| OSA Newsline - December 25, 2023
Ukraine still Lives.
The OSA main unit agreement ratification ballots were mailed to all members last week, and members have already begun to receive them. If you have not received the agreement and your ratification ballot by the end of this week, please call Sheila at the union office. All ballots must be received by the union no later than January 19, 2024 to be counted.
You can read the tentative agreement by clicking on the following link:
Main Unit Memorandum of Agreement 2021-2027
OSA is currently in negotiations on behalf of the union's Public Advocate's Office unit, and will be starting the next round of bargaining on behalf of the union's Transit Authority unit on January 11th.
Happy Holidays to all!
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| OSA Newsline - December 18, 2023
Ukraine still Lives.
The 2021-2027 Main Unit Agreement, along with ratification ballots, are set to be mailed out by the end of this week. Once received, members can review the agreement, and should vote as soon as possible. The ballot must be received by the union no later than close of business on January 19, 2024.
Thank you to all of the members who attended the OSA holiday party last week at Terrace on the Park. If you took pictures and are willing to share them, please email your photos to Megan Wofsy at mwofsy@osaunion.org. They may be published on the OSA website or elsewhere.
The NYC Department of Aging and the NYC Administration for Children's Services have asked OSA to help promote certain "hard to fill" positions within the Associate Staff Analyst and Administrative Staff Analyst lines. You can find information about two positions at ACS and one at DFTA at the links below. Please follow the instructions to apply, if you think you might be a suitable candidate.
Deputy Director, LGBTQ+ Equity (ACS)
Deputy Director, Race Equity (ACS)
Senior Operations & Projects Specialist (DFTA)
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| OSA Newsline - December 11, 2023
Ukraine still Lives.
This week, we have good news concerning the main unit agreement and an update on the OSA holiday party.
Our Impasse filing was a success, and we now have the 2021-2027 main unit agreement in writing. The agreement will be delivered to the mailing house vendor this week, along with ballots for the ratification process. Every dues paying member can expect to receive a copy of the agreement, along with a ballot and a return envelope. Please cast your vote and return the ballot in the enclosed envelope as soon as possible.
This agreement includes five separate wage increases. The first three increases are retroactive, and the remaining two are prospective. Once the agreement is signed and implemented, covered members will receive a 3% increase retroactive to September 2021, an additional 3% increase retroactive to September 2022 and a third 3% increase retroactive to September 2023. In total, this equates to a sizable retroactive payment for most members, and a 9.27% wage increase going forward. There will also be an additional 3% increase in September 2024 and a 3.25% increase in September of 2025.
This agreement also includes a $3,000 ratification bonus payable to all members who are on active payroll as of the date of ratification. The agreement will also insert OSA into the Citywide Remote Work Pilot, finally allowing mayoral agencies to grant remote and telework opportunities to OSA members.
The bargaining team wants to again thank the membership for its support throughout these negotiations. We truly appreciate every member that took the time to call, email, or otherwise participate in the process. It is thanks to our experienced leadership and our loyal membership that we once again have a contract that goes above and beyond what the Mayor had originally offered to us. Kudos to the team, and congratulations to the members.
In celebration, the annual OSA holiday party is this Thursday, December 14th, at Terrace on the Park in Flushing Meadows. The response to our holiday party has been overwhelming and all available tickets have been sold out. Unfortunately, this means that we are unable to accommodate any additional attendees and no tickets will be available at the door. For those who were fortunate enough to secure tickets, get ready for an evening of fun. We can't wait to celebrate with you.
Happy Holidays.
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| OSA Newsline - December 4, 2023
Ukraine still Lives and we are hoping for peace in the Middle East
Our union began the impasse process in October because we were distressed by the delays caused by the City over the course of negotiations. The impasse process itself takes time, but does offer a finite conclusion. Moreover, we did not feel that we were far apart in this case, if only the City would cease its delay.
We were able to report at last Thursday's General Membership Meeting that the first stage of impasse went well. Our mediation between the union and the City, with the Office of Collective Bargaining mediating, reached tentative agreement quickly.
The numbers are now definite at last. The City has agreed to add $839 per year per member to our Welfare Fund at the close of the five-and-a-half-year contract. This should enable our union to start to plan for the addition of a prescription drug benefit without diminishing any of our existing benefits.
We are awaiting receipt of a Memorandum of Understanding from the Office of Labor Relations. We will also begin work on preparing a mail ballot so the members can vote to accept or reject the offer.
The negotiating team does believe that we could have done a bit better had we gone through the entire impasse process, but not enough better as to justify the delay.
This was especially true for this contract, since the City had tied discussions of work from home to the contract, not to mention the $3,000 pensionable signing bonus.
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