Transport Workers Union Local 100 has 568 members on strike since the beginning of March. The lines on strike cover the Westchester company called Liberty. The issue, however, is health givebacks and pension givebacks and are the same as we are facing in New York City.

If you can afford a few dollars to contribute to support the strike, please send your check to OSA at 220 East 23rd Street, Suite 707, New York NY 10010. Make the check out to the TWU Local 100 Strike Fund.

It is suggested that you might send a check for $11.36 or your two cents in support of each of the 568 workers on strike. Of course, you can send more and, if enough of us contribute, we can at least keep the strikers in coffee and donuts as they walk the cold picket lines each day. Mark the envelope "attention Bob Croghan."

Our own training course for Administrative Analyst is nearly ready to go. Tuesday and Wednesday evenings are now filled to capacity. If you have not yet registered either send the form in or, if you have lost the form, you can download another by clicking here.

Don't forget, the general membership meeting is at the OSA office this Thursday evening at 6pm sharp. See you there.

Members eligible to file for the Administrative Staff Analyst exam must do so by this Tuesday, March 22nd.

An earlier version of this newsline erred and stated close of filing was Friday. The OSA membership is as sharp or sharper than the leadership, so correction came quickly. By the time 24 members had called the incorrect tape and it had been pulled for correction, three of the twenty four who had called, called in to tell us we used the wrong date and the correct date was Tuesday.

A big thank you to those who called so promptly. And lets go back to what the tape said with the correct date of Tuesday the 22nd.

Some members have asked if it is worth their while to bother taking the exam since the promotional increase is not very large. The answer is yes. The permanent position of Administrative Staff Analyst carries a relatively small promotional increase in salary, but you do not lose union coverage and you are better placed, in regards to title, for later advancement.

Whether or not you choose to attend the training sessions, you should definitely file and take the exam, if you are eligible to do so. No one can say, in advance, whether you will want a promotion a year or two from now. It is always better if you have as many options as possible.

A meeting was held last week by the Health Technical Subcommittee of the Municipal Labor Committee. At the meeting, GHI representatives made a presentation of GHI's plans to accommodate Medicare Part D. The healthcare provider outlined three possible plans that may be offered to replace the current Senior Care plan.

None of the details are final, as of yet, but what we have will be shared at this month's membership meeting. The three choices tentatively being offered would cost retirees either nothing, if the union provides the drugs, or $50 a month if a limited drug coverage plan was chosen, or $125 a month if an unlimited drug coverage plan was to be chosen. Since the current GHI drug rider for seniors costs about $170 a month, there would actually be a savings under even the most expensive of the plans being offered in the future.

Members will have plenty of time to consider the options, which is good. The underlying problem of the ever-increasing cost of drugs is not being addressed by this infusion of federal funds, which is not so good.

Work on the preparation for the Administrative Staff Analyst Exam training course went into high gear last week. Course administrator Sheila Gorsky has found teachers from among our experienced cadre for most topics. She still needs a few good specialists to teach certain topics.

If you are both able to teach and are very experienced with statistics, budget and contracts, policy implementation or organizational research call Sheila Gorsky at 212-686-1229.

Most other news is in our newsletter which you should be receiving this weekend. There are a few typos in the newsletter, which we will now correct on the website version. Next time we'll try to read it one last time before it goes to the mailing house.

If you don't receive the mail by Wednesday, call Noreen at the union office and she will send you a duplicate and check your mailing address.