| OSA Newsline -- December 20, 2021
It was a lovely holiday party, with over 400 members and guests in attendance. Our attendance was down from pre-COVID levels, but since COVID is not fully gone, that was no surprise.
The Medicare Advantage issue has been delayed until next year for our retirees, which is good. We will see how Mayor Adams handles it.
A holiday gift from DCAS, the old Associate Staff Analyst list #5014 which expired has now been resurrected and will be extended to August 2022. The new list #9061 will not be used until then. However, the new promotional ASA list will be used and has been sent to all agencies. Please call Sheila at the OSA office at 212-686-1229 and let her know when your agency calls the promotional list.
Merry Christmas for those celebrating it and a Happy New Year for us all.
Normally, news slows down a bit for the last couple of weeks of the year so please check back for an update next year.
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| OSA Newsline -- December 13, 2021
Any member contacted to go to a hiring pool should call OSA Executive Director Sheila Gorsky to let her know. The union tries to police all these pools for fairness, but we need your help.
The Open Competitive Associate Staff Analyst list from the exam given in September 2019 has now been published. The lists, in score and alphabetical order are posted on this website on the "Exams,Lists and Training" page. (Update 12/20/21: However, DCAS has now informed us that the old Open Competitive list from Associate Staff Analyst exam #5014 has now been resurrected through August of 2022 and the new list will not be called until then.)
Also, we have been notified that the vaccine mandate for City employees is still in force. There were erroneous reports of a stay by the court in the press. The issue is, however, still before the court.
Now for some positive news, many of our members have reported receipt of their raises and retro monies. Many others are still waiting of course.
One group no longer for the right to be represented by a union are the Directors of Information Services. 54 of them were sent letters last Thursday welcoming them to OSA.
Also this month, our twelve year fight to represent the Associate Directors of Hospitals has finally been won. 320 Associates will be added to our collective bargaining unit this month as well.
Finally, we hope to see many of you at the Holiday Party this Thursday. Tickets can still be bought at the union office Monday and Tuesday and Wednesday for cash or a money order. Please call first.
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| OSA Newsline -- December 6, 2021
Long before OSA was even formed, unions were cautioning their members: "Do not spend it until you get it." The "it" they were referring to was the retroactive back pay that came from City contracts always being negotiated after the fact.
And now, again, it has happened. Our union gets dates for arrival of raises and back monies. We give out those dates, and, often, for many of our members, it all comes through as predicted.
Using the words "often" and "many" signals the reality that raises and retroactive monies do not always come on time.
This time we have reports of late payments from more than one Agency, but in most cases we are assured it is coming soon. However in HHC over one hundred members have been notified that their retroactive money may be deferred to as late as January 21st of next year.
If you have been affected personally, first check with your Agency, and if they can't give you any information, you can call the union office. You will get the money, but the delays are upsetting.
We did get some good news on the vaccine booster shots. The City will now give you four hours to go and get the booster. In the unlikely case that you have a flu-like reaction, you can get an extension of a few days to recover. Check with your Agency or, if this is a problem, call our grievance office.
More good news. The Directors of Information Services of New York City Health+Hospitals are now mostly members of OSA and entitled to due process and paid overtime. The bad news is that Health+Hospitals has not yet sent us recent home addresses, so we can't send mail to our newest members. By next week, we hope to be able to do so.
Another bit of good news is that it seems the court has delayed implementation of the new Medicare Advantage program until next year. If that goes unchanged, Mayor Adams will get to weigh in on the new plan.
Finally, our first date for collective bargaining for our Uniformed Forces Unit has been set for January 5th.
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