Card-carrying members: An update on your union ID card, benefits bundle and union magazine
As a card-carrying member of OCSEA, you should have recently received your 2023 OCSEA membership ID card along with your union magazine. The bundle sent by mail includes your union membership ID with important member and chapter information, the winter edition of the OCSEA Public Employee Quarterly magazine, details on member-only benefits and discounts as well as a break down of how your union dues money is spent.
Your personalized union member ID card acknowledges that you are an active, dues-paying OCSEA member and entitled to ALL the benefits that being a union member has to offer. Having that union membership ID card means that you are an OCSEA member in good standing and are able to vote on your union contract, run for and elect your contract bargaining team, seek union office, become a steward and so much more.
Download the Union Magazine
The winter edition of the OCSEA Public Employee Quarterly is here! Look for a copy in your home mailbox or download a copy now on the OCSEA website at OCSEA.org/PEQ.
There are many OCSEA member spotlights that highlights the importance of public employees and union bargaining. This includes a spotlight on Ohio's union public Geologists in the Dept. of Natural resources. Also earn more about the latest union news and benefits.
This training is full
Basic Steward Training to be offered April 8
Looking to become or get re-certified as a steward? Or just want to learn more about your rights under the contract? OCSEA will offer a Zoom Basic Stewards training on Saturday, April 8 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. The course will be led by OCSEA staff representative Jim Hauenstein and will cover the fundamentals of basic stewardship. Participants will learn procedures regarding the grievance system, discipline and other issues under OCSEA contracts. The class is by Zoom only and only 30 spaces are available. All dues-paying members are eligible to attend as space permits.
Look for the registration link in the March 15 Union Email Newsletter or contact Judi Ayers at jayers@ocsea.org to get access to the Zoom registration link. Be prepared to provide your Name and Employee ID to verify membership.
Les Best Scholarship: College money available for members, spouses and dependents
Since 1989, OCSEA has sponsored the Les Best Scholarship and awards a total of $12,000 in scholarships to our members and their families yearly. The scholarship is exclusively for OCSEA members, and has three categories: 1) Member, 2) Spouse and 3) Dependents. The deadline to apply is April 30.
The Member and Spouse categories are very flexible for working adults, as applicants can attend college full- or part-time. Those applicants are eligible for the scholarship as long as they are taking at least one college credit course. Dependents must be enrolled full-time. Learn more about applying at OCSEA.org/LesBest.
WAC Chair Annie Pleasant-Combs invites you to April Women's Conference
Dear sisters and brothers,
I can hardly contain my excitement that we will all be back together again for this year's Women's Action Committee (WAC) Conference. As your OCSEA Women's Committee member chair, I invite you to join us in solidarity during the weekend of April 21-22 at Salt Fork Park Lodge and Conference Center. It's going to be a great and educational time. All OCSEA members are welcome to attend!
Our theme is "Women Empowering Women," and I can't wait to explore how we, as union women and our allies, can come together to empower one another and grow our union movement for women to come. Our female empowerment as we know it evolved through the Women’s Rights Movement. We continue that fight today as union activists for equal rights, equal pay, and equal say on the job. We must encourage a sense of self-worth and the ability to determine one’s own choices. We must influence social change for ourselves as well as for others. That is what women empowering women means, and what this conference is all about!
See you April 21-22!
Yours in Empowerment,
Annie Pleasant-Combs, WAC Chair
Annie Pleasant-Combs is chair of the OCSEA Women's Action Committee (WAC). She is a member of the OCSEA Board of Directors, Secretary of the OCSEA Job and Family Services Assembly and Vice President of ODJFS Central Office Chapter 2599, the union's largest chapter. She is an ODJFS Unemployment Compensation Examiner Specialist 1 who resides in Canton, Ohio.
Women's History Month
How has being union impacted your life as a woman? Tell your story so we can inspire others this Women's History Month and beyond!
See more Women's History stories: Instagram | Facebook
March member-only discounts and perks update
There are some real benefits to being a union member, and that includes perks and discounts through the OCSEA Extras Discount program and AFSCME Advantage as well as deals through our affiliation with the AFL-CIO. Check out all the member-only deals at OCSEA Extras | AFSCME Advantage | AFL-CIO Union Plus
Costco Member-only Offer
Join Costco as a NEW MEMBER and enroll in auto renewal to receive a $30 digital Costco shop card with code. Contact OCSEA for Code.
Cleveland Cavaliers and Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse events
OCSEA members get exclusive discounts at the Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse in Cleveland. Get your sports fix with discounts to select Cleveland Cavalier, Charge and Monsters games. If sports aren't your thing, members can also get discounts to great family-friendly shows from concerts and comedians and world-class special events. Check out this upcoming event: Dude Perfect: the Panda-Monium Tour.
Help spread the word: There's so much value in being union!
Last week we talked about the real value of being union. From wages to public pensions and affordable health care for our families, the benefits of being part of a union really adds up as public union members. Unions just make life better for all of us. See the full story here.
Help spread the word about the union difference! Join us on Instagram to share why there is so much value in being a union member, not just in our daily lives but over our lifetimes.