With the release of the Fact Finder's Report last week, the OCSEA Bargaining Team wrapped up the OCSEA Bargaining Road Shows on Zoom on Monday, and voting on the OCSEA Contract is now officially underway. Find your chapter's voting date, time and location HERE.

 

Brush up on the contents of the Tentative Agreement as well as the Fact Finder's Recommendations Summary before you vote on the contract. These are the two documents that OCSEA active state bargaining unit members will be using to vote YES or NO on the State contract through July 5. It's important that every state contract member get familiar with them before voting on the contract.

Download Tentative Agreement Now

Download Fact Finder's

Recommendations Summary

Finally, here are the important dates to know on the ratification timeline:

• JUNE 24: Chapter contract voting began this day following the end of the first road show.
  
• JULY 5: Voting deadline (all votes due from chapters to OCSEA by noon)             
  
• JULY 11: Current contract extended to this date.

During the OCSEA Road Shows on Monday, the OCSEA Bargaining Team explained why they support the wage package recommended by the Fact Finder based on current SERB data and support a YES vote on the OCSEA Contract.

 

Wage proposals were submitted by both the union and management during the first day of negotiations in December 2023. The Union did not change its stance on wages throughout the process, advocating for members, arguing that Ohio’s public employee union members deserved a substantial increase. OCSEA proposed a 10-10-10 percent wage package. The State proposed a 4-3-2 percent package, which the Union adamantly denounced from the start. Read the Fact Finder's Recommendations Summary HERE.

 

In the end, while the Fact Finder reported that both sides provided excellent evidence to support their positions, SERB data won out in the end. Despite indicating that the Union made a well-prepared case regarding the Employer’s ability to fund and afford the 30 percent wage package proposed by the union over the life of the contract, the Fact Finder landed on a wage package of 12.5 percent over the life of the contract (5%, 4.5%, 3%). Recent SERB data indicates that wage increases have generally been in the 3 percent range and in line with the State’s wage proposal, wrote Fact Finder Nowel.

 

“One cannot argue with numbers,” Nowel wrote in his recommendations. The report also referenced midterm wage increases and one-time payments granted to a significant number of bargaining unit employees during the previous contract. The total pay raise of 12.5% over the length of the contract is the largest negotiated by OCSEA in nearly 40 years.