There is so much to cover that this year's Summer mailing will be mostly provided by website additions to the mailing.

THE UNION OFFICE, to our relief, has been able to function during this period of social isolation and distancing. Our hero, to whom we owe so much, is Vojna Stanic-Geraghty. On the 16th of March, Vojna agreed to be the one person who came in each weekday to receive and forward all the calls coming in. Those in need of help, or just information, first ran into Vojna.

She not only forwarded calls to our office staff and volunteers, she also did her normal Welfare Fund work. Others have come in regularly, but Vojna was the only person who for three months straight has been "holding down the fort."

CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS were delayed by the City from the Spring of 2019 until a year later. There was little or nothing really in dispute between us during this contract period. The delay was not motivated by malice, as far as we can tell, and once negotiations resumed, they were actually going quickly until the virtual halt in March of 2020, due to Covid-19.

As of May, we were told that the Mayor had forbidden further progress on open negotiations until he had a better idea of the fiscal impact of the pandemic. This was shared with the membership. There were a couple of contracts signed thereafter, Sanitation and Corrections, but each had been agreed upon before the May announcement.

We do expect a severe fiscal crisis to arise from the costs of the pandemic, but we are very aware that it is in the interests of the City to continue to adhere to the pattern set in this round of bargaining.

Our hope is that federal aid, when it comes, will enable the City to complete our contract and ensure our receipt of all retroactive monies due to us.

22,000 LAYOFFS have been announced by the Mayor as being likely to occur in October, if he does not get the federal help. Such a large number would be a disaster for our City as were the layoffs in 1975. The Municipal Labor Committee was quick to urge the Mayor to offer early retirement incentives instead. More than one "early out" bill has been submitted in Albany, but absent an answer on the federal help, such bills often go nowhere.

One of the recent ones (7/17/20, Senator Griffo), provides for a brief period of time when an employee could retire early without penalty. The proposal targets those as young as fifty who have twenty five years of service or those aged fifty five with at least ten years of service.

None of this is real at present, but some form of early retirement incentive does make sense rather than go to layoffs.

The rules for layoffs, should they occur, are a matter of law. In any title affected by layoffs, provisional employees must be laid off first. If the provisional employee has an underlying civil service title, the employee can be demoted. Otherwise, the layoff takes effect thirty days after the union is warned.

There is no legal rule requiring the City to use seniority as the determinant for who, among the provisionals is laid off, although the unions always argue for seniority to be taken into account.

Among permanent civil servants in the same title, seniority is the single criteria used by law.

We will go into more detail if we end up facing the nightmare of layoffs and, in almost all cases, unemployment insurance coverage will be approved without dispute.

SCHOOL SAFETY as a job function, was transferred from the control of the Police Department to the control of the Department of Education.

This was allegedly done to respond to calls to "Defund the Police" but we could not understand the connection. Thereafter, many horror stories surfaced as to why School Safety had been transferred from the Department of Ed to the P.D. in the first place. So there is a transfer, maybe, but not immediately.

See the article by Joe Anuta, reprinted from Politico and linked below. Apparently, the transfer is to be a multi-year process and this could be reversed by the next Mayor.

OUR WELFARE FUND was healthy in 2019. The accountants report and our four page annual analysis are both linked below. We show a neat bump in investment income, but the report explains that this is more apparent than real. It has to do with the price of bonds.

A more important topic for our Welfare Fund is 2020 rather than 2019. This year, many of us took a vacation from dentistry once the pandemic hit. Our Trustees did agree to an emergency increase in monies paid to dentists to offset Covid related expenses but that was all, so far.

Will we have major fiscal differences hitting our Welfare Fund due to the Coronavirus? We don't know.

Our dental costs should go down from March through June, and perhaps our optical as well. If that does occur, the Trustees will want to consider if the next year's (7/1/20 to 6/30/21) benefit limits could be increased to compensate for an expected surge of delayed benefit usage.

There has also been an increase in the number of deaths due to the Coronavirus, but our life insurance benefit is insured by a company rather than self-insured by the union itself. As a result, there might be a long term increase when next we renew our contract, but there is no current cost to our fund.

We do self-insure our major medical benefit and our post 1999 survivor benefit and we can expect those costs to rise due to the situation.

There is also concern over the serious increase in deaths due to Covid-19, but that will have no immediate impact on our funds as we are fully insured. Finally, we have no idea if our major medical benefit or our post 1999 benefit that helps survivors will be affected a little or more than a little.

We will have more information and the impact on our members will be clearer to us by this Fall. You will then be notified of what did occur and what actions the trustees are proposing to cope with the situation.

One more item of concern for 2020 is that we are due a large Welfare Fund increase, but that is dependent on completion of our labor contract. Thus, the addition of any new benefit is on hold.

POLICE BRUTALITY AND RACE RELATIONS have been major topics for our City and our Nation all through this Summer.

The death of George Floyd was due to a combination of racism and police brutality. Our New York City practice, for over twenty years, of stop and frisk, was a novelty for our City. Police have always, always, had the right to stop and frisk if there was good reason, but for 20 years there were simply quotas to be filled, not reasons.

Worse yet, the "stops" were far more commonly of youths of color rather than white youths. Since each stop and frisk was potentially humiliating, this could turn many young New Yorkers against the Police. It took the federal government courts to finally strike down that practice.

A New York City Police Officer can still stop and frisk you, if he or she has reason. That has not changed. If the Officer is in error and you are not packing a gun, an apology is appropriate.

New York City could be a great place to create a part of the world with little or no prejudice. We come from everywhere else and we have a chance to leave old prejudices behind.

Colin Powell, in his autobiography, talks of growing up on Kelly Street in the Bronx. His two best friends were from different Baltic nations. Colin earned entry into City College and soon fell in love with the R.O.T.C. and a possible military career.

In his third year he would go to Summer Camp for intensive training, yet before he left he was called in by his military faculty advisors. They explained to him about Southern customs of segregation and a culture of racism, but assured him that that was the South, not the US Army of that year.

It was sad that a young African American cadet did need to be warned about Southern racism.

At the same time, it was a tribute to his upbringing in the ethnically diverse, mixed up borough of the Bronx that he had grown up able to be unaware of one of America's greatest flaws.

Colin Powell, like most kids growing up in those neighborhoods, knew of ethnic, national, color and religious differences between people. He also knew that none of those differences means we have to hate each other.

He was right. The world has often been wrong and it is our job to stand up for what is right, always and forever.

Under Articles of Interest, below, there are two articles. The first, is the text of a speech I made at the Charles Ensley Scholarship Dinner in 2014.

The Ensley Tribute reaches back to the 1930's and a union that could be considered to be an ancestor of both the Social Service Employees Union and also of OSA. It was the help and militance of SSEU that finally enabled us to form a union.

The remarks paint a picture of New York City public servants and their highly progressive unions. We do not now, nor did we ever, tolerate or stand by silently when our coworkers faced discrimination of any kind. This is not new for us, it goes back nearly one hundred years.

A second article, on police brutality, is also linked below. It recounts my own experience with being sometimes in support of and sometimes in contention with the Police. The Police are supposed to be our friends, but some Mayors have not thought so.

ALTERNATE WORK SCHEDULES. Our union continues to advocate for voluntary alternate work schedules and, in response to Covid-19, more than one Agency has been open to our ideas. Most recently, the New York City Employees Retirement System has been seeking approval from the Department of Citywide Administrative Services for a work day that would go from as early as 7AM until as late as 7PM. If that request were to be granted, stretching the evening hours to 7:40 PM would create the possibility of a three day week. You would still work the same 35 hours, but now with four days off each week.

A very few of our members have had such a schedule in the past, so we know it is possible, but for many it is not practical. Still, this is a good time for experimentation to see what works.

HEALTH AND SAFETY is a top priority for our union. It is our job to ensure and demand a safe working environment for OSA members. To date, we have heard from numerous City agencies that there is no urgency to return employees to offices when the work can be done remotely. Several agencies have even committed to keeping their workforce working remotely until there is an order from City Hall stating otherwise.

In the present situation, we cannot imagine City Hall making the mistake of calling workers back too soon. However, some small units are being called back to their facilities piecemeal around the City. We continue to advocate for these employees to make sure that all necessary safety protocols are being followed. Though we do not expect our membership at large to return to worksites any time in the immediate future, we are working with agencies to develop plans, policies and procedures for our members' safety when returns do occur.

One request: if you are being asked to return to your worksite or you receive policies or procedures to follow when returning to the workplace, please contact the Grievance Department at 212-686-1229 to let us know. Occasionally, you will know about your Agency's plans before we do.

BE COUNTED. Historically, residents of New York City and State have been undercounted in the decennial Census. Census 2020 started in March and is still going on. According to news reports, as of late July, New York State had only a 57.8% self-response rate and New York City had a 53.6% self-response rate, compared to 62.3% nationally.

In the middle of the current pandemic, it would be very easy to forget to complete your Census, but here's why you absolutely should do it. The Census determines political representation. An undercount could result in fewer representatives in Congress for New York or for the state where you live, if it's outside of New York. In addition, federal funding for education, healthcare, housing and other important programs is Census-dependent.

This year, the Census Bureau has made it easier than ever, allowing you to complete the Census online, at mycensus2020.gov, over the phone at 1-844-330-2020, or by mailing back the print questionnaire, if you received one. In August and September, Census employees will make in-person visits to those that have not yet completed the Census.

There are only twelve questions and it should take no more than ten minutes to complete. If you haven't completed your Census yet, don't wait for the Census to find you, go online or call to complete it now.

REGISTER TO VOTE. This year's general election will be held on Tuesday, November 3rd. It promises to be one of the most important elections in our lifetimes. We will be choosing a President, Congressional representatives and New York State Senators and Assemblymembers.

If you are a New York State resident and you are not yet registered to vote, the deadline for in-person registration at your local Board of Elections is Friday, October 9, 2020. That is also the deadline for postmarks on mailed-in registration forms, which you can download from the NY State Board of Elections website at www.elections.ny.gov/votingregister.html or by calling 1-800-FOR-VOTE. You can also print a copy of the registration form in the links at the end of this Newsletter. Mailed-in registrations must be received by your Board of Elections by Wednesday, October 14th. If you are a resident of a state other than New York, please contact your state or local Elections agency for the deadlines that apply to you.

ABSENTEE BALLOTS/EARLY VOTING. Given the impact of the coronavirus pandemic, many of you will opt to receive an absentee ballot or do mail balloting in those states where it is permitted. In New York State, you may request an absentee ballot for the November 3rd general election and information on absentee voting in New York State is available at www.elections.ny.gov/votingabsentee.html. You will soon be able to electronically request an absentee ballot on that page. You must apply online, postmark, email or fax a completed application or letter requesting the absentee ballot no later than October 27, 2020. You may apply for an absentee ballot in-person up to the day before the election, November 2, 2020. Ballots will be mailed out beginning on or about September 18, 2020. The State Board of Elections warns that the US Postal Service says it cannot guarantee timely delivery of ballots applied for less than 15 days before the election.

Meantime, if you are a registered voter in New York City, you can request an absentee ballot now on the City Board of Elections website at vote.nyc/page/absentee-voting.

Finally, if you prefer in-person voting, you might wish to consider early voting which runs from October 24 through November 1, 2020 and which ought to be less crowded. The early voting site is usually different from your regular polling place. To see if you are registered to vote in New York City and to look up your polling place, you can go to www.nycvotersearch.com

FALL SEMINARS. Usually, the arrival of Fall means a month of seminars and trainings available to OSA members on a range of subjects from retirement planning to math and statistics to your rights on the job as a union member.

This year, thanks to the pandemic, in-person sessions in the union office will not be held. We are, however, considering virtual versions of some of the seminars. We would appreciate your input on which seminars you'd be interested in attending if we are able to schedule them in the Fall, or later.

Please take a look at the form labeled "One Big Coupon" that is included in this mailing and check off the sessions that would interest you. Mail it back to the union or fax it to 212-686-1231. It will help guide our planning. We will be in touch about scheduling if/when we are able to schedule the seminars.

GENERAL MEMBERSHIP MEETINGS. We are exploring the best way to hold general membership meetings in the Fall. We are working on the logistics and will let members know as soon as possible.

NO INTERNET? Finally, if you know of someone without internet access and, therefore, they can not download the materials we are posting here but not including in the physical version of the Newsletter mailing, tell them to call the union office at 212-686-1229 and ask for a packet of those materials to be mailed to them.

Best wishes for your continued health.

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