As the so-called “Freedom Foundation” continues to spread lies about OAPSE, the state officers want you to know the truth. This group and others like them get their money from the super rich who want to destroy unions because they know your union gives you power and a voice at work. Take a look at this letter from State President Lois Carson, State Vice President Mike Lang and State Secretary Sandy Wheeler. And thank you for Sticking With the Union!

Dear OAPSE Leader,

As members of OAPSE ourselves, we are writing to you to address the many lies being pushed on our members by people who want to destroy our union. They are front people for super-rich, anti-union forces who hate the idea that OAPSE fights for decent wages, good benefits and secure pensions for our members.

If you doubt that, just look at how hard companies like Starbucks and Amazon are fighting to keep unions out of their stores and warehouses.

Among the worst of the many lies they are spreading:

• That MOST of the dues OAPSE members pay goes to our national union, AFSCME. That is a LIE. In 2021, for example, less than 20 percent of our dues went to AFSCME. And the money we sent there came back to us in the form of expert research used to negotiate your contracts; funding to elect school board members and pass local school and DD levies; and resources to strengthen organizing and grow our union and our power.

• That millions go toward AFSCME’s political agenda. Another LIE, and it’s a whopper. Over the last 10 years, 93 percent of your OAPSE dues money was spent on direct services to our members, such as negotiating decent wages, job security, health care and seniority rights – all the things we fight so hard for in our contracts.

• That OAPSE Executive Director Joe Rugola makes $307,668 in salary. A RIDICULOUS LIE and a completely fabricated number. In fact, in the last decade, Joe has donated $180,000 of his salary back to our union. Believe us, he earns every dollar of the salary our executive board sets for him. Nobody works harder – and that’s been true over his 44 years with OAPSE.

You, our elected leaders, and the members of OAPSE run our union. You have helped build OAPSE into one of the strongest, most respected and most EFFECTIVE unions in Ohio. We are proud to be your elected leadership team. As working members of OAPSE ourselves, we urge you to tell your members not to fall for the con job these enemies of working people are selling.

Strong Unions = A Secure Job and A Good Life. Strong Unions = A Strong America.

STICK WITH THE UNION.

Yours in OAPSE,

Lois Carson                               Mike Lang                                 Sandy Wheeler

State President                        State Vice President                 State Secretary

To: OAPSE Members

From: Executive Director Joe Rugola

Re: Enjoy Your Summer! You Deserve It!

Date: May 25, 2022

As we approach the end of the school year, I want to wish you a wonderful, restful and relaxing summer. You deserve it!

Check out my video message below for some thoughts on our union’s plans for the fall and beyond.

As we reflect on the year we are completing, I’m hopeful you had a better experience than the remote and hybrid learning situations gave us for 2020 and 2021.

But I know that this school year – even though we were back in our buildings and on buses and in libraries, boards of developmental disabilities, community colleges and head start classrooms – presented challenges of its own.

This staffing shortage is not sustainable. We know it, and employers know it. That’s why our union will continue our push for FULL EMPLOYMENT. It won’t happen overnight, but we will keep working with you and your local union to make sure we get there.

All over the state, we are seeing staff shortages so severe that they are impacting the services you can provide. You are being asked by employers to do WAY more with less. You have more than met the expectation of being a key part of the education of our students; fulfilling the needs of our local library patrons; caring for our young and vulnerable Head Start students; providing services to DD adults and children; and making the community college experience the best it can be.

Just like we will keep working all summer and beyond to negotiate strong contracts that include wage increases, benefit enhancements and a ban on the privatization of your jobs. That’s what we have been doing for the last two years – negotiating over 450 contracts that included major wins for our members.

We can have success like that because of you and the 34,000 OAPSE members who have stuck with the union through the good times and the challenging ones.

Remember, OAPSE is always on the job. That’s our pledge to you every day. We are here for you, and we will be here all summer and into the new school year and beyond.

If you have your summer off, enjoy and see you in the fall! If you are working, thank you for always providing the best services possible to our communities.

Members of OAPSE Local 321 at Fremont City Schools had the opportunity to give back to their community through the OAPSE Making a Difference (OMAD) program, the non-profit founded by the union to feed hungry children in school systems where we represent members.

More than 1,700 bags of breakfasts, lunches and snacks were packed at the OAPSE State Convention on April 29 by delegates from all over Ohio. On May 5, Local 321 members were joined by OAPSE state officers, district officers and staff to hand out the bags to elementary students in pre-k through 5th Grade.

A 16-year Fremont City Schools employee, Dana Fillater is a café manager for the district. She is president of Local 321. “OAPSE started our foundation because we see children every day – in Fremont and in schools across Ohio – who just don’t have enough to eat. Our members know that kids can’t be at their best when they are hungry. So, we started our foundation to raise money and provide food for some of the neediest children in our state. As parents and grandparents, OAPSE members know every family can use a little help, and we wanted to make a meaningful contribution,” Fillater said.

Take a look at the video below to see how the day went!

And remember, you can make a tax-deductible donation anytime to OMAD. We will have another OMAD day this fall. Watch the website for details!

Harriet Naylor is 81. She Can’t Retire.

She was featured at the OAPSE state conference last week as an example of how unfair the Social Security system is for workers with a public pension.

Harriet has worked in Manchester City Schools since 1986. As a cook, she is known for her peanut butter sandwiches made with “love” in each one. After 36 years in the schools and a career in the private sector making pants for the U.S. Army, Harriet is ready to retire. But the Social Security Government Pension Offset/Windfall Elimination Provision will rob her of nearly $8,000 per year in retirement money she earned. It’s not right. And OAPSE is fighting back for Harriet and thousands of other members — mostly widowed women — who are still on the job well into their seventies because they cannot afford to retire with dignity.

Take a look at Harriet’s story. Then download a petition today and tell Congress to repeal the GPO and WEP.

• ·     Hamilton City Clerical and Aides, members of Local 151, realized that they were not receiving the proper rate of credit for the advancement of pay steps. Instead of moving these workers a step after 120 days of service, the employer was calculating it at 180 days – costing the employees 60 days of the higher pay they were due. OAPSE took on their fight, and won over 41 employees a total amount of almost $90,000. Local 151 members received individual payments between $862 and $15,665. The local union used this victory to organize their coworkers, and gained 15 new members. Not only did they win the money they were owed, they built an even stronger union!

• ·     Members of OAPSE Local 333 at I Am Boundless Inc., a residential care organization for the developmentally disabled, recently negotiated a strong contract that includes a $1 per hour wage increase and held health care premiums at current levels for nearly 300 workers.

• ·     Full-time workers at Belmont County Head Start, members of Local 773, are receiving a bonus of $3,700. And part-time employees are getting a bonus of $1,875. The union’s success in negotiating those bonuses started an organizing drive that resulted in 99 percent membership in the union as the local heads into a wage reopener this summer.

• ·     In what members of Local 312 at Groveport Madison called a “life-changing contract,” they negotiated equity increases resulting in wage hikes as high as 20 percent – with some workers receiving more than $3 per hour in the first year of the contract. The agreement has many improvements, including language that prevents the employer from contracting out any bargaining unit work.

• ·     At Preble-Shawnee Local Schools, the members of Local 675 fought back against reducing the hours of cooks to knock them out of health insurance benefits. The win resulted in 6 new members!

• ·     The members of Local 695 who work in transportation at Parma Local Schools won an attendance incentive for the remainder of the school year: bus drivers will get $2,250; bus aides will receive $750; and bus mechanics will get $500 as a way to help with the bus driver shortage.

• ·     In Leetonia Exempted Village Schools, where workers are members of Local 224, OAPSE had been pushing the employer to fill a position in the cafeteria. The unfilled position was creating a hardship for the entire department. The local union and OAPSE refused to stop until the job was posted and filled, and now the work is being done as it should be – a win for the workers and the students they feed.

• ·     Defiance City Schools employees, members of Local 9, negotiated a wage hike of 8 percent over three years and a COVID stipend of 3 percent.

• ·     Members of Local 169 at Northwestern Ohio Community Action Commission Head Start won pay increases totaling almost 12 percent over their three-year contract, including a 5.9 percent hike in year one!

• ·     At Claymont Local Schools, where members of Local 390 were forced on strike a few years ago, OAPSE won a contract with 8 percent wage increases over three years and a COVID sign-on bonus.

• ·     OAPSE members at First Student Dayton, Local 109, signed a 3-year deal with Dayton Public Schools to handle all their charter and parochial schools, which has increased the local’s membership by 65 percent. The local union also ratified an MOU giving the members a $3 per hour raise.

• ·     The drivers at Dayton Public Schools Transportation, Local 627, have ratified a contract with a $4 per-hour raise and 2 percent in the third year. Also, each member received a $1,200 lump-sum payment in 2021 and will get an additional lump sum of $250 in September.