| OSA Newsline - February 28, 2022
The ordinary news is that DCAS has issued the most recent Administrative Staff Analyst list in both alphabetical and list number order. Both are posted on this website. Go to "Exams, Lists and Training" and then scroll down to Administrative Staff Analyst Exam #9058.
This exam list is published, but not established. Thus, the prior exam list #5011 continues to be available for use until March 23, 2022. If DCAS follows through and establishes this list on March 23, 2022, the prior list dies.
The extraordinary news is what is going on in Ukraine. A monster named Vladimir Putin has unleashed war upon innocent people. Everything else pales to insignificance alongside that fact. Let us hope that our country can draw together at this time.
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The third Monday in February is Presidents' Day, one of the paid holidays under our Citywide agreement. If, for any reason, you have been assigned to work on Presidents' Day, you may be entitled to holiday premium pay.
Our members at the New York City Transit Authority were recently notified of a ransomware attack against the Kronos timekeeping system. Transit is one of the several thousand clients that use Kronos that were affected by this attack. The Authority has done a good job of communicating with the union and our membership, and we understand there will be a rather large reconciliation process once the system is running normally.
The revised Citywide agreement that was posted to this website last week has since been updated. Please check "Contract Highlights" under "Member Services" on this website to review the newly revised Citywide agreement.
Members in the title of Director, Information Services should please be reminded that we are meeting on Zoom this Tuesday, February 22nd at 6 p.m.
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The union office is closed today in honor of Abraham Lincoln's birthday. Lincoln was quoted as saying "capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is superior to capital and deserves much the higher consideration." I can only reiterate and hope that employers would treat their labor with a higher priority than they do their capital, and their never-ending quest for maximizing profits and productivity.
This website has been updated with our recently signed main unit agreement, which can be reviewed. There is also a new Citywide agreement, which is also on the site now. And, the updated longevity chart for all titles is now available as well. All can be found on the "Member Services" tab under "Contract Highlights."
Welcome to the Associate Directors of Hospitals and the Directors of Information Services, two titles from the Health and Hospitals Corporation that joined the union recently. We held informational sessions and meet-and-greets for both titles and, at the request of our new members, we will be replaying the informational sessions in the coming weeks. The Associate Director of Hospitals replay will be Tuesday, February 15th, at 6 p.m. and the Director of Information Services replay will be Tuesday, February 22nd at 6 p.m. Emails will be going out to all members in those titles with information.
Also at Health and Hospitals, we understand that numerous individuals were notified that their 3% wage increase will be paid on March 4th. If you have not already received your 3% wage increase and you have not been notified about the March 4th date, please contact us.
February 11th was the date targeted by the Mayor to separate from service those individuals who are not fully vaccinated, exempt, or have not signed one of the waivers that were made available. The Municipal Labor Committee, of which OSA is a member, filed a lawsuit earlier this week. They are seeking a temporary injunction against these terminations. The basic contention is that the employees are entitled to due process, with this separation being a violation of law and contract, in that they are being separated from service without due process.
Now, turning to our contract negotiations. Our uniformed Police Department unit just held our third session so far in 2022, earlier this week. Two members of the unit were able to speak at the table at this most recent session, on behalf of their colleagues and co-workers in title. They both did an excellent job conveying their working conditions to the Mayor's Office of Labor Relations. These negotiations are really progressing nicely, and we expect to finalize them sooner rather than later. We are close to the finish line. We have another bargaining session scheduled in three weeks. We hope that will be the last one. We are only waiting for costings to be finalized by the Mayor's Office.
At our Department of Education unit, negotiations are similarly making nice progress as we approach the finish line. We do not believe another session is necessary with DOE, as we held what we believe will be the final session last week, and are now putting pen to paper before we all meet again to add our signatures to the final contract.
Our third negotiations are ongoing at the Transit Authority, and this one, unfortunately, is not progressing as fast as the other two, due to costing delays. The Transit Authority tells us they have only one individual in the entire agency responsible for contract costings. Costing means each side must analyze and calculate the value and cost of each and every benefit that the contract entails. That is the given reason as to why Transit has not yet sat back down at the table with us.
However, I want to reiterate the fact that there is nothing that is a higher priority right now than getting members the money that is owed by this pattern. And we know that Transit, our uniforms at PD, and the Department of Education are all owed their wage increases and we will do everything we can to get this money as soon as possible for all of our members. It is a top priority. I encourage anyone in these units to call when they have questions or for updates.
Finally, Happy Valentine's Day to all who celebrate.
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