| OSA Newsline - March 28, 2022
We will start off with some very good news. The staff of the Office of the Public Advocate has chosen to join the Organization of Staff Analysts.
It is an extremely rare occurrence when a group of workers decide, on their own, to form a union. Our own history includes a moment in 1970 when twelve Personnel Examiners formed what later became the Organization of Staff Analysts. Later, it was the top ranks of School Safety and Traffic Enforcement who self-organized and joined OSA as a group.
Now, once again, we have been chosen by like-minded individuals to join forces as union brothers and sisters.
Jumaane Williams, our Public Advocate, has expressed support for the staff decision and we are requesting voluntary recognition for the group.
Our next news is from Municipal Labor Committee. Chairperson Harry Nespoli has asked that Mayor Adams reconsider the plight of over 1400 Civil Servants who were forced to leave the job rather than accept vaccination. If the Mayor is now allowing a waiver of the vaccine requirement for popular sports players, it seems only fair to extend this to the rank and file workers.
Also, if you personally had good news and were recently promoted or appointed to the position of either Associate or Administrative Staff Analyst by way of an exam list or hiring pool, please call Sheila Gorsky at the union office.
Management does not always keep us informed and our union does need to know what is happening. Calling Sheila to tell her of your appointment helps us keep management honest.
Remember, the job you protect is your own.
One final bit of news concerns Ukraine.
One year after Putin seized the Crimea and Donbass sections of Ukraine, a series about the Ukrainian president began to air on TV.
The show was a comedy about a history teacher who stumbled into the presidency of the country. It starred an unassuming young man named Zelensky. The show attacked Ukrainian political corruption in every episode and was really quite funny.
Even funnier, it led to actor Zelensky being run for the real presidency of Ukraine and his eventual victory, with 73% of the vote.
Now, as President, Zelensky leads the country in resisting a renewed assault by Russia. Netflix is airing, with subtitles, the original series.
If you have Netflix, or have a friend who does, the series "Servant of the People" is hilarious and very, very topical. Watch just one episode and you may well get hooked.
Ukraine still lives.
Our negotiations are going well. We are close to closing on our Department of Education negotiation. Our Uniformed Forces at the Police Department are not so close, but there has been good progress.
Our slowest area is the Transit Authority, but we are hopeful there also.
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Ukraine still lives. That has to be the best news this week.
Less important, but still important, is that we have a Zoom meeting on Tuesday, this week, at 1 PM, for candidates for appointment to the title of Administrative Staff Analyst
The salary and longevity issues for this title are complicated and should be understood before attending either an Open Competitive or a Promotional hiring pool.
In order to attend the meeting, please send an email request to examtraining@osaunion.org. You will receive sign in information by email.
If you would like to listen to this newsline as an audio file, please click on this link:
The ordinary news starts with the startling delay of the NYC Medicare Advantage Plus plan for our Medicare-eligible retirees. The NYCMAP plan was supposed to start on April 1st, but it is now on hold.
The plan was originally supposed to start on July 1, 2021, but was delayed until January 1st of this year and then again delayed, due to court action, to April 1st. Now it is further delayed, with no start date. There will be more details in the mailing that will follow.
The next news is very important for those of our members who are on the Administrative Staff Analyst lists. The promotional list is already being used and the open competitive list will be established on March 23rd.
Our union will be holding a briefing about the title on Zoom on Tuesday, March 15th, between 1 pm and 2 pm. There are details related to longevity and the new minimum salaries that will be of interest.
If you plan to participate in the virtual meeting, please register by sending an email to examtraining@osaunion.org. You will receive sign-in information for the session by email.
This service is the first time we have tried this remotely, so we will see how it works.
Also, our negotiations are proceeding for the Transit Authority and our Uniformed Forces unit this month. We are awaiting a response from the Department of Education as well.
Finally, we are delighted to welcome hundreds of new brothers and sisters to OSA this month. We first began to respond to a request to be organized by the Associate Directors of Hospitals a dozen years ago. That makes winning collective bargaining rights for this title our single longest campaign since the original Staff Analyst campaign. That first one took 22 years in total.
Welcome to our new Associate Directors.
The extraordinary news is that Ukraine still holds out against incredible odds. We should all be united in our support of these brave people.
If you would like to listen to this newsline as an audio file, please click on this link:
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