OHIO CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION
UNION NEWS / JuLY 10, 2024

This week, OCSEA President Chris Mabe and the OCSEA State Contract Bargaining Team  formally announced that OCSEA members have VOTED YES to ratify the Fact Finder’s Report Recommendations and the Tentative Agreement (TA).

 

The new three-year contract has annual pay raises of 5%, 4.5% and 3%. The 12.5% increase over the length of the contract is the biggest pay raise that OCSEA has negotiated in nearly 40 years. "Please know, it wasn’t easy!" said President Mabe in a statement and video this week. "The State Bargaining Team never offered more than 4-3-2 percent. But we were successful in convincing the Fact Finder that the State could afford to pay more," he said.

 

The 5% pay raise for the first year of the new contract took affect July 1 and will appear in the paycheck that covers the first week of July. Remember, State payroll is on a two week delay. Contact your Human Resources Department if you do not see your pay raise reflected on your next paycheck.

 

The Tentative Agreement, Fact Finder's Summary and previous unchanged contract language will serve as the temporary 2024-2027 Contract for enforcement purposes until the official contract is printed and posted on the OCSEA website. Stewards and members can find the Tentative Agreement, Fact Finder's Summary and previous contract at OCSEA.org/contract. Both documents and other bargaining news is also available at OCSEA.org/bargaining. 

This week, OCSEA District Stewards for ODOT, ODOT union bargaining team members and OCSEA Staff attended a statewide informational meeting yesterday with ODOT District managers to learn more about the impact of ODOT Highway Technician Modernization. This is an agreement between the agency and the union negotiated during the agency-specific bargaining process this spring.

 

The ODOT agency-specific agreement involves a revision to the HT Series, aimed at expediting employees’ progression through the series and streamlining the process. The significant updates will not only mean automatic (and quicker) progression and more money in the pockets of nearly 700 union Highway Technicians but will also mean:

• More targeted training 
• More advancement opportunities (including a new HT6 position)
• Choices in career paths
• Consistency in staffing 
• Increased construction inspection pool
• Better retention 
• Elimination of mid-season reclassifications (especially in preparation for construction season)

These changes, including automatic progression and pay increases for impacted HTs, will go into effect on July 28, 2024. HT3s not wanting to perform construction inspection must sign the HT3 Advance Waiver to opt out of advancement to HT4 by July 22.

 

HT Modernization Rollout events (see below) will also be held at each ODOT District in July. There will be two sessions (9-11:30am & 12-2:30pm) held per district. All HT2s and HT3s in construction must attend their assigned district event. Impacted employees will be contacted by their LRO about which session to attend. These events will include break-out session by level so HTs can ask specific questions about how the rollout will impact them.

District 3 & District 8 - July 10th - completed

District 6-July 11th    
Central Office Auditorium, 1980 West Broad Street, Columbus, OH 43223

 

District 11-July 11th    
Harrison Hills City School District; 100 Huskies Way, Cadiz, OH 43907

District 2-July 12th    
Penta County Vocational School; 9301 Buck Rd. Perrysburg, OH

 

District 5-July 12th    
Muskingum County Conference Center; 205 N. 5th St. Zanesville, OH 43701

 

District 4-July 15th    

Portage County Garage; 3946 Rootstown Industrial Parkway Ravenna, OH 44266

District 9-July 15th    

Ohio University Chillicothe Campus Auditorium; 101 University Dr. Chillicothe, OH 45601

 

District 7-July 16th    

Piqua High School Auditorium; 1 Indian Trail Piqua, OH 45356

District 12-July 16th    

Solon Community Center; 35000 Portz Pkwy, Solon, OH 44139

 

District 1-July 17th    Ohio Means Jobs of Allen County; 951 Commerce Pkwy, Lima, OH 45804

District 10-July 17th    

Elizabeth Sugden Broughton Community Building; 639 SR 821, Marietta, OH 45750

MAKE UP DATE-July 22nd    
Central Office Auditorium, 1980 West Broad Street, Columbus, OH 43223

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Members of the OCSEA Attorney General's union bargaining team begin discussing proposals to take to management. The three-year union contract, separate from the main statewide OCSEA contract, has been extended until July 30, 3024, while the union and management discuss how the contract should be updated. Wages are a top priority for the union team that represents nearly 300 OCSEA members in the AG's Office.

On two separate occasions Ohioans voted overwhelmingly to end gerrymandering through constitutional amendments. The amendments were supposed to create fair maps for Congress and the state legislature that didn’t favor one political party over another. But nothing really changed. Seven times the Ohio Supreme Court ruled that maps drawn by the Ohio Redistricting Commission, made up of partisan elected officials, were unconstitutional gerrymanders. Nevertheless, the maps were used in the last election.

 

Now there’s another try, with the support of AFSCME and AFL-CIO members, to stop gerrymandering after the first two efforts didn’t live up to expectations. Last week, a group called Citizens Not Politicians submitted more than 731,000 signatures to put another anti-gerrymandering amendment on the ballot in November (they need at least 413,446 valid signatures to qualify).

 

So, what’s different this time? The biggest difference is who draws the maps. As the name of the group backing the amendment implies, politicians would be banned from the process. Instead, a 15-member Ohio Citizens Redistricting Commission would be in charge of mapmaking.

• The Commission would consist of citizens—with equal numbers of Republicans, Democrats and Independents—representing different geographic areas and demographics of the State.
• Besides current and former politicians, lobbyists and political party officials would also be banned from serving on the Commission.
• Voting districts could not be drawn to favor or discriminate against any political party of individual politician.
• The Commission would be required to hold public meetings and conduct an open and independent process.

To read more about the plan and the actual text of the constitutional amendment click here.