State Officers, Executive Board on the Job

To: Our OAPSE Family

From: Your State Officers and Executive Board

Your state officers and executive board members and alternate members are sending our best to all OAPSE families as we go through the shutdown of our schools and other vital services our members provide at libraries, departments of developmental disabilities, residential services facilities, head start agencies and community colleges.

Across Ohio, thousands of OAPSE members are working – keeping our buildings sanitized and organized; preparing and delivering meals to tens of thousands of students and families; keeping our buses maintained and rolling; providing the clerical assistance and support to administrators; and helping to create and deliver remote learning. Those of us who are not working right now are doing our part to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus by physically distancing and staying home as much as possible.

We are proud to serve as your elected OAPSE leaders, and we are humbled by our responsibility to OAPSE members – especially at a time like this when you are stepping up and making a real difference in your communities. We salute all of you for your heroic efforts to provide critical services and stop the spread of this terrible virus.

We want to share some of the good work being done by our members all across Ohio. You can click on the links below to watch videos of what’s happening in some of our school districts. You can check out our Facebook page to see photos from around the state. And you can send in your own photos so your work can be shared far and wide. Send photos to [email protected] and remember your 6-feet physical distancing so we can post! Got to www.oapse.org for regular updates, and check us out on Twitter and Instagram.

We also want you to know that the OAPSE staff remains hard at work for you. Our field representatives and regional directors continue to assist with negotiations, grievances, and solving the day-to-day problems we face. The state office staff is on the job, keeping the union going and keeping us the strongest union in Ohio.

Executive Director Joe Rugola and the staff are in constant touch with us so we can give OAPSE members the latest information about what is happening in Ohio and nationally and how our jobs are impacted.

The union will continue to work on your behalf to solve problems from the local level all the way to Washington, where members of Congress will be taking up more legislation in response to the COVID-19 emergency. Together with our national union, AFSCME, we will keep pushing for aid to states, local governments and schools. We will work with Governor Mike DeWine and our congressional delegation to get the money we need to keep OAPSE members working and providing the critical services Ohio families need and deserve.

Your elected OAPSE leaders truly believe we are all in this together. We want you to know we will continue to stand up and speak out for you and your family – during this health crisis and always.

God Bless you and your families. Stay safe and well.