan Williams, and Lisa Zaremski. (Unfortunately, five individuals had creative - and unreadable - handwriting, so we are unable to acknowledge their presence.)
We will have photos of the parade in the OSA Photo Gallery section of this site shortly.
This past weekend, a large number of OSA members marched in the Labor Day Parade. In fact, it was the largest number ever to march – well over 100 members plus some family members and small children.
It was even a little bit exciting because Zephyr Teachout, candidate for governor in this week’s Democratic primary, made it a point to come to our assembly point to personally thank our union for endorsing her. In the photo below, she appears with OSA Chairperson Bob Croghan, OSA board member Dolores Parson, Audra Berger and OSA member Marilyn Percy.
We were also visited by Robert Jackson, our old friend from the City Council. He is now running for state office in upper Manhattan. Also stopping by was Ben Kallos, newly elected to the City Council who expressed gratitude to OSA for our support last year. Below is a picture of Bob Croghan with Robert Jackson and OSA members and staff at the parade.
It is important to have a political presence in our society and, thanks to our members, we do.
This Tuesday, those of our members who are registered Democrats are strongly urged to vote for Zephyr Teachout for Democratic nominee for governor and Tim Wu for lieutenant governor. It would be really good if we had friends in the governor’s office of New York State.
Below are a few videos in which you can get to know Teachout and Wu better.
There are a number of primaries on Tuesday for State Senate and Assembly beyond the gubernatorial primary. Here's a current list of the New York City primaries:
Today is the Labor Day Parade. Thousands of our union brothers and sisters -- and for the first time, officially, non-union brothers and sisters -- will be marching up Fifth Avenue, starting at 10am. Unions from the public sector, the private sector and the construction trades will all be there. Don't forget to join us at 12:30pm on 47th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues. Look for the OSA banner.
Here's a short video of why all workers are coming together in today's march.
The newsline goes back to its normal weekly schedule this week. The city has agreed to provide OSA with a costing meeting on the 19th of this month. This meeting will present the city's explanation for the costing of various contracts already agreed upon. This is a part of the collective bargaining process.
Also, the executive board of OSA voted last week to recommend a vote for Zephyr Teachout for Governor in the upcoming Democratic primary on Tuesday, September 9th. Candidate Teachout's opponent, incumbent Governor Andrew Cuomo used the power of his office to force the upstate unions to accept three years of zero increases plus givebacks. He did this in order to lower taxes on wealthy New Yorkers and to recruit business for tax free zones.
Cuomo balanced the state budget on the backs of the workers, bragged about it, and then gave us pension Tier 6 as well. We strongly urge our members who are registered Democrats to vote in the upcoming primary and to vote for Zephyr Teachout for Governor.
If you would like to learn more about Teachout and her running mate for Lieutenant Governor, Tim Wu, you can visit their campaign website by clicking on the photo of the candidates below.
Finally, this coming Saturday, September 6th, is the Labor Day Parade. We are gathering at 12:30pm on 47th Street between 5th and 6th Avenues.Look for the union banner. Invite your friends and family to join us.
The parade is both important and fun for those who attend. Our organization spent fifteen years trying to be recognized as a union, and for many years thereafter we were too small to be invited to march in labor parades. Finally, we were asked to march by the NYC labor unions, and each year that there has been a parade some of us have walked up Fifth Avenue. We wear t-shirts and hats with the bold OSA symbol.
A large turnout strengthens not only our union (including at the bargaining table), but, standing together with other unions, it helps demonstrate New York City remains a union town.
So,come and join us, get free t shirts and hats and a bit to eat, and spend some time with friends. If you are coming, please call the union office at 212-686-1229 and let Carol, Stan or Courtney know you'll be there.