OAPSE

AFSCME

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Pension Rally Set for June 7 in Columbus; RSVP at 1-800-786-2773

OAPSE is fighting to save your pension and your retirement security. We are pushing back against Senate Bill 151 (SB151) and House Bill 242 (HB242), which would freeze and reduce the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) for current and future retirees under SERS. We hope you will join us for a rally at the Statehouse and SERS!

Call 1-800-786-2773 to RSVP and get more details about the rally.

And click on the videos below to get current information about the proposed COLA cuts and how you can  join us for the Rally at the Statehouse and SERS in Columbus on June 7.

            

You should have received a phone call from Director Joe Rugola, and an email with the latest on the rally. We are encouraging members from all over Ohio to carpool to Columbus for the Wednesday, June 7 Rally at the Statehouse and SERS. We will meet at the Sheraton Columbus Hotel at Capitol Square, 75 E. State St., Columbus, Ohio 43215 and move to the Statehouse and onto SERS once we are all together.

Registration opens at 9:30 a.m. on the second floor of the Sheraton. That’s where you will get your t-shirt. At 10:30 a.m., we will start our day with a brief meeting that will include the latest information on the status of SB151, HB242 and the COLA issue and an overview of the day’s activities. We will provide lunch before we march together across the street to the Statehouse. From there, we will have a short march to the SERS building at 300 E. Broad Street, Columbus, Ohio 43215.

OAPSE will pay mileage and parking to drivers, and we are encouraging carpools. Please fill your cars! In addition to your t-shirt and lunch, we will provide $15 to attendees to cover other food expenses during your day.

We plan to finish up by 3 p.m. so you can beat rush hour traffic out of town.

To help us plan, please RSVP for the Rally at the Statehouse and SERS by calling Rob Fantauzzo at the state office on our toll-free number, 1-800-786-2773.

See you in Columbus on June 7!

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Urgent: Director Joe Rugola on Your Retirement Security

A message from Director Joe Rugola on Proposed SERS Pension Cuts:

Last year, you received from me a letter concerning proposed drastic cuts in the retirement benefits of OAPSE members covered by SERS.

On April 13, I attended a meeting of the Ohio Retirement Study Council, during which the administration of SERS made a formal proposal to recommend those cuts in the Cost of Living Adjustment (COLA) to the Ohio Legislature. The proposed changes will cost all of our current and future SERS retirees thousands of dollars in lost benefits. These cuts, which would freeze and reduce the COLA, will certainly push many of our already low-income retirees into a state of desperate poverty.

OAPSE will not let this proposal pass through the Ohio Legislature without a fight. In the weeks ahead, we must make it clear that promised pensions, for both current and future retirees, should be honored.

Our first step will be to let the members of the Ohio Retirement Study Council know that school employees and retirees whose average retirement benefit is $1,143 a month, should not have to choose between food on their tables, a roof over their heads, or the medications they need to protect their health.

Click on the link below to contact the legislators listed with that message. Tell them not to freeze or cut our COLAs. Watch your email and your social media accounts like Facebook and Twitter for more from OAPSE on this critical fight.

Contact ORSC Members Here

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Restore Bus Transportation $$

OAPSE members across Ohio have the responsibility of safely transporting students to and from school each day. In 2009, Ohio lawmakers eliminated bus purchase funding, so bus fleets across the state are aging and require frequent, expensive repairs.

And now, Governor Kasich and Republican legislators also want to cut base transportation funding – the very dollars that pay bus drivers.

Make your voice heard! Tell legislators to restore the transportation dollars in the Ohio budget. Watch the video and email or call the legislators listed below and tell them to:

Restore the Transportation Dollars!

Click here to view written testimony submitted by OAPSE Director of Political Action and Legislative Affairs Randy Weston.

Click here for a legislator contact list.

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You Can Vote Now for May 2 Election

OAPSE members across Ohio will be voting in the May 2 Primary Election on important issues in their communities. But you don’t have to wait until May 2 to cast a ballot.

You can request an absentee ballot by mail by clicking here.

Or you can vote in person at your county board of elections. To find out locations and hours, click here.

Hundreds of local school levies and issues are on ballots in all 88 counties in Ohio, so don’t forget to make your voice heard and VOTE!

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Help Make a Difference in Lima City Schools!

Spring is finally here, and that means it’s time for what has become a very meaningful tradition in OAPSE – feeding hungry kids in schools where OAPSE members work.

We do this through our OAPSE/AFSCME Making a Difference, Inc. foundation (OMAD). All money we raise through tax-deductible donations from OAPSE members, locals and districts is used to purchase food and supplies that go directly to hungry children in communities where OAPSE members live and work.

Click on the video below to learn more about what we do and how you can help!

This year, we are raising funds to feed 1,368 K-4 students in Lima City Schools, where members are represented by locals 137, 443 and 306. All the kids will receive tote bags full of non-perishable meals, snacks and drinks. Again this year, we are partnering with Champion Food Service, which greatly discounts the cost of the food.

“We are thrilled to be able to help the kids in our schools this year and very honored that our OAPSE brothers and sisters are willing to be so generous to the students in our district,” said Sandy Wheeler, OAPSE state secretary and president of the OAPSE Making a Difference Foundation.

“We really want to build OMAD and keep making a real difference for the students who need our help. It’s so rewarding and meaningful, and it truly impacts their lives,” she said.

To date, we have raised nearly $30,000 and provided food to more than 6,000 hungry kids.

We need your help to make our project in Lima a success. The students in Lima City Schools are among the most economically-disadvantaged in Ohio. Please consider a tax-deductible donation to help us feed them.

OAPSE members, locals and districts can make donations to OAPSE Making a Difference, Inc. Checks should be sent to:

Kathy Malone
OAPSE/AFSCME Making a Difference
6805 Oak Creek Drive
Columbus, Ohio 43229

Thanks for all your help with our mission to feed hungry kids in our communities.