Csba Attorneys

05/27/2026

Here's more information on the CSBA Board of Directors election: If you do not receive your ballot by Tuesday June 2, you may either call AAA's Duplicate Hotline 1-800-529-5218 or email Sacha Ulerio at [email protected]. Important: The deadline for their receipt of your ballot is Thursday June 18 at 10AM.

AAA is scheduled to commence the ballot count at 11AM on June 18 at their offices at 120 Broadway, Concourse Level, New York, NY. FYI - AAA normally certifies the results of our elections in writing on either the same day or the day following completion of the ballot count. A copy of the certification will be available to all upon request.

05/26/2026

Hi All,

The ballots for CSBA Board of Directors are being mailed out today by the American Arbitration Association. Please watch for them in the next couple of days, and carefully follow the enclosed instructions. There are 12 candidates for 7 positions.

Thank you in advance for your participation!

05/18/2026

A couple of reminders:

1. Candidate statements for persons running for the CSBA Board of Directors are due by the close of business this Wednesday May 20th. Statements are optional and can be up to two sides of an 8 1/2" x 11" page.

2. Last call for CSBA Member Surveys! Thank you to the more than one hundred members who have already responded.

05/07/2026

Hi All,

You should be receiving the CSBA Member Survey in the next couple of days. What's new for us is that it can be opened and completed from the convenience of your cellphone. Just scan the QR code included in the letter.

If this method doesn't work for you, please reach out to us at [email protected] and we'll arrange for you to get a more traditional hard copy.

We look forward to discussing the results and the upcoming round of collective bargaining with you at the CSBA Annual Meeting on Tuesday June 23rd.

Thanks as always for your interest and participation!

Best regards,
Saul

05/06/2026

Please be reminded that CSBA Nominations for seven (7) positions on our Board of Directors (Class of 2029) and two (2) positions for Welfare Fund Trustee (Class of 2028) are now open. Nominations end at the conclusion of the Nominations Meeting scheduled for this Tuesday May 12th at 6PM.

You can be nominated in two ways, each of which requires one member in good standing to nominate you, and another to second your nomination. You can either be nominated live (online) at the meeting or ahead of time by emails to [email protected] and to [email protected]. The nominators should indicate their name and agency and that they are a CSBA member in good standing, and what position they are nominating you for.

The link for the Nominations meeting will be sent out either tomorrow or Friday to all who request the link or have been nominated.

Please also be reminded that you need to accept your nomination, either live at the meeting or by email up to the close of business on Friday May 15th.

Thank you as always for your participation and for, where possible, taking the next step to make our union stronger.

Best regards,
Saul

04/08/2026

As announced at our March 31st CSBA Membership Meeting, the Remote Work Program has been extended for (at least) another year, through May 31, 2027.

Tier 6 enhancements towards equalization with the earlier Tier 4 pension tier are being negotiated as part of the now-overdue NYS budget. Although the contemplated funding is inadequate to fully Fix Tier 6, you may be able to contribute a bit less towards your pension and/or be allowed to retire at an earlier age without penalty. Stay tuned, or even better, contact your State Assemblymember and State Senator!

Also mentioned was that our Collective Bargaining Agreement expires on October 17th, and we will be sending out a Member Survey shortly to obtain the maximum possible member input. We definitely want to hear Your priorities and suggestions, and anticipate discussing the results at our Annual Meeting scheduled for Tuesday June 23rd.

Finally, many thanks to all who participated in our well-attended March 31st meeting. Special thanks to our special Guest Speakers prominent labor lawyer Alan M. Klinger of Steptoe LLP and EmblemHealth Senior Vice President George Babitsch, who provided us with a very comprehensive explanation of the new NYCE PPO health insurance for city employees and answered a lot of our questions.

As always, if you have any questions or issues that you would like to bring to our attention, please reach out to us at [email protected]. One of our two Business Agents/ Grievance Advocates or I will almost certainly reply to you within a very short period of time.

Best regards,
Saul

Saul Fishman
CSBA President

03/26/2026

Reminder: The CSBA General Membership Meeting is happening THIS TUESDAY, March 31st at 6PM. We'll be covering a lot of highly relevant topics including Remote Work after the May 31st pilot program expiration date, the latest on what's happening in Albany on Tier 6 pension enhancements, what you should know about the new NYCE PPO city employee Health Insurance [featuring Guest Speaker Alan M. Klinger, Esq., one of its main union negotiators together with a Vice President from EmblemHealth], CSBA Security Benefits Fund (Welfare Fund) updates, a look ahead to Collective Bargaining and much more!

IMPORTANT: You MUST Contact us ([email protected]) between now and Monday afternoon to get the Link to this member-only online event.

I look forward to seeing you there!

Best regards and thanks,
Saul

03/16/2026

Please plan to attend our Tuesday March 31st 6PM virtual CSBA General Membership Meeting. It promises to be a very full and informative meeting. I'll be sharing the latest word on remote work, plans for collective bargaining when our contract expires, and more. Others will provide Welfare Fund benefit, and Health & Safety, Grievance and Outside Counsel updates.

We have two OUTSTANDING speakers with everything you need to know about the new NYCE PPO healthcare plan for NYC employees: George Babitsch, EmblemHealth Senior Vice President, and Alan Klinger, Esq., Partner, Chair Labor Group Steptoe LLP, Outside Counsel to many of the largest public sector unions and to the Municipal Labor Committee (the "MLC").

Kindly contact us starting on the 24th for log-in information for this CSBA member-only event. Thank you as always for your interest and participation in our union, the Civil Service Bar Association!

03/10/2026

Help keep the pressure on Albany to improve Tier 6 pensions. Go to nysaflcio.org to send a letter to your State Senator and Assemblymember. We need their support for relief to be included as part of the NYS budget.
www.nysaflcio.org

New York State AFL-CIO Helping Working Families Achieve a Better Life The New York State AFL-CIO is a federation of 3,000 affiliated public sector, private sector, and building trades unions throughout the state, representing 2.5 million members, retirees and their families. Our members live and wor...

01/30/2026

Most of us (everyone hired on or after April 1, 2012) are only eligible for Tier 6 pensions, which is inferior to earlier pension tiers (i.e. Tier 4) in almost every way. You have to work longer (to age 63) to receive an unreduced pension, pay in a higher percent of your salary for your entire career, and receive a lesser percent credit per year worked. Although a relatively minor improvement in Tier 6 was made several years ago (calculating final average salary over your best 3 vs 5 years), so much more needs to be done to make Tier 6 fairer, and to attract and retain a talented professional workforce.

There will be a "Statewide Rally to Fix Tier 6" on Sunday March 8th from noon to 2PM at the MVP Arena in Albany, and buses will be available from Manhattan (and I believe Long Island, among other locations throughout the state) to bring us there. You do have to pre-register and let them know you need transportation.

A big turnout at this crucial time while our state legislators are in session is crucial to re-elevate this issue to the urgency it needs.

It’s been over a decade since Tier 6 became part of the New York state pension system. We have work to do to make public service retirement fair for everyone …