| OSA Newsline -- June 30, 2020
There were two meetings of the Municipal Labor Committee this week. Both the Steering Committee and the General Membership meetings dealt with topics related to the coronavirus.
The Mayor's announcement of 22,000 layoffs for October took center stage and our lawyers and the more experienced leaders told of possibilities and prior history.
There are no layoffs set in stone at present but, between federal aid, or the lack of it, state aid, or the loss of it, and the City's own uncertain financial future, there is concern.
There may be aid from Washington or Albany may allow us special borrowing authority at this time or things may just get better.
If not, we have set up a committee to work with the Mayor's office seeking to obtain an extensive early retirement package.
Harry Nespoli, Chair of the Municipal Labor Committee, has made clear that he will speak to the Labor Relations Commissioner about the need to resolve open contracts (like our own) before addressing the City's needs.
For that, he has our thanks.
Another related item. Some members have called in to inquire if our stalled contract would impact their retirement. The answer to that is no, unless the eventually signed contract specifically excluded them. The existing pattern contains no such exclusionary provisions. If we get our contract at last, then the raises are still due to them.
Finally, one last related item. The transfer of our members from School Safety in the Police Department to the Department of Education was done to satisfy the protestors seeking to defund or reduce the police budget.
If there seems to be a logical disconnect here, there is one. What does police brutality have to do with the transfer of School Safety Officers from one budget line to another? Nothing at all, as far as we can see.
We are concerned on behalf of our members who serve in the highest ranks of the School Safety establishment and we will be reaching out to Labor Relations to ensure no loss of benefits or coverage.
Check back after July 10th.
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Last week, we reported on an early retirement package being considered by Albany. Our opinion was that the current bills would not be the ones that would be passed. However, given the fiscal crisis caused by the coronavirus, we did expect some such bills soon as a way of avoiding layoffs.
Then, early last week, the Mayor began to publicly discuss a need for 22,000 layoffs by September - if no help comes from Washington.
So, our timing was good.
The Steering Committee of the Municipal Labor Committee will meet on Monday and the General Membership on Tuesday. OSA will have our representatives at both meetings. A special Newsline update will be recorded after the MLC General Membership meeting.
This is a serious time for us in many ways, but we do have hope that we can mitigate the damage through the use of "early out" retirements and so forth. If the Mayor is correct and we have until September before he needs to act, we should have the time to improve the outcomes.
Check back again after Tuesday.
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The last early retirement offer was eighteen years ago and was the result of tax revenues lost due to 9/11. Members have frequently asked the union about the next early out. Our answer, based on history, has always been the same. The City does not offer incentives for staff to retire unless the City is in financial difficulty.
Now, due to the coronavirus and its impact on the City and State economy, there is talk of a buyout. Two bills have been submitted in Albany addressing this subject.
Members are cautioned that drafting of a bill does not assure passage of that bill and, even if a bill does pass, it may be changed between first draft and final law.
The fiscal needs of the City and State are now dependent on help from Washington and, if that does not go through, our situation will be dire. All of this makes a buyout or early out more likely. The one obvious conclusion from such talk is that members unsure about retirement at this moment might want to wait and see what next month brings.
We will have more on this by next week's newsline.
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There are more and more agencies asking workers sheltering at home to return to work. Often, the City seeks volunteers - and this is ideal. In other cases, the worker is just told to report.
If you are ordered in to work, you do have the right to object in certain circumstances.
Our grievance team has had a lot of success in helping workers who have a serious underlying health condition. Also, those who reside with an elderly relative or spouse or someone with a serious underlying condition, may also be given extra consideration. The final category of frequent appeals is those workers who have child care problems that make reporting difficult or impossible.
If you are called and feel it is a really bad idea for you to report, call the union. On the one hand, our City has been generous in allowing widespread sheltering in place. On the other, as we begin to reopen, those most at risk should speak up.
Finally, those who are able to work from home should be allowed to continue to do so, whenever possible. If you are called in to work and feel you were doing fine working from home, you can call either your boss or, if that does not work, the union grievance office. We are really hoping that many of our members will be allowed to work from home until we know it is safe to go out.
Now, to the other side of the equation.
Many of our members have been considered essential workers, required to go to work, often in the worst of circumstances. Two messages from the NYC Health and Hospitals Corporation address that issue.
The first concerns vacations. HHC is encouraging workers to take - and bosses to approve - vacations at this time. Dr. Katz feels you probably need the break to recharge your own health. Also, HHC is fearful of a resurgence of the virus in the Fall and so this might be the only chance this year.
Also, since burials and memorials have been upended by the plague, HHC is offering a variation on bereavement leave. Normally, one gets four days off with pay to cope with the death of a close family member. Some might now prefer to put off those days until travel is safer and more convenient. The Hospitals will approve such requests at this time.
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The tragic death of George Floyd brought sorrow to our nation. There were many videos covering the incident and, for those of us at home watching those videos, the details seem to be all too clear.
This newsline is not a place for a lengthy discussion on this topic, but there will be a summer mailing. Meanwhile, our hearts go out to his family. This was wrong.
Members have reached out to the union, puzzled by the news about the Sanitationmen's Union contract and the Correction Officers as well.
Actually, as was stated in the news articles for each, the agreements were in place before mid-March. The first was delayed by Sanitation union head Harry Nespoli coming down with a severe case of the coronavirus. The second, Corrections, was rejected by the members of that union, retooled slightly, and sent out for a new vote.
OSA is still awaiting the City to offer to resume and settle. The City is awaiting federal aid or other sources of funds.
Meanwhile, life goes on, sort of, and our welfare fund trustees have taken a needed step to respond to the secondary effects of the virus.
Few of our members have been seeking dental care, recently, out of fear of the disease. That just piles up needed dental work. So, we are considering how to respond to the next dental year starting on July 1. One change, just now put into place, is that the trustees voted to add reimbursement for
extra fees that dentists will be charging in response to new, post-virus changes in their practices.
There will be more changes made in response to the effects of the pandemic, but we will need to see what has been happening, in detail, in order to know what to do about it.
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Our City is spending money faster than it is coming in due to the health crisis caused by the coronavirus. We have rainy day funds put aside for such emergencies, but only up to a point. We are reaching that point and going past it soon.
Thus, for economic reasons, we should reopen the City, yet, as we are learning from our daily newscasts, the virus is still with us and those places fully reopening are seeing a resurgence of the plague.
We are hoping for federal aid, but it may not come and it may not be enough to take us over this extended crisis. We are examining other options.
The Municipal Labor Committee has written the Mayor confirming our support for his request for federal aid, but also raising the possibility of a bond issue to cover the needs of this crisis.
We know that our City was doing well before the crisis and that we will do well again once this has passed. New York City was able to repay the bond issues that got us through the 1975 crisis and we will be able to repay any bonds taken out in this crisis.
Our unions helped the City avoid going under in 1975 and we stand ready to do so again. You can read the MLC's letter to the mayor by clicking this link.
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