OAPSE

AFSCME

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OAPSE Keeps Fighting for Members

To: OAPSE Members

From: Executive Director Joe Rugola

Re: OAPSE’s Continued Fight for Members During the COVID-19 Emergency

OAPSE joins our sisters and brothers at AFSCME Ohio Council 8 in mourning the loss of George Culestu, a member of AFSCME Local 2493 at Trumbull County Maintenance Department, who died as a result of COVID-19. On behalf of the entire OAPSE/AFSCME family, we extend our heartfelt sympathies and prayers to the family of Brother Culestu.

OAPSE remains on the job as Ohio enters our second month of school closures and curtailed services at school districts, departments of developmental disabilities, libraries, head start agencies and community colleges.

We remain in constant touch with the office of Governor Mike DeWine, the Ohio Department of Education and other state agencies so that we can provide critical information to OAPSE members impacted by the health emergency.

We also have been in regular contact with key legislators at the state and national level. In fact, a call with U.S. Senator Sherrod Brown today, I conveyed our appreciation for his unqualified support of OAPSE members and his hard work to move the $2 trillion emergency relief bill (CARES Act) through the U.S. Senate. Because of his leadership and insistence that working families get direct relief, OAPSE members will receive direct payments and schools, head start agencies, local governments, libraries, community colleges and our DDs will get critical emergency funding.

Below is a reminder of what the CARES Act includes:

    • $150 billion for states and local governments (which includes funding for DDs and libraries)
    • $13.5 billion for K-12 education
    • $14.25 billion for higher education
    • $750 million for head start agencies
    • $3.5 billion for child care and development block grant (CCDBG)
    • Requires health plans to cover COVID-19 related qualifying services and treatments with no plan participant co-payments

 

  • I urged Senator Brown to keep pressing for additional federal assistance for our members and the students and families we serve across Ohio. Congress is expected to take up another relief package during April, and OAPSE and our national union, AFSCME, will continue to work with both Senator Brown and Senator Rob Portman — who also supported the relief package — to provide assistance to our members.
    I am confident Senator Brown will continue to champion the needs of our members on Capitol Hill. OAPSE will continue to work with all Ohio legislators and communicate our priorities in the coming months.

    We are working daily with the Ohio Department of Education to clarify situations directly affecting our members.

    For OAPSE members who work as paraprofessionals in our classrooms: ODE is extending all educator licenses which were set to expire on July 1, 2020 to September 1, 2020.

    This will allow extra time for educators to complete all of their licensure renewal requirements, including background checks.

    For all OAPSE members who require a background check: OAPSE has verified that the Bureau of Criminal Identification and Information (BCI) is still processing background checks at this time.  Anyone who has an urgent need to complete a background check should contact BCI at (855) 224-6446 for instructions on how to complete fingerprint collection at home.

    You can also get additional information regarding coronavirus-related licensure concerns by clicking here.

    We will continue to work with the governor’s office and appropriate state agencies to provide OAPSE members with important information impacting your jobs.

    As always, if you have questions or concerns, contact your local union president or your field representative.

    And continue to check your email, Facebook, Twitter and oapse.org for the latest information on COVID-19 and other important issues.

    Ohio Department of Education

    Also, we know many of you are at work cleaning our schools, preparing and delivering meals, and taking care of children and our communities. Please send us photos of this important work — with names and local unions — so we can post to our social media accounts and share with all Ohioans how important the work of OAPSE members is to our communities. And please be mindful of physical distancing as you take photos of the important work you are doing!

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Governor Extends School Closures Through May 1

To: OAPSE Members

From: Executive Director Joe Rugola

Re: Governor DeWine Extends School Closures Through May 1

Governor Mike DeWine has extended the state shutdown of schools through May 1. Nothing else about his original school closure order of March 12 changes, which means the pay and benefits of OAPSE members will continue uninterrupted.

OAPSE remains in constant communication with the governor’s office, the Ohio Department of Education and the Ohio Department of Health. We support the decision to keep OAPSE members, school children and Ohio families safe through the closure of schools and other agencies through which we deliver critical services to the people of Ohio.

We also support the governor’s recommendation that OAPSE members and all essential employees practice appropriate physical distancing while on the job and at home. We agree with the additional employee safety steps the state is incorporating into its directives to employers. And we stand with the governor in his encouragement that OAPSE members and all Ohioans be permitted to work remotely if possible.

We realize many of you are on the job during this crisis -preparing, packing and serving meals; delivering breakfasts and lunches across the state; deep cleaning and sanitizing our schools, libraries and administration buildings; caring for children; helping to teach remotely; and performing the key administrative tasks that are keeping our schools, libraries, departments of developmentally disabled, head start agencies and community colleges going.

We appreciate your dedication, and we want to assure you that you are not alone.OAPSE will continue to be on the job for you throughout the COVID-19 crisis and beyond.

We will be in touch with regular updates.

As always, if you have questions or concerns, contact your local union president or your field representative.And continue to check your email, Facebook, Twitter and oapse.org for the latest information on COVID-19 and other important issues.

Ohio Department of Education

Also, we know many of you are at work cleaning our schools, preparing and delivering meals, and taking care of children and our communities. Please send us photos of this important work — with names and local unions — so we can post to our social media accounts and share with all Ohioans how important the work of OAPSE members is to our communities. And please be mindful of physical distancing as you take photos of the important work you are doing!

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COVID-19 Federal Stimulus, Ohio Legislation Impacts OAPSE Members

To: OAPSE Members
From: Executive Director Joe Rugola
Re: Update on Federal Stimulus and Ohio Legislation on Vouchers, Elections
The U.S. Senate voted 96-0 to advance the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), a recovery and stimulus bill which will give direct payments to families, send billions to state and local governments and provide critical money to K-12 education and community colleges and universities.
The U.S. House of Representatives is expected to take up the measure on Friday. The record turnaround of the legislation – backed by our national union, AFSCME, means the emergency money will start quickly flowing to OAPSE members, states, local governments, libraries, departments of developmental disabilities and community colleges.
More federal action will be needed over the course of this health crisis, but this is a good start to support state, local and educational budgets and the families impacted by COVID-19.
OAPSE IS STILL ON THE JOB FOR YOU!
The CARES Act:
  • Provides $150 billion to states and local governments to reimburse them for costs associated with the COVID-19 public health emergency (including declining income tax revenues because employees are unable to report to work).
  • Provides $30.75 billion for an Education Stabilization Fund for states, school districts and institutions of higher education for costs related to coronavirus. They are to be distributed as follows:
  • Elementary and Secondary Education will get $13.5 billion.
  • Each state will receive a share of $3 billion for governors to allocate at their discretion for emergency support grants to local school districts and institutions of higher education that have been most significantly impacted by the coronavirus.
  • $14.25 billion will go to institutions of higher learning for emergency relief.
  • Provides direct payments to Americans. Individuals and single heads of household receive $1,200, and married couples receive $2,400.  In addition, families will receive $500 per child younger than age 17.
  • Payments phase out for individuals with adjusted gross incomes over $75,000 ($150,000 for couples). Anyone making over $99,000 would not get a payment ($198,000 for couples). Money is expected to go out by April 6.
Ohio Legislation
  • EdChoice vouchers – which rob our public schools of critical funding – are frozen for a year. The number of school buildings impacted by vouchers was set to go from 517 to more than 1,200 – but OAPSE and our education coalition were able to stop the increase and get the number of vouchers frozen until the next Ohio budget cycle. This is a victory for OAPSE members, but our union will keep working with our friends in the Ohio legislature to reduce the number of EdChoice vouchers.
  • School proficiency testing and report cards have been waived for the school year.
  • Rainy day funds may be moved to balance this year’s state budget. The rainy day fund – or savings the state has put aside over the years – is currently at $2.7 billion. The money may be used to fill the budget hole created by the state’s response to COVID-19.
  • Primary Election. If you have already voted, you don’t need to do anything further and your vote will count. The state legislature has set April 28 as the last day of voting in Ohio’s primary election. No in-person voting will occur! You must vote by mail, and your ballot must be received by your local board of elections by 7:30 p.m. on April 28 or postmarked by April 27. You may request an absentee ballot by clicking here or by calling your local board of elections. If you complete the absentee ballot request form online, you must print it, sign it and send it back to the board of elections. You must pay the postage for this. Once the board of elections receives your ballot request, you will be mailed an official ballot to complete at home and mail in. Postage for your ballot will be paid by the board of elections.
Check our website, Facebook, Twitter and your email for current updates on the COVID-19 health crisis and how our members are responding.
Also, we know many of you are at work cleaning our schools, preparing and delivering meals, and taking care of children and our communities. Please send us photos of this important work — with names and local unions –so we can post to our social media accounts and share with all Ohioans how important the work of OAPSE members is to our communities. And please be mindful of physical distancing as you take photos of the important work you are doing!

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OAPSE Continues to Focus on Job Security, Pay, Benefits

To: OAPSE Members

From: Executive Director Joe Rugola

Re: OAPSE Coronavirus (COVID-19) Response

As the COVID-19 crisis continues to escalate across the nation, OAPSE is focused on the job security of our members and on your health and safety. Your union is closely monitoring the work of the governor’s office, the Ohio Department of Education, and the other agencies our members serve. We will continue to press for assurance that the pay and benefits of our members will not be interrupted.

AFSCME, our national union, is playing a major role in the federal government’s emergency relief package being debated in Congress. As an International Vice President of AFSCME, I am directly involved in the ongoing campaign, and we are fighting to ensure that the money and benefits approved in Washington get to those who need it — OAPSE members and all working Ohioans.

OAPSE IS STILL ON THE JOB FOR YOU

The Ohio legislature returned from a short hiatus to take up some important issues that were still on the table when members adjourned the last session.

Among the questions that must be resolved is the diversion of additional millions of dollars from our public schools to a new private school voucher program set to take effect on April 1. The coalition opposed to the voucher grab includes many allies of OAPSE who have joined together to fight this latest raid on public school funding. Our union will stay in the forefront of this battle to protect Ohio’s public schools and the critical work our members do every day.

The regular work of our union, fighting for our members’ jobs, wages, benefits and pensions, goes on in spite of the coronavirus crisis. Across the state, our professional staff members are filing notices to negotiate with employers, addressing the concerns of individual members with job-related issues, and monitoring the work our members are doing to meet the critical needs of Ohio’s school children and the other populations served by our Head Start agencies, libraries, developmentally disabled agencies and community colleges.

We will be here for you during the COVID-19 crisis and after, working to help rebuild Ohio’s economy and keep our public schools and other public services strong.

 

Also, we know many of you are at work cleaning our schools, preparing and delivering meals, and taking care of children and our communities. Please send us photos of this important work — with names and local unions — so we can post to our social media accounts and share with all Ohioans how important the work of OAPSE members is to our communities. And please be mindful of physical distancing as you take photos of the important work you are doing!

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What Does the Stay at Home Order Mean for You?

To: OAPSE Members
From: Executive Director Joe Rugola
Re: Coronavirus (COVID-19) Emergency and Stay at Home Order
Governor DeWine has ordered all workers not engaged in “essential” work or activities to remain at home for the next two weeks.
What does this mean for OAPSE members?
The bottom line is that the governor’s order to stay at home does not fundamentally change the existing arrangements that have been in place since schools closed to students on March 16. OAPSE members continue working to ensure children, their families and the communities we serve continue to get the services they need.
The March 22 stay-at-home order from the Ohio Department of Health states that “it is consistent with and does not amend or supersede prior orders regarding the closure of schools.”
Educational institutions are part of the essential function of the state of Ohio and will continue to operate under the guidelines as established March 12 in the governor’s original order that closed schools.
Libraries, Head Start agencies, departments of developmental disabilities and other jurisdictions continue to operate in coordination with their employers and local boards of health.
OAPSE is still on the job for you.
In compliance with the governor’s stay-at-home order concerning labor unions, we are able to continue to service our members and their needs. All offices are functioning. At the state office, we are working with minimal staff, but we are operating to ensure we stay in contact with locals and resolve any problems you may have.
Of course, we are following physical distancing protocols and other safety mandates and recommendations from the state and Ohio health officials.
Any OAPSE member who has a concern or problem needs to be in touch with their local union leadership so they can alert OAPSE staff and we can address these problems.
Thank you for the work you are doing to keep Ohio students, families and our vulnerable populations cared for and safe during this crisis.
Please continue to check our website, our Facebook and Twitter pages and your email for important updates.
And click here for expanded information about the new federal coronavirus legislation impacting paid leave.
Also, we know many of you are at work cleaning our schools, preparing and delivering meals, and taking care of children and our communities. Please send us photos of this important work — with names and local unions — so we can post to our social media accounts and share with all Ohioans how important the work of OAPSE members is to our communities. And please be mindful of physical distancing as you take photos of the important work you are doing!