Dear COBA Members;

Late today, we were notified that Nassau County and the PBA signed a tentative contract agreement this afternoon. As of now, we don't have the particulars of the deal. We are waiting for the PBA/County to release it, once their internal mechanisms have been satisfied. We look forward to dissecting that deal so that we may see how it will affect our negotiations in COBA.

I strongly suspect that speculation and rumors will run rampant within our ranks that yesterday's Court decision on Longevity and today's deal are somehow tied together.

I can't stress enough that these two issues are separate and distinct and that the events surrounding these two issues appear to be coincidental.

If the PBA did make any sort of contractual agreement regarding longevity with the County it will become known in their contract deal and has no bearing on the Longevity cases of all other County Unions or the decision that was handed down in the Appellate Court yesterday.

The only thing we know for sure is that 3 out of 5 Nassau Unions now have agreements. The Detectives deal is fully ratified, the Police Superior Officers Union is pending Legislative ratification next week and the PBA was just signed today. Their deal is now pending their membership's ratification then approval by the Nassau County Legislature.

Our negotiations and that of CSEA are ongoing.

COBA is working diligently to protect our members interests through this entire process and hope now that other Union's deals are done it will clear the way for more intensive and productive negotiations for us.

We will keep you informed as events proceed.

In Unity;

Brian Sullivan, COBA President