OHIO CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION
UNION NEWS / JANUARY 30, 2025

In what We Are Ohio is calling "the worst attack on collective bargaining rights since Senate Bill 5," Ohio Senate Bill 1 was introduced last week and is an obvious anti-union attempt to silence public university faculty union members and limit their bargaining on the job. SB 1, the first bill of the 2025 General Assembly session, would impact 13 Ohio campus unions and roughly 10,000 Ohio union members. We Are Ohio is the coalition that defeated SB5, the 2011 assault on public collective bargaining rights.

SB 1, introduced by Ohio Senator Jerry Cerino (R-Kirtland), attacks workers' rights by limiting what can be collectively bargained in a contract and would ban strikes for Ohio university faculty. If this bill passes, argues We Are Ohio, every public sector union member in Ohio should be prepared for similar attacks on their union rights.

 

In the last legislative session, Cirino was behind Senate Bill 83, a similar bill that fought to prohibit certain bargaining subjects and ban striking for unions at our public colleges and universities. Senate Bill 83 might have died in the Ohio House during lame duck, but Cirino has vowed not to stop, calling it one of the Republican-led Senate's highest priorities. “It is called Senate Bill 1 for a reason,” Cirino said. “It is our top priority.”

We Are Ohio and all of its coalition partners, including OCSEA, will continue to fight back against any and all attacks on the rights of working people. SB 1 is bad for public union members because...

• SB 1 is a harmful an attack on working people, labor and unions.
• SB 1 handcuffs collective bargaining by limiting bargaining rights that are key to the terms and conditions of employment.
• SB 1 attempts to silence the voices of more than 10,000 union workers who educate the next generation of Ohio leaders and drive Ohio’s research economy.
• SB 1 creates an unacceptable foot in the door effort to limit collective bargaining rights for public safety and public health jobs and workers.
• SB 1 begins the dismantling of collective bargaining rights for all workers and that is unacceptable.

We fought back and overcame SB 5, and we can do the same for SB 1, says We Are Ohio. It’s time to stand together again and fight back against SB 1. Read more and TAKE ACTION here.

TAKE ACTION

Evidence, Investigatory, and Pre-Discipline Training 

Tuesday, February 11, 2025: 5:30 PM - 8:30 PM

RSVP by February 3

Trainer: Mykal Riffle, Staff Representative

Register: Evidence, Investigatory, and Pre-Discipline Training

Please note, this training has a limit on participants and will fill up quickly.

Billionaires and their anti-union extremist friends have more power and influence than ever. But they want even more, and they’ve decided to take it from workers. That includes lowering their own taxes by slashing the very budgets that fund our pay and benefits, whether we work for states, counties, cities, towns, hospitals or schools. This also includes threats to health care.

 

Threatened cuts to Medicaid, Medicare and the Affordable Care Act could impact tens of millions of Americans. The impact could be devastating for who those who rely on these programs for their health care, but also for OCSEA members and thousands of other AFSCME union members around the country who work with these programs, delivering impacting and life-saving services to American families.

 

Additionally, a federal reversal of an executive order that would have lowered prescription drug costs for millions means working families and retirees will pay more for drugs. AFSCME fears even more drug price reforms will soon be on the chopping block. On the first day of the new Congress, a bill was introduced to repeal the entire 2022 law that includes critical cost-saving measures for Medicare prescription drugs like the $35 insulin cap and the $2,000 annual out-of-pocket limit on seniors’ Part D costs.

 

A federal reversal on a private prison ban could be a windfall for the huge corporations that run private prisons. We all know that communities with prisons staffed by public workers are safer and are made up employees who are committed to public service and protecting their communities. Private prisons cherry pick inmates, while profiting, leaving public employees to manage the the worst criminals.

 

That's why it's time to get engaged and organized!

 

We know there's a lot to take in right now, but getting involved in your union is simple! The bigger we are, the more power we have to fight back against these attacks in solidarity. The best way to start? Go to a union meeting, attend a training or conference, sign up for union alerts, participate in virtual and in-person actions, or simply get a co-worker to sign a union card.

 

You can also start by telling YOUR public employee story. How do the services you provide impact your community and how would budget cuts do your work harm? From there, use your experience to talk about the value of being union. By talking to co-workers, family members and community members, we can spread the word about how public union jobs––not cuts––bring hope and prosperity to our communities.

 

When we stand together, we’re in the best position to tell extremist politicians and billionaires that we don’t want to just get by; we deserve to thrive. Read more.

TAKE ACTION

The coming month's Union Bulletin Board Network (UBBN) fliers are here and available for download at OCSEA.org/UBBN. The fliers include information on registering for the OCSEA Minority Conference, a QR code to the State contract, tips on applying for the OCSEA scholarship and more. Check back each month for new fliers to share. 

Don't have an onsite bulletin board? Visit the virtual bulletin board network at OCSEA.org/UBBN  to get access to each month's union fliers for quick access to OCSEA news, events, discounts and more. Chapters that don't have boards are urged to email the fliers, share the UBBN link with members, and distribute fliers at meetings. Any chapter that needs assistance with printing fliers should contact the OCSEA mailroom at 614-865-4733.

This month's virtual fliers include:

• Register for the Committee on Minority & Community Affairs (CMCA) Conference
• Did you know? All you need to know about the Les Best Scholarship
• Black History Month: Walter Kyle
• Get the digital OCSEA State Contract
• There's a lot of love about being union
• Working Advantage - February discounts and deals