We got a bit of good news last week. The Associate Staff Analyst list, published recently, will now be certified to City agencies in August. We can look forward to hiring pools by September. We expect the list to move very quickly as it is a short list.

Also, the Transit Authority contract has been approved by the MTA board, so the TA will now work on a timetable for implementation of the raises and payment of the retroactive monies due. As soon as we know when that might be, we will let you know. But, as always, given the chance of administrative delays, don't spend it til you've received it.

Since things generally slow down during the summer, the newsline will now be updated on a bi-weekly schedule.

As a point of information, we've recently updated the Contract Highlights page of the Member Services section of this website to reflect the current minimums and maximums for OSA represented titles as of February 13, 2007, along with the longevities that will be in place August 24, 2008. We hope to have a finalized copy of the 2006-2008 local unit agreement on that page shortly as a PDF file, as well as the current salaries for our represented titles in the Transit Authority.

For most, but not all years, there is a slowdown of activity as summer approaches. This past week was relatively quiet, with no major news to report and, if the trend continues, we will go to a biweekly newsline schedule after next week.

The Associate Staff Analyst list came out last week. The list will be established and given to the agencies shortly and we do expect hiring pools to follow soon thereafter. If you are sent a letter calling you to a pool, call Mike Schady at the union office at (212) 686-1229 to both let us know about the pools and for last minute tips on answers to questions.

The final answer key and the list itself can be found on this website on the "Current Campaigns and Updates" page.

Our Transit Authority members voted last week to accept the 2006-2008 contract. The contract generally followed the main union pattern and was approved by a vote of 122 in favor, four opposed, and one invalid ballot. Thanks again to the negotiations team in the Transit Authority.

Richie Guarino passed away on Tuesday, June 10th. Members know Richie from his work as OSA’s favorite pension counselor or as a grievance representative. He was also the union treasurer and a friend for 40 years and more.

The wake will be held at Marine Park Funeral Home, 3024 Quentin Road, Brooklyn. The remaining hours are 7 to 9pm on Thursday and at 9:15am sharp on Friday morning.

The church service follows at 10:15am on Friday at Good Shepherd Church at Avenue “S” between Batchelder and Browne Street.

For directions the numbers are 718-339-8900 (funeral home) and 718-998-2800 (church).

Our loss is beyond measure.

It is a busy week for hearings on the City’s plan to reduce the number of provisional employees in service. On Tuesday, the New York State Civil Service Commission has its hearing and, on Wednesday, it is the turn of the City Council. OSA’s position, in line with the Civil Service Merit Council and other City unions, is totally against the City’s plan.

For one thing, the City’s plan fails to promise a citywide list for promotional exams. The failure to embrace a citywide list shows the City is in no way sincere in its plan. The plan’s proposals, instead, argue against competitive testing in category after category.

OSA chairperson Bob Croghan is to join with our executive director, Sheila Gorsky, in speaking before the State. Vice-chairperson Tom Anderson will speak before Joe Addabbo’s committee of the City Council. These should be interesting hearings as pretty much all of the unions don’t like the City’s plan and many will be speaking on it.

Oops. A mailing was sent out for a vote on contract ratification by our Transit Authority members. The mailing was sent out on May 29th. Along with the proposed contract was a letter describing the recently completed negotiations. The two page letter mentioned the contract extension through September 30th of this year but used the wrong number of days. On the initial draft, “36 days” had been written using numbers, but the typist did not notice the 6 and so typed in the word “three.” The letter was subsequently proofread, but not by the author and the error was not caught. The next day, a follow-up letter correcting the first letter was sent. Our apologies to our members in transit. The only excuse for the error was the need for speed to get the contract out for a vote, but sometimes haste makes waste.