The summer edition of News From OSA, as always, has a lot of reading. Be sure to check the notices and coupons at the links below to see which workshops you want to attend.
This year, OSA has added an introductory Stop Smoking class. Our Pre-retirement Seminar has now reached its 17th year. The Driver Improvement classes remain very popular. Some members have already attended these sessions twice since you can update your qualifications for discounted insurance every 3 years. Our Long Term Care Seminar, which we recently added, explains what is covered, the cost, and the different policies. The Medicaid Seminar for Home Care has been helpful for those members who have aging parents or relatives who may be, or may become, eligible for Medicaid coverage, since the Medicaid laws are constantly changing.
But, the most important coupon is the Member Information Update. This should be completed by all.
Negotiations. OSA negotiates a number of different contracts for different units. Our main unit contract is being held up by bad faith bargaining on the City’s part, but we did recently have success on one of our other contracts.
Our Police unit (covering the higher ranks of the School Safety and Traffic Enforcement Officers) now has a current, up-to-date contract, but it was not easy. The City dragged out negotiations on this unit’s first contract, (2001-2002) until the union went to the Office of Collective Bargaining for help.
Thanks to OCB, a barely acceptable raise was won, plus some slightly unclear language on a promotional increase guarantee and other bits that enabled us to accept the contract.
Since the negotiation took so long, we were already well into the next contract period and negotiations resumed quickly. We have now concluded a five and one-half year contract for our “Police” unit, covering 2002 to 2008, increasing salaries, retroactively, by 3% on 8/1/04, 4.95% on 7/30/05, 3.62%, as of 11/1/05, 2%, as of 2/1/07, and 5% as of 8/1/07, for a total (compounded) raise of 19.99%. In addition, there is a $1,000 bonus, an increase in the Welfare Fund contribution, and a satisfactory interpretation of the promotional guarantee. The victory, for our higher level police unit, did come with givebacks, as did OSA’s 2002-2005 contract but, by a vote of 47 to 2, the unit’s members endorsed the contract decisively.
Thanks are due to Tim Collins and Joan Kiok who worked closely with bargaining team members Naomi Aice (Safety), Wira Garcia (Traffic), Dario Negron (Safety), Frances Nelson (Traffic) and Sheila Skinner (Safety).
The new contract was obtained with great difficulty, as is evident by how long the negotiation took. Crucial to the final settlement was our arbitration on the advancement increase mentioned in the earlier contract. The City had sought to deceive us in the contract language for 2001-2002, and this became fairly clear during the hearings. As a result the City moved quickly to settle and avoid the unofficial ruling against them.
Congratulations are also due to the bargaining unit members who understood the need to fight for every penny due to them.
Our main unit negotiations are held up on the issue of the 1% for 7/1/04. We have offered the same (and more) givebacks as DC 37, and yet the City refuses to follow the exact pattern set by ‘37. We are right, they are wrong, and we are all very impatient, since this is holding up our other due raises of 2% and 5%.
Exams and tests. The Associate Staff Analyst exam of this year was pretty well administered, except for the dancing mice on 18th Street. No such kind words can be found for the Staff Analyst Trainee exam held in June. In most cases, it was a soaked, overtired and hungry group of candidates who got to spend from 7PM until 11PM (in many cases) trying to juggle the exam material. OSA received two dozen letters of complaint plus phone calls. We are sharing these negative comments with DCAS.
The Staff Analyst list has now reached #715 and the Police Department is, at last, preparing an Administrative Staff Analyst pool. The Admin list may well be exhausted by next year.
Affiliation. The Organization of Staff Analysts does not belong to the AFL-CIO, although we once sought to join. As far back as the late 1980's, the union sought AFL-CIO membership, but we were told we had to join one of the (then) existing 99 national or international unions.
This has changed, and a local our size would now be welcomed joyously by the AFL-CIO at present. No membership in existing national unions is now required. There would be a cost, probably about fifty dollars a year, or a $2 bi-weekly raise in dues.
In return....but that is the question.
We are a labor union. Our interests are being served by the national labor movement and there is an emotional aspect to joining with others in a fight on behalf of all working men and women and their families.
But is it a good idea to join? Does it make sense?
If you have feelings on this matter, please send us a note or letter expressing your thoughts. We are interested in your opinion.
General Membership Meeting. This next general membership meeting is set for Thursday, September 27, 2007 at the union office at 220 East 23rd Street Suite 707, between 2nd and 3rd Avenues. It will, as usual, start at 6:00 PM sharp. See you there. You can download a meeting flyer here for posting and to remind you of the date, time and location.
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