A deal has been reached between the House of Representatives and Ohio Senate on the state budget that takes out the Senate language that would have all but done away with remote work for State and Education Department employees.
It’s a victory for OCSEA members who called and wrote Conference Committee members over the last two weeks asking them to reinstate the flexibility for state employees who have remote and/or hybrid schedules.
“I want to thank the hundreds of activists and OCSEA members who called and wrote your legislators and conference committee members about the advantages of flexible work. This is a testament to your hard-work and perseverance. Coming together like you did, making those calls, really made the difference here,” said OCSEA President Chris Mabe. “We know it’s you who make this state and our communities great, and we thank you for all you do,” he said.
Unfortunately, it does not appear that funding was reinstated for the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services unemployment operations budget. “Although we weren’t successful regarding ODJFS, we want to additionally thank the many ODJFS activists who made additional calls to lawmakers to reinstate that agency funding. We’ll be communicating with our members in ODJFS as soon as we have more information about the effect the cuts will have,” said Mabe.
Besides these provisions, Ohio labor unions overall were successful in getting components of Senate Bill 83 out of the state budget bill, including the provision that would have prohibited any university employees from striking.
Please watch this space for additional details as we get more information on the final state budget.