May is Labor History Month! A wide range of activities are being held in the New York Metropolitan Area and around New York State to mark the month. Some are organized by the New York Labor History Association, which produces a calendar of the events that you can see below. You can save the calendar to your hard drive or print it for reference throughout the month.
Many OSA members and retirees were present in Lower Manhattan on and after the World Trade Center disaster of 9/11/01. On Thursday evening, April 25th, Representative Jerrold Nadler and others will be hosting a seminar on the two federally-funded programs addressing the ongoing health crisis of 9/11, the World Trade Center Health Program and the September 11th Victims Compensation Fund. If you would like more information about the programs and efforts to extend the life of the VCF to 2090, you can attend the session from 6-8pm at the Borough President's office in the Municipal Building. Attendance requires a reservation, which you can make at this link:
Sign-up For VCF Information Session Here
Two bits of good news. The next negotiating session on the main unit contract is set for May 9th. This will be a so-called “technical committee” meeting, involving a smaller number of union and City representatives who will crunch numbers and work toward agreement on such issues as how equity monies will be applied to longevities for OSA-represented titles. The union has also requested additional negotiating sessions in May and we hope to hear from the City on those dates soon.
On the legal front, the Appellate Division of New York State Supreme Court ruled in the union’s favor in a challenge brought by New York City Health+Hospitals. HHC had appealed a lower court ruling that the City’s Office of Collective Bargaining had properly decided that HHC’s Senior Auditors were neither managerial nor confidential. OSA could therefore represent those employees.
HHC argued that the statute that created HHC superceded the Taylor Law, which governs public sector bargaining in New York State. Thankfully, the Appellate Division did not agree.
Finally, we report with sadness that OSART Corresponding Secretary Tony Lee, the union’s longtime Chapter Chair at the Housing Authority, lost his mother, Mary.
We extend our condolences to Tony and his family. The viewing will be Friday, April 26th from 3-7pm at the NG Fook Funeral Home, 36 Mulberry Street in Lower Manhattan. The funeral is Saturday, April 27 at 10am at the same location. Cards may be sent to Tony Lee, 99 Madison Street Apt#4, New York NY 10002.
The newsline will next be updated in two weeks. .
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Negotiations went well last week and both sides came closer on numbers. The City seemed agreeable to our demands for more money for our Welfare Fund, to match increases won by other unions and we reduced our demand for added funds for our education benefits.
Most important, the City agreed to our next meeting, set in early May, so we will not have a long hiatus between meetings.
Members who call the newsline regularly are aware that we have already agreed to accept the New York State paid family leave program. At the negotiations last week, we asked when the program will be implemented. The City had no answer, yet. Once the program is in place, we will let you know on this newsline.
On a separate topic, our union approached the Health Department seeking restoration of Managerial Flex Time for our newly unionized Health Services Managers. We hope to negotiate an alternate work schedule for them but, meanwhile, loss of Managerial Flex is a serious problem for many members. The Health Department was sympathetic, but insisted that the City’s Office of Labor Relations needed to agree if Managerial Flex was restored. We did approach OLR but, at this time, we could not get their agreement. We will continue working on this and related matters.
The newsline will next be updated in two weeks. .
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The Mayor and the Governor have now publicly and abjectly apologized for their past behavior and have offered us a two hundred percent raise in both pay and benefits. And now you know, of course, that this has to be the April Fools Day newsline.
More seriously, we are in actual negotiations today. Last week, we accepted the City’s offers on two benefit issues. The City had offered us some added help to members of the staff affected by 9/11. Also, we were given one of our bargaining demands in advance in that we will now be eligible for financial help if we are taking family medical leave. Details are on our website as to the new program.
Even so, the fact that we have agreed does not mean that the benefit is in effect. It will not be in effect until the City implements it. We will notify members when it is available.
This week, we are getting some answers from the City on how much each of our financial demands costs versus the funds available.
We do not expect to conclude negotiations for a few more meetings but, at least, meetings are coming closer together.
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