We are not done organizing nor are we done negotiating, but it is nice when we can note some progress along the way and, this year, we can.

OSA accepted the DC37 pattern, even though we had been excluded from the bargaining that led to the agreement. We were also later excluded from the final 1% for the third year, in spite of the fact that we offered the same givebacks as had been accepted from DC37.

In 2006, OSA, while still continuing to pursue the 1% due us on the prior contract, accepted a one year and 12 day contract covering the period July 1, 2005 through July 12, 2006 for 3.25% with no givebacks.

In June, DC37 was negotiating again. Givebacks were being discussed again and a three year contract offer by the City for 3.15%, 2%, and 2% was termed a “final” offer – unless givebacks were forthcoming.

As a result, OSA joined a coalition led by Randi Weingarten of the United Federation of Teachers and Harry Nespoli of the Sanitation Union.

Randi Weingarten has since claimed that the City immediately improved the offer to DC37 in response to the formation of the larger bargaining coalition. Lillian Roberts has disagreed.

No matter who is correct, the offer to DC37 did improve dramatically very soon after the coalition was announced.

The recent DC37 settlement is excellent because it provides a “floor” for the next 20 month period.

The terms of the DC37 settlement are as follows:

Date	Contractual Event
7/1/05	3.15% Raise
7/1/05	$100/capita increase in annual payments to the DC37 Welfare Fund
8/1/06	2.00% Raise
11/1/06	$166.67/capita lump sum payment to the DC37 Welfare Fund
2/1/07	4.00% Raise
3/2/08	Contract Expires and 0.34% is available for equity

In addition, City workers will now be allowed to reside in the six suburban New York countries outside the City.

OSA members in most agencies have already received the raise for July 1, 2005 through July 12, 2006 (3.25%). Our Transit members are due that raise upon ratification of their contract.

We are, however, not currently due to receive the monies for the final 20 months of the DC37 contract because we are members of a different bargaining coalition. The larger coalition of UFT/Sanitation Workers may agree to a 20 month contract or, more likely, a longer one, instead. It would be unacceptable to our Coalition to settle for less than DC37 got and the Mayor will insist that we shall get no more . As a result, the 2% and the 4% would appear to be the floor beneath which we will not fall.

We would like to get more and half of the reason why we joined the coalition is because we felt that the recent history of low raises and employee givebacks was intolerable. The second half of our reason for joining was that pattern bargaining had begun, quite recently, not to work for us at all.

Leaving aside serious problems affecting some of our members in school safety and similar situations, we still have the 1% problem from the prior contract unresolved. We were pleased that DC37 members got the “extra” 1% raise for July 1, 2004 with no real givebacks. If, however, we are now being told our members should delay future raises for 10 months in order to get the 1% for July 1, 2004, pattern bargaining is no longer pattern bargaining. We accepted the DC37 pattern last time and we are still owed that 1%.

In the meantime the mayor will try to negotiate as slowly as he can manage, in order to delay the larger coalition and to build up the pressure to accept what has been offered to DC37. If the coalition does cave in too easily, however, we would deserve the truly horrid contracts that could follow.

ORGANIZING. During 2006, a number of organizing campaigns have finally succeeded. As you read this, we will have already welcomed over 200 new members in the Senior Management Consultant title of the Health and Hospitals Corporation.

In addition, the Enrollment Sales Representatives and the Senior Project Leaders of HHC may soon have a chance to choose a union. OSA’s work over many years has finally lead to the ESR and SPL elections and we do hope they vote to join us. Unfortunately, the HHC has stated that they intend to appeal the Office of Collective Bargaining’s decision on the Enrollment Sales Representatives. If so, that will delay the representation of the ESR’s for a while.

Meanwhile, many thanks are due to our magnificent volunteer field organizers, our aggressive legal team, and to our executive director and her staff of able assistants. OSA started with none of us entitled to collective bargaining. It took us fifteen years before we got collective bargaining status for the first thirty-eight Analysts. In the twenty years since, we have grown a hundred fold. This is good, but, to borrow from the motto of the Transport Workers Union, “the best is yet to come.” .