OSAunion

OSA Political Action Committee (OSA PAC)

OSA has resisted the need for a Political Action Committee (PAC) for a very long time. Unlike many other unions, OSA has not put its efforts into fundraising for political affairs. We have been remiss.

Our democratic government is distorted by the current system of campaign financing, but it is the existing law for now. In effect, all parties must pay to play. Candidates must meet huge postage, printing and phone bills or else they can not seriously run for office. Citizens in turn either help the candidates overcome these costs or else it is difficult to attract legislators' attention to our issues.

Many other unions can and do spend large amounts on lobbying and still more on supporting favored candidates. The recent success of a joint effort of State and City unions to improve our pensions shows just how well such investment can pay off.

You are being asked to support our union's lobbying efforts through a bi-weekly contribution to the OSA PAC. The money will be used, subject to the approval of the union's executive board to support candidates who help either our members or workers in general.

When there is a question of a tax cut for business versus a pension increase for City workers, we can expect newspaper editorials in favor of the tax cut, commentary by the Manhattan Institute in favor of the tax cut, and lobbying by corporations for the tax cut etc. All of this occurred this time, has occurred in the past and will occur in the future. We will favor better salaries for the underpaid, decent, hard working civil servants, fair treatment, better health benefits and pensions and even a rare, once in a life time sabbatical. If a member is found who opposes such goals, that member should not join nor give money to our PAC.

If, however, our goals seem agreeable, members need not fear the PAC monies being spent on issues unrelated to labor since our intention is to be narrowly focused on advancing the welfare of our active and retired members.

There are five levels of membership based upon the size of the sacrifice a member chooses.

Committee Member	$39 a year or	$ 1.50 biweekly
Block Captain	$65 a year or	$2.50 biweekly
District Leader	$97.50 a year or	$3.75 biweekly
Inner Circle	$130 a year or	$5.00 biweekly
Grand Poobah	$260 a year or	$10.00 biweekly

The first three levels are based on OSA's history. OSA's dues level started at $2 per year in 1970, but the City's current fee for "checkoff" would now absorb such an amount entirely. By the mid-1970's OSA's voluntary dues were $39 annually. Later, there was a dollar increase biweekly ($65 a year) and later yet by the late 1980's the dues had risen to $97.50 annually. We went to .007 of salary after achieving union status.

As is traditional there are premiums.

At the Committee Member level, all members get a choice of a small desk clock, a paper clip holder, an erasable OSA note board with magnet backing, an OSA mug, or six OSA pens.

At the Block Captain level, you can choose two of the above and, in addition, either the OSA umbrella, the attractive OSA electric wall clock, the OSA tote bag, or the (coffee table sized) labor book "Ordinary People, Extraordinary Lives" by Bernhardt and Bernstein.

If you are able to manage the District Leader level, you can choose any three of the Committee Member level premiums, and any two of the Block Captain level.

If you wish to join the Inner Circle, you can choose any four premiums from the Committee Member level, plus all three of the Block Captain level.

Should you choose to go the entire distance and become a Grand Poobah, you will be treated - once a year - to an evening at OSA, meeting with the union leadership and some of those elected officials who we are backing.

Both Inner Circle and Grand Poobah memberships may also be invited on occasion to attend a "rubber chicken dinner." A "rubber chicken dinner" is an affair thrown by politicians to raise funds. Rubber chicken dinners are held in swell locations full of well-dressed folks who are very, very friendly.

Unfortunately, after one's hundreth rubber chicken dinner, the joy pales. If you are generous enough to be willing to join the Inner Circle or to become a Grand Poobah, you are exactly the sort that will be very welcome at any politician's rubber chicken dinner. Taken in moderation, rubber chicken dinners are a nice way to spend an evening, may be the start of your political career and contrary to their name, often provide very good food.

Please click here to download the OSA PAC description and complete the coupon with the level of your contribution. It will be treated as your voluntary deduction approval coupon. Your name and amount of deduction will then be sent to the Office of Payroll Administration.

To download the OSA PAC contribution coupon, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader installed on the hard drive of your computer. This allows you to print out an exact copy of the form. If you do not have Acrobat Reader, click here to go to the Adobe site to download the program.

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