Workplace safety issues are a concern for every OAPSE member across the state. From increasing numbers of assaults on school employees to high profile violent incidents to school bus safety problems, our union is responding to all of these dangers.

OAPSE State Vice President Mike Lang has been our union’s leading voice at the state and national levels on matters related to safety. Vice President Lang recently called together OAPSE leaders from around Ohio to discuss how we can protect our members and the students and communities we serve. “The OAPSE Safety Committee will continue to explore the problems and the solutions”. Lang said. “We can’t fix everything, but we can work to raise awareness about these critical questions.”

Currently, Vice President Lang and OAPSE’s State Safety Committee are working on passing HB 525 in the Ohio legislature. HB 525 would give ALL school employees protections on school grounds that currently only apply to teachers and administrators.

Heather Vermillion, OAPSE Northwest Central District President and Executive Board Alternate, has been appointed by State President Lois Carson, to chair the Union’s PEOPLE Committee.

Heather fills the shoes of OAPSE’s longest serving chair, Barb Ward, from the Southeast District. The PEOPLE Committee is charged with fundraising to help OAPSE Locals pass school and other levies, elect school board members and local officials who believe in our right to negotiate on behalf of our members and support the work of our union at the Ohio Legislature to protect members’ jobs, wages, benefits and pensions.

“Heather will bring a renewed energy and enthusiasm to the work of the PEOPLE Committee”, President Carson said. “We all look forward to her work to take our fundraising to a new level which will benefit our members in every Local across Ohio”.

After a years long struggle, OAPSE has won a major victory on retirement security for our members. The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly voted to reverse the unfair Government Pension Offset and Windfall Elimination Provision. Those laws took thousands of dollars a year out of the pockets of many OAPSE retirees by reducing pension benefits for workers who devoted much of their lives to serving Ohio’s children and communities.

OAPSE LEADERS SHOW THE WAY

Our union’s State Officers made the repeal of the GPO and WEP one of their top priorities in recent years. OAPSE President Lois Carson, Vice President Mike Lang, and Secretary Sheila Dawkins-Flinn worked tirelessly to force the issues to a vote in the U.S. House. Dawkins-Flinn chairs the OAPSE Committee formed to repeal the Offset and Windfall and all three officers traveled to Washington on several occasions to press for the historic vote. President Carson was present for the final vote and helped secure its passage in the House on November 12^th. “Our members have suffered long enough from this injustice, and we are determined to end it once and for all”, Carson said.

FIGHT MOVES TO U.S. SENATE

Now, the battle for passage shifts to the U.S. Senate where a majority of Senators have already joined OAPSE’s efforts as co-sponsors of the legislation. “We will not stop working until all of our members and retirees get every penny of the benefits they worked for”, Dawkins-Flinn said. “The U.S. Senate should do the right thing by honoring the work of our people and we will hold them to that standard.”

Retired OAPSE member and current AFSCME 1184 Retiree activist Frank Weglarz needs your help. He is collecting signatures from retirees in the School Employees Retirement System (SERS) to get on the pension system’s ballot.

Next year, SERS will hold an election for a retiree Board seat and Frank would like to continue being your representative. Frank currently serves on the SERS Board and needs 150 signatures to get on the ballot for another term. Frank is one of the Board members who has pushed for cost of living adjustments (COLA) the last few years, and voted for the 2.5% increase retirees received this year and the 2.5% increase coming in 2025.

Please support Frank’s re-election and sign his petition today. The link below will take you right to Frank’s online petition.

NOTICE OF OAPSE STATE OFFICERS ELECTION

Elections for OAPSE State Officers will be conducted in 2025.

Click here for more information.