Some members have called regarding last week’s newsline. Since, next week, on March 8th, we have our second, long-awaited bargaining session, the newsline expressed the hope that a third session would come more quickly.
In response, some members called to ask why we would need a third session at all. Fair question.
The answer lies in the collective bargaining process established in the latter half of the last century.
To an extent, the traditional process can resemble a ritual dance. First, the City meets with the largest union. In practice, this is always either DC37 or the UFT.
Each bargaining session is held in front of dozens of representatives of labor and management. The first session is given over to union demands and to City counter-demands, if any.
Thereafter, each side studies the demands of the other side and, at the second session, responds. More details may be sought and positions clarified.
This process can go on for many sessions before both sides reach agreement. In some cases, there are few major issues and both sides agree quickly. There are also times when, the negotiations are dragged out or even impossible to resolve.
Mayor Bloomberg ‘s negotiations during his last term in office were a case of “impossible to resolve.” He offered nothing and wanted give backs. We refused his demands and we simply waited until term limits forced him out of office.
Most often, negotiations do eventually lead to agreements, and DC37 was able to reach agreement on the next contract by June of 2018. That set the current fiscal pattern.
The next step was for all the remaining unions to negotiate their own contracts, but the City has to find the time and personnel to deal with each of the other unions. This did not happen quickly over the past summer (when nothing was scheduled by the City) and the fall only saw the City coming to the table once, in spite of our weekly calls to Labor Relations.
March 8th is our second meeting, but we would be surprised if the City planned on agreeing to all of our demands at that session. Thus, we do expect that there will be a third session and perhaps more, but for this contract we are not expecting the sort of dragged out fight we experienced in 2015.
The old line that “it takes two to tango” is true here, but our demands are less ambitious than put forth in 2015, so we are hoping for a quicker resolution.
If you are interested in this topic, and want to learn more, you are urged to sign up for our Activists Classroom Training next month.
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We hope you enjoy your Presidents Day holiday.
The City has now agreed to a date to pick up negotiations in the second week in March. We do not expect any surprises in this session. In the first session, OSA made its demands and answered the City’s questions on those demands.
If all goes as expected on this occasion, we would expect the City to tentatively agree to most of our financial demands up to but not beyond the established fiscal pattern. They will also be asking more questions about our other demands and perhaps peremptorily rejecting some of them.
All this is normal progress, slow but steady, and it is how our City carries out its contract negotiations.
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We had bad news last week, with our loss of Organization of Staff Analysts and Related Titles (OSART) Treasurer Michael Falzarano.
Mike’s support and activity on behalf of his fellow Analysts goes back to the late 1970s. His most recent victory was as a part of the team that added 600 Education Analysts to the United Federation of Teachers. We will all miss him.
We also had some good news towards the end of last week.
The New York State Nurses Association has withdrawn its petition to accrete sixty Administrative Nurses employed by MetroPlus. That action will speed up the coming of the long-sought collective bargaining election that will bring union rights and protections to the MetroPlus nurses.
Finally, we now have some dates from the City for resuming our main contract negotiations. There was a long break during the holidays, but now the City has agreed to dates in late February and on into March. Good.
Please note that the union office will be closed for Lincoln’s Birthday on Tuesday, February 12th, as we do each year.
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Mike was a serviceman, first as a sailor on active duty and later as a soldier in the Army Reserves. His City employment started out with the Police Department, but since that agency was moving the Associate Staff Analyst list too slowly, he moved to the Human Resources Administration. There, he moved up, eventually to Administrative Staff Analyst Level M2.
Mike leaves behind his beloved Marie and his stepson Danny.
Viewing will be at the Hanley Funeral Home at 60 New Dorp Lane on Staten Island. Hours are Wednesday 2 - 4pm and 7 - 9pm. The funeral mass will be at St. Charles Church, 644 Clawson Street in the Oakwood section of Staten Island at 10:15am on Thursday.
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Our union was saddened to learn of the passing this week of Michael Falzarano, a member of our Executive Board. Mike's activity with the Organization of Staff Analysts goes back to the 1970s and he was an active member from the start. He first held office in OSA as union treasurer in the 1980s and at the time of his passing he was the treasurer of OSART.
We were surprised and pleased that a half hundred of our dedicated union members braved this winter’s coldest day to attend last week’s membership meeting.
Members and activists met our newly elected or re-elected officers and there were reports on the alternate work schedule and our grievance on longevity awards.
It was cold out, but the warmth of fellowship at the union office balanced it nicely.
If you'd like to listen to this week's newsline as an audio file, click on this link: