OHIO CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION
UNION NEWS / JANUARY 8, 2025

On Sunday, President Joe Biden signed the Social Security Fairness Act, which eliminated the Government Pension Offset (GPO) and Windfall Elimination Provision (WEP) rules, which had for 40 years unfairly harmed public service retirees.

 

“The bill I’m signing today is about a simple proposition,” Biden said. “Americans who have worked hard all their lives to earn an honest living should be able to retire with economic security and dignity. By signing this bill, we’re extending Social Security benefits for millions of teachers, nurses and other public employees and their spouses and survivors.”

 

Biden was introduced at the signing by an AFSCME retiree, Bette Marafino, a retired community college professor and from Conneticut, who led a task force that pushed for GPO-WEP’s repeal. Marafino described how her grandparents’ Social Security benefits kept them out of the poor house, an actual building located a couple of blocks from her grandmother’s home.

 

“I think the vision of the people who were there in that poor house motivated me and others on the task force … to help correct the injustice that my fellow public service workers who keep our communities running have had to endure,” said Marafino.

 

In a statement, AFSCME President Lee Saunders, who was at the signing, said, “Finally, GPO-WEP is gone for good. These outdated rules denied over two million retired public service workers their hard-earned Social Security benefits. With President Biden’s signing of the Social Security Fairness Act, GPO-WEP becomes a thing of the past.”

Thanks to the tireless efforts of AFSCME members, labor partners and Congressional allies including Ohio's Sen. Sherrod Brown, thousands of AFSCME members, including OCSEA members, can now retire with peace of mind. At the same time, passionate jobseekers will be inspired to pursue public service careers knowing their futures will be secure.

 

“AFSCME members, both on the job and already retired, along with fellow public service workers nationwide, organized petitions, letter-writing campaigns, called representatives in Congress and even traveled to DC to demand answers face-to-face,” said Saunders. This nonstop activism has brought a huge victory for public service workers.

Senator Sherrod Brown and AFSCME President Lee Saunders celebrate that WEP/GPO has been repealed for good!

TAKE ACTION!

Officer Andrew Lansing was murdered on Christmas Day 2024 by an inmate with a history of making threats in the facility. And this is not an isolated incident. Officer Lansing is the second DRC employee to be killed on the job this year. Back in April, another employee was killed on a DRC-run training firing range.

 

THIS CANNOT CONTINUE! We need to raise our voices and demand that the leadership at the Department of Rehabilitation and Corrections is changed IMMEDIATELY!This is the only way to restore confidence in the Department and protect the lives of its employees. We must have leadership that listens to staff, works with staff and makes staff safety the top priority.

 

Contact the Ohio Governor AND State Legislators and tell them that DRC leadership change is needed NOW! SEND EMAILS TODAY! And make sure to tell YOUR story! If you are a state corrections employee (DRS or DYS), we highly encourage to add more to the form letter to the governor and legislators (the same letter will be sent to all of your elected officials). Your personal experience stories is key to making real change in corrections.

 

Click below to write your letter:

WRITE A LETTER!

Every OCSEA member deserves to go home safely at the end of their shift. Sadly, their dangerous jobs have been made more hazardous by chronic understaffing and continued mismanagement of the Ohio DRC. Take a stand for our OCSEA brothers and sisters in Corrections. Write the Governor and State Legislators NOW!

As we kick off 2025, our greatest wish is that union solidarity and goodwill abounds for you and your chapter sisters and brothers. As always, we union members have a lot of work to do to make sure our workplace voices and rights are protected! We're stronger than ever when we focus on solidarity, fairness and a voice for all. As we join together in unity for another year in the name of protecting public union members, here are just a few union goals to kick off the new year.

1.         Attend your OCSEA chapter meetings. Contact your local chapter leaders for the schedule or contact the OCSEA Members Resource Center at 888-OCSEA.org or MRC@ocsea.org.
2.       Sign up to get union updates (and encourage other members to sign up too). Get weekly email updates HERE. Sign up for mobile alerts by texting OCSEA to 237-263.
3.        Attend an OCSEA Conference or training. Watch OCSEA emails and bulletin boards for upcoming conferences as well as steward and contract trainings. The first OCSEA Conference of 2025 will be the Committee on Minority and Community Affairs (CMCA) Conference in late March. Stay tuned!
4.        Promote being UNION in your community. A strong labor movement is dependent on the members that make up the union. The more unified we are, the more leverage we have against attacks by management, legislation that minimizes union rights, and union-busting across the nation. Learn more about the union difference at afscme.org/difference.
5.        Take a co-worker/friend to a union event. Encourage co-workers to attend a union chapter meeting or chapter solidarity event. If you know of a rally or strike support event happening near you, make sure to take friends and family members to educate them on the importance of solidarity in the workplace.

Please SHARE these resolutions with your chapters and co-workers: Facebook | Instagram

 

Read more about some of the big challenges and big opportunities ahead for AFSCME members as we take on the New Year and beyond.

The New Year is here and so is a new opportunity to learn more about your Union Education Trust (UET) benefits!

You are invited to join the next quarterly UET Open Forum Online! This Q&A session will take place on Wednesday, January 15, 2025, from 4:30 p.m.-6 p.m. via Zoom. Register through the link below to attend this FREE online event. Plan to attend to get all of your UET questions answered and gain new knowledge regarding utilization of your union education benefits. This forum is brought to you by the UET Board of Trustees (union members like you). 

 

The event schedule is as follows:

• 4:30 p.m. – Speaker Introductions and Announcements
• 4:40 p.m. – Presentation: Tax Considerations when Using Your UET Benefits
• 5 p.m. – Open Forum Question & Answer

Please note, space is limited for this event, so do not delay! Register below. See you there!

REGISTER

The January 2025 Union Bulletin Board Network (UBBN) flyers are available for download at HERE. The flyers include this year's Les Best Scholarship program, Union New Year's Resolutions, the Franklin University's discount college program, a new Extras perk and more.

 

Have an AMAZING union bulletin board you want to share? Snap a few photos and email to communications@ocsea.org.

Don't have an onsite bulletin board? The virtual bulletin board network at OCSEA.org/UBBN gives OCSEA members access to union flyers with a click of a button. This includes quick access to OCSEA bargaining news, events, discounts and more. Chapters who don't have boards are urged to email the flyers or UBBN link to their members and distribute 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:

• OCSEA Les Best Scholarship: Now open!
• 2025 Union New Year's Resolutions
• Discount College: Franklin University's U-Learn Program
• Working Advantage new year discounts
• NEW Extras Discount! 20% off Red Roof Inn