UCS VACCINATION POLICY
CSEA will be appearing in Albany County Supreme Court Friday morning regarding the proceeding commenced pursuant to Article 14 of the NYS Civil Service Law. The Union has prepared and filed for injunctive relief made pursuant to Section 209-a of the Civil Service Law. This is an action calling for injunctive relief relating to the vaccine mandate initiated by Chief Judge DiFiore. The injunction request is based on the failure of OCA to negotiate this new term and condition of employment per the Collective bargaining agreement and as such, in direct violation of the Taylor Law.
As stated above our case will be heard on Friday morning. We understand this timeline is cutting it down to the wire, unfortunately the scheduling is out of our hands at this point. Once the Union has a decision on the Supreme Court Case we will immediately notify the membership. It is our hope the NYS Supreme Court will grant CSEA the injunctive relief and force OCA to the table to negotiate the parameters of this new policy. Until we have an answer from the Supreme Court we must follow the policy as set forth from OCA. Any individual who is not vaccinated by the September 27th deadline will have to file for either a medical or religious exemption by 5:00 p.m. on 9/27. There are several concerns we have with the exemption forms and our hope is to correct these items if and when we are able to negotiate them.
Again, once we receive a determination on Friday we will share this information immediately with the membership.
UCS TESTING POLICY
Testing has now been in effect for one week, for every employee that has not been vaccinated. If you are intending to do so, make your vaccination appointment as soon as reasonably possible, in an effort to avoid testing procedures any longer than necessary. If you have been vaccinated be sure to upload your required documents in order to be excluded from mandatory testing.
I have been made aware of multiple issues regarding the lack of information regarding test type on proof being submitted to OCA. Please be advised, if the results you are provided do not specify the type of test administered and you are unable to obtain documentation clarifying the same from the testing facility, members should affirm [write, sign, date] on the results document that it was an acceptable test per FN 1 in the 9-1-21 Memo (attached), i.e., not an antigen or antibody test. this is the same way you affirm the date you were tested.
Please continue to Keep track of your time used over the one hour and proof of the need for a longer time period (example: no test site or appointments in your area or travel route to or from work). If there is a cost associated with testing, keep your receipts. Most of the testing should be covered by insurance. Keep a detailed log of travel and time spent to have testing done. Keep in mind this log and information will be needed once OCA is brought to the table to negotiate with us.
DEFERRED COMP
Dan Kain will be hosting NYS Deferred Compensation Plan Enrollment and Retirement webinars later this month. Please use the links below to register for the webinars.
To register for one or more of the webinars, you may click on the links below:
Enrollment Webinars: (In this webinar you will learn about Deferred Compensation and how it can help you save for retirement as well as how to enroll)
Wednesday, September 29, 2021 12:00 pm
https://nationwidepcsales.webex.com/nationwidepcsales/onstage/g.php?MTID=ecc274b89b484a202720c7f3d66f9f0c3
Pre-Retirement Webinars: (We will go over how to calculate your NYS Pension, how and when to withdraw Deferred Compensation Funds, the taxes involved with doing so and much more)
Thursday, September 30, 2021 10:00 am
https://nationwidepcsales.webex.com/nationwidepcsales/onstage/g.php?MTID=e23a30ca5de00fbae414bfb478dd5bbd7
Use this link to schedule a phone appointment with Dan:
http://dankainphoneappointment.myRetirementAppt.com
LAST CALL SYRACUSE METS
Order your tickets now for the Syracuse Mets vs. the Buffalo Bisons game on Thursday, September 30th, 6:35 p.m. at NBT Bank Stadium in Syracuse. We will be on the Party Deck and admission will include an all-you-can eat picnic from 6:35-8:30 p.m. and our own cash bar. Tickets will not be mailed and can be picked up at the Group Will Call, window #7 at the box office, between 5:30 and 7:00 p.m. the evening of the event. Order your tickets today before they run out – limited seating! Reservations must be received by September 23rd. See the attached flyer and registration form for further information.