AFSCME’s “Family Fun Days” Coupons Inside
OAPSE News
Official Publication of the Ohio Association of Public School Employees, OAPSE/AFSCME Local 4/AFL-CIO
Spring, 2000
Vol. 58, No. 3
Local 190 Fiqht for the Future
Members in Newark Initiate Anti-Privatization campgn
who are left after their co-workers have
of the school district and the children
he members ofOAPSE Local 190
gone to the subcontractor limp into ne
they serve than the proponents ofpriva
in Newark are not the first to work
T
gotiations with a weakenedLocal which
tization. Last fall, those Local leaders
in a school district where the voters
have rolled back school taxes by use of
a ballot initiative. Union members of
Local 227 in Sylvania near Toledo ex
perienced the same thing several years
ago and have wrestled with the conse
quences ever since.
But when voters in Newark narrowly
passed a school tax repeal in November,
1 998, there were two factors which
made the crisis even worse. To begin
with, Newark was not a wealthy school
district and had some difficulties mak
ing ends meet in a local economy that
was not exactly the best in Ohio. The
second complication was that some of
the same people who had sponsored the
tax rollback were also pressuring the
school district to move toward the pri
vatization of many of the jobs
performed by OAPSE members.
Fortunately, the leadership of Local
190 is more farsighted about the welfare
met with OAPSE Executive Director
Joe Rugola and their Central District
Executive Board Members to plan an
informational campaign aimed at shutting down any privatization drive
before it gets started. Our union knows
that when the public is really informed
about the ramifications ofprivatization,
citizens will reject it as an alternative.
On a Saturday in late February,
nearly 100 Local members attended an
OAPSE meeting at which Executive
Director Rugola outlined both the un
ion’s reason for fighting against
privatization and the plan to combat it in
Newark. “Privatization is designed to
do one simple thing in the long-run,”
Rugola said. “It willput profits in the
pockets of the subcontractors by driv
ing down the wages and benefits of the
workers whose jobs are privatized. At
the same time, the OAFSE members
Central District PresidentTommy Sue Adam (left) and Local
190 President Teleia Settles with Executive Director Joe
Rugola at the Newark Local’s anit-privatization meeting.
SPRING, 2000
may be reduced to begging instead of
bargaining. Thus, a secretaiy suffers
when bus drivers ‘jobs disappear from
the bargaining unit.”
Local President Teleia Settles told
the Local oftheir plans to meet with the
school board members and other influ
ential people to make the case against
trying to solve Newark’s problems
through short-term solutions like priva
tization. “Our whole Local has to pick
up thefight, Settles explained. “Ifwe
take advantage of what OAPSE has
done tofightprivatization and organize
to move our school in a positive direc
tion, we canfight through this crisis to a
better day. Settles has written letters to
the editor and organized other responses
to the argument for privatization in
Newark. This spring, the Local will
launch its public information campaign
with leaflets and newspaper ads.
“
“
Nearly 100 members of Local 190 gave up a free Saturday
morning in February to fight for their jobs.
2000 Jerry Clark
Memorial
Scholarship
Toledo Head Start Workers
Win first Contract
he 450 members of Local 800 in
the Toledo Head Start are working
under the terms of their first collective
bargaining agreement with their employer. The contract for OAPSE’s
largest Head Start Local came almost a
year-and-a-half after workers voted
overwhelmingly for union representa
tion and nearly a year after negotiations
first started.
Employees of all of Ohio’s Head
Starts share many of the same chal
lenges on the job. They are among the
lowest paid workers in education and
usually go from year-to-year without
any assurance of a job. This was cer
tainly the case for the members ofLocal
800 who labored with no protections
based on seniority, without any real due
process for discipline, and without a
guarantee of any of their benefits. The
first contract includes a comprehensive
grievance procedure with final and
binding arbitration as its final step, a
layoff and recall provision which calls
for seniority to be the governing factor,
a seniority clause which also applies to
the filling of vacancies, definitions of
hours of work and work week, and the
first written guarantees of health bene
fits, sick leave, and holidays. Perhaps
most important, employees who suc
cessfully complete a 70 work day
probationary period are assured of their
employment from year-to-year.
OAPSE Executive Director Joe
T
I
Rugola praised the Local for its
achievement and called for a concerted
effort by our union to advance the wel
fare of all of OAPSE’s Head Start
members. “We now have 2, 000 Head
Start employees depending on our un
ion to fight for them with their
employers, at the State Legislature, and
in Congress in Washington. Local800’s
first contract gives us a modelfor the
years ahead as we work to raise the living standards of j Head Start
employees in Ohio.”
Local 800 President Diane Gordon, a
teacher in the Toledo Head Start,
summed up to AFSCME why the contract and the union are so important to
her members. We are the heart and
soul ofHead Start. It ‘s an outrage that
ourprogram does so much good and is
so successful and yet we can barely
make ends meet with the wages they
pay. That ‘5 why we organizedwith AF
SCME to make Head Start a better
program and a better place to work.”
The last eighteen months have seen
an explosion in OAPSE’s Head Start
organizing campaign. The last issue of
the OAPSE News included a list of
Head Starts organized by our union.
Since then, two more petitions for union
elections have been filed, one in Fayette
County and the other in Portage County.
Meanwhile, employees ofanother dozen
Head Starts have contacted OAPSE
about organizing with our union. D
Jerry
e are pleased to announce the 2000
W
Clark Memorial Scholarship Program for
children of AFSCME members. This scholarship was established in 1 990 in honor of Jerry
Clark, who was deeply committed to progres
sive social and economic ideals and who
served for many years as AFSCME’s Political
Action Director.
Under the program, the scholarship will be
awarded to one student who is currently a
sophomore majoring in political science.
The winner will be selected by lottery from the
applicants who meet the eligibility requirements and will receive $10,000 per year for
their junior and senior years of study, as well
as an opportunity to intern with the Interna
tional Union’s Political Action Department.
Students must meet the following criteria:
>> The student rnq.t be a child or financially
dependent grandchild of an active
AFSCME member.
>> The studentmust have a Grade Point
Average of 3.0 or better.
>> The student must be in his/her
sophomore year of study.
>> The student !flcL.! be a political science
major at an accredited college or
university.
“
—
For a copy of the application, write to:
Jerry Clark Memorial Scholarship
do AFSCME Education Department
1625 L Street, NW
Washington, D.C., 20036
or
e-mail:education@afscme.org
Here are some facts about Head Start:
Applications can also be downloaded from
the AFSCME website at:
. Ohio is among the leaders in the amount offederalfunding received for Head Start
programs. As of1994, onlyfourstates—California, Illinois, New Yorkand Texas
received more money from Washington. Only three states seived more children.
http:llwww.afscme.org
—
Completed applications for the 2000 schol
arship must be postmarked NO LATER THAN
JULY 1, 2000. The winner will be announced
byAugust 1, 2000.
. Ohios state support forHead Startis the most ofj[ the thirteen states which provide
such funds.
. Based on the Ohio Department ofEducation calculation in November of 1996, our
state enrolls75% ofthe eligible childpopulation while the nationalaverage ISj/.q.
POLITICAL SCI ENCE a’AAJQS i
. Up to this point, Ohio’s emphasis has been only on enrolling more children in Head
Start. No efforthasbeen made toaddress the qualityoflife ofthe employeesin the plan.
. The U.S. Department ofHealth and Human Services recently announced that the
or private
HeadStart Program receivedthe highest score ofanygovernment
corporaMercedes-Benz
than
the
even
company in customer satisfaction; higher
tion The 1999 study surveyed Head Start parents on how well the program helped
children getalong with otherchildren andhow wellitprovidedpreparation forkindergarten and health care services.
Page 2
•
OAPSE News
‘.‘—
BETTY SIMMONS-TALLEY
Union Heritage Union Heart
—
0 OAPSE Local leader carries the
responsibility for more members I
than Betty Simmons-Talley, the Presi
dent of the Columbus School
Employees Association. CSEA is made
up of twelve Locals which represent
more than 3,300 OAPSE members in
the Columbus Public Schools and is the
voice of those Locals in negotiations
with the school district.
Since 1 996, sister Simmons-Talley
has seen the Columbus Locals through
layoffs, a tough tax levy campaign
which resulted in members being re
called to their jobs, a change in
superintendents, seven school board
races, and one of the most difficult ne
gotiations in CSEA’s history. The result
has
been a group of OAPSE’s Locals
which is the “most effective political
and collective bargaining voice inside
our union today, according to Execu
tive Director Joe Rugola.
Known to those who work with her
everyday as “B.J.,” Simrnons-Talley
comes by her skill and her dedication
honestly. Her father was a member of
the United Rubber Workers of America
(URW) in the small town of Gadsden,
Alabama. She was the oldest of eight
children who saw their father named the
first African-American store manager
for the Goodyear Company in Alabama. In 1979, Simmons-Talley moved
from Gadsden to Columbus and was
soon hired as a bus driver for the city
school system. Union activism fol
lowed immediately thereafter. “I
I wanted to have a voice on thejob so I
joined the union right away. I started
attending meetings andshortly thereaf
ter I became a union steward.”
Her commitment was tested very
early on in her union career when nego
tiations between her union and the
school board broke down in 1980. Un
able to reach a contract agreement, I
CSEA members went on strike for just
over a week. It was during that time that
.
.
C
I
SPRING, 2000
“
Simmons-Talley
and
OAPSE Executive Director
Joe Rugola, then a Field
Representative, first worked
together in a crisis facing the
members ofthe union in Co
lumbus. They would work
together again almost twenty
years later when hundreds of
OAPSE members were laid
offbecause ofa financial cri
sis in the Columbus Public
Schools. A 1996 school levy
would mean either hundreds
more jobs abolished or
OAPSE members coming
back to work with a renewed
hope for the future of their
school district. “QAPSE was
the only organization to give
CSEA President Betty Simmons-Talley with
any realhelp to the levy camState President JoAnn Johntony
paign, Simmons-Talley
said. “Most ofthe business community,
gains ever won by CSEA.
the Columbus Dispatch newspaper,
“I have so muchpride in what C’SEA
and otherpowerfiil groups opposed the I and OAPSE have accomplished in Co
levy. When we passed it, the school
lumbus. There is great respect for
board knew that we had helped them to
OAPSEfrom the school board, the adsave the Columbus Public Schools.”
ministration and the community. As
After the levy campaign, OAPSE
for her own role in the union’s success,
and CSEA moved aggressively to inSimmons-Talley is characteristically
volve the union in school board
modest. “Each member ofthe union is
elections in 1997 and 1999. On the
part ofthefamily, she says. “The most
heels of a wage freeze during the levy
important thingfor a leader ofsuch a
campaign, CSEA went to the bargainlarge diverse group is to know how to
ing table two years ago intent on
listen and be fair to all the members.
winning both respect and a fair settleYou have to stick together and encour
ment for the sacrifices the union’s
age each member to take pride in their
members had made. When talks broke
job.”
down, CSEA went about making its
Betty has three children, six grandpoint with dignity and without fanfare,
children and the seventh grandchild on
a reflection of the personality of its
theway.
leader, Betty Sinimons-Talley. OAPSE
filed a strike notice and one community
“PROFILES in LEADERSHIP” will
newspaper urged the Board of Educa
highlight
a Local leader or activist
tion to understand that there was no
of
OAPSE
in each issue of the
bluff, only quiet determination guiding
News.
This
the firstsuch profile
is
CSEA’s position. Days later, a contract
to run in our union newsletter.
settlement was reached which repre
sented some of the most significant
“
“
“
Page 3
______
Fighting For Our Members
Nelsonville- York Drivers
Win Route Time Dispute
Marietta Maintenance Worker Reprimand Overturned
February, 2000, arbi
trator’s award resulted
in a written reprimand being
removed from the file of
Donovan Hughes, a long
time OAPSE Local 001 member and
Southeast District activist. Hughes had
worked for the Marietta City Schools
2 years at the time the arbitration
for 17 V
hearing was held in October, 1999.
Hughes filed the grievance, which
led to the arbitration hearing, after a
written reprimand was placed in his file
for what the administrator called an
“avoidable accident” Donnie had while
plowing snow from the school district
driveway. The accident occurred on
January 4, 1999, while Hughes was
cleaning snow off an access driveway
to Phillips School, using a plow blade
mounted on a school district pickup
truck.
Hughes testified that at about 12:45
p.m. on that date he was backing up to
make another sweep with his plow. As
he started to back, a car turned into the
driveway from the road and started
skidding toward him. In order to avoid a
collision, Donnie continued in reverse
until the driver of the car had enough
distance to come to a stop. As he
backed, he made incidental contact with
a fence behind him scraping a small
amount of paint from the truck and
breaking a taillight. When he finished
his plowing, Hughes returned to the
school district’s garage, stopping first
to buy a new taillight for the truck. He
helped the mechanic replace the broken
taillight and then reported the accident
A
to the Transportation Manager around 3:00 p.m.
For the total damage esti
mate to the truck of $28.00
[as estimated by the school
district], Hughes had a disciplinary
hearing which resulted in a written reprimand being placed in his file. At the
arbitration hearing some months later,
the school district seemed to rely on
several arguments to justify its action
against Donnie. One was that all backing accidents are inherently the result of
negligence. A second was that Hughes
“delayed” reporting the accident (the
two hours it took him to finish plowing,
stop for a new taillight and help the mechanic replace the broken one). The
third was that Hughes’ version of how
the accident took place lacked credibil
ity. In his argument to veteran arbitrator
Frank Keenan, OAPSE Field Represen
tative Stephen Kubic distilled the
union’s argument down to the simple
choice that Hughes had to make the day
of the accident: Avoid the car or avoid
the fence.
In his decision, Keenan cited the fact
that during the district’s investigation
and during the grievance hearings, the
employer never challenged the “accu
racy and veracity of the grievant’s
account.” The arbitrator also stated his
belief that Hughes’ report of the acci
dent “can only be characterized as
prompt.” Keenan concluded that “ac
tions taken to avoid a collision with
another vehicle cannot be characterized
as negligence” and ordered the reprimand
removed from Hughes personnel file. (]
‘
Drivers Donate $1 1,82543 to Community
APSE Local 230 bus drivers of
Northwest Local Transportation
rushed to the aid of a fairly new mem
ber of their team when it was learned
from the driver that she had been diag
nosed with terminal lung cancer and
had nine months to live. With compas
sion and concern, the drivers rallied
around her, coming up with fundraising
ideas, begging local businesses to help,
and giving up their own time to take the
woman to doctor’s appointments. “We
just wanted to help or at least make her
O
Page 6
final days more bearable, said Local
President Claire LuBuono.
After thousands of dollars were
raised and given to the employee, Local
230 found out the sad truth of the
situation. The woman had fabricated
everything. The drivers and the
community had been duped.
Subsequently convicted of theft in
connection with the scam, she served
her time and recently made restitution.
Local 230 received an amount totaling
$1 1,825.43. “We wanted to do some“
the beginning of each school
year, bus drivers in the
Nelsonvifle-York City Schools near
Athens are paid based on the same route
time from the previous school year. The
contract between OAPSE Local 400
and the school board calls for the new
route time to be established during the
first three weeks of school based on a
“reasonable length of time considering
weather, road, and other driving condi
tions and potential problems on the
route.”
On September 1 0, 1 999, the drivers
received pay based on the same route
times as the previous year. But on Sep
tember 24th, theirpaychecks reflected a
reduction and a grievance was filed. At
the arbitration hearing, the testimony of
the director of transportation became
the focal point for the ultimate finding
in favor of the grievants. He testified
that he never took into account any rcasonableness ofthe length ofthe route or
weather conditions or other potential I
problems, as the contract clearly re
quired. He also argued that it was
unnecessary to actually ride the route to
make the calculation and simply based
it on the time the bus was away from the
terminal. Arbitrator Marvin J. Feldman
ruled that, in fact, a new definition of
route times was unilaterally established
by the administration and said, “Such
cannot be the case.” He ordered that
route pay not be calculated on a new
formula and required the employer to
pay back pay and the fees and expenses
ofthe case.
A
I
thing with the money that would benefit
the community, LuBuono expressed.
The Local made the decision to donate
the money to the Northwest Schools
Foundation which will help establish
the Northwest Community Family Resource and Learning Center. It is the
single largest donation that the founda
tion has received to date.
The drivers have been told that a
plaque will be displayed prominently
in the center recognizing Local 230’s
generosity.
“
OAPSE News
AFSCME in Action
—
For You!
National Union Fights for Title I Educational Assistants/Classroom Aides
bill would reauthorize the Elementary
and Secondary Education Act under
which thousands of school districts
across the country receive federal funding to supplement state and local
education programs
When the provisions in question first
came to light in June, 1999, AFSCME
President Jerry McEntee sent a letter to
U.S. Secretary ofEducation Richard W.
Riley outlining our national union’s
concerns and objections. “Many school
paraprofessionals do not have the level
of education required in the proposal.
Were this language to be adopted as is,
it would result in massive displacement
of school paraprofessionals (and) it
would create havoc for schools that
would have to replace them, McEntee
noted. McEntee went on to note the im
portance of paraprofessionals’ jobs in
our school. “Paraprofessionals are ac
tive members ofthe teams that provide
instruction to students. They have ca
pably performed certain instructional
[and] have
duties such as tutoring
made this contribution without great
monetary reward.”
President McEntee’s letter launched
an all-out lobbying effort by the AF
SCME Legislation Department.
(Continued on back page.)
. . .
“
he legislative staff of AFSCME in
Washington has grown accus
tomed to periodic assaults on the rights
andjobs ofour members by the Repub
lican controlled U.S. Congress. So it
came as no great surprise last year when
a proposal was introduced in the House
ofRepresentatives to eliminate funding
for Title I Educational Assistants, or al
ternatively to require that j
Educational Assistants have a college
T
degree by the year 2002. The Title Ipro
gram provides critical help for children
the public schools whose educational
needs require special attention.
The proposed changes, which would
devastate the Title I program itself and
endanger the jobs of hundreds of
OAPSE members and paraprofession
als/educational assistants in other
states, appeared in the 1999 Education
Excellence for All Children Act. That
in
. . .
. . .
SERS Retiree Benefit Improvements Introduced in Ohio Senate
Jn
March 22, 2000, a key piece of
legislation that would improve the
benefits of school retirees was introduced in the Ohio Senate by Grace
Drake, 22nd Senate District (R-Solon).
The issue was the subject of a meeting
between OAPSE Executive
Director Joe Rugola, AFSCME United
Associate Director Randy Weston, and
SERS Executive Director Steve Ander
Rugola praised the proposal to
raise retirement benefits and pledged
OAPSE’s full support for Drake’s ef
fort.
The key provisions of Senate Bill
270 would:
>> Increase the retirement formula factor
from 2.1% to 2.2% forthe first 30 years of
service [meaning the multiplier would
in January
>>
>>
son.
SPRING, 2000
>>
change from 63% to 66%].
Fixthe cost-of-living increase for retirees
at 3% annually, regardless of the consumerprice index.
Increase the Medicare Part “B” reim
bursement from $31.80 to $45.50 per
month. Eligible members would receive
a one-time, lump-sum payment for the
difference since 1993 (or their date of
Medicare eligibility) to the effective date
of the bill [meaning a rebate of $164.40
per year of eligibility].
Improve survivor benefits three ways:
By providing an alternate calculation
that gradually increases the percentage of the deceased member’s final
average salary if the member had
achieved2oormoreyears ofservice;
By removing the age 50 qualification
—
for a spouse to begin receiving survi
vor benefits ifthe deceased member
earned 10 or more years of service;
and,
By adjusting the finalaverage salary
ofa deceased disability retiree based
on the consumerprice indexfor each
yearbetween the effective date of the
disability and the date of death.
Increase the maximum percentage of fi
nal average salary on pensions from
90% to 100%.
If the bill passes, the above provisions
wouldbe effective from January 1, 2000.
—
>>
>>
We urge you to call your State
Legislators in support of Senate
Bill 270 at 1-800-282-0253.
—
Page 7
Toledo Head Start Wins
[ First
Contract
44
AFSCME’s “Family Fun
[Days” Coupons
Pages 4-5
AESCME’S Jerry Clark
Memorial Scholarship
Page 2
g2OOO
Page2
OAPSE/AFSCME Local 4/AFL-CIO
6805 OAK CREEK DRIVE
COLUMBUS, OHIO 43229-1591
PAID
Westerville, Ohio
Permit No. 381
AFSCME in Action - For You!
CONGRATULATIONS
.-‘
(Continuedfrom Page 7)
Cuyahoga County MRIDD
Board Honors OAPSE
Local 744 Members
Director Chuck Loveless, a longtime
veteran of Capitol Hill lobbying, enlisted the help of OAPSE Executive
Director Joe Rugola and other affihi
ates from around the country to turn
back the most damaging aspects of
the proposals. Loveless’ staff focused
on the House Education and Workforce Committee to enact more
sensible requirements, which would
call only for an “assessment” of current paraprofessionals/educational
assistants to determine their qualifi
cation for the jobs they are now
performing.
As of this writing, the House Bill
has been changed to give states and
local school districts the right to de
termine the criteria for the assessment
of qualifications. The debate will
now move into the U.S. Senate and
AFSCME will stay on top ofthe issue
to protect the jobs of our members
and the future ofthe Title I program. D
he Board ofthe Cuyahoga County Board
ofMental Retardation and Developmental
T
Disabilities recently adopted a resolution hon
oring the contribution made by OAPSE’s
members to the agency and its clients. The
anniver
resolution was passed to mark the
sary of Local 744 which won a hard fought
battle for recognition and a contract just two
decades ago.
Excerpts from the resolution cite OAPSE’s
members for their “exemplary safety record
while logging more than 100,000 miles each
getting more than 3 ,600 boys and
month
girls and men and women where they are going
and back home each day.” The resolution also
calls Local 744 members “our organization’s
the finest group of
greatest resource and
transportation workers in the State ofOhio.” J
.
Local 744 President Davida Russel
is congratulated by OAPSE/AFSCME
State President JoAnn Johntony.
OAPSE News
4
Official Publication of the Ohio Associatloh
of Public School Employees
OAPSEJAFSCME Local 4/AFL-CIO
MANAGING EDITOR:
Joseph P. Rugola, Executive Director
EDITOR AND STAFF WRITERS:
Veda Rugola
Ryn Stover
.
•
.
.
.
.
.
OAPSEIAFSCME Local 4 S
6805 Oak Creek Drive
Columbus, OH 43229-1591
(614)890-4770 1 (E
OAPSEIAFSCME CANTONIAKRON FIELD C.
3969 ConvenIence Circle NW, Suite 201
•r
Canton, OH 44718-2600
(330)492-8894 I (800)422.1456
OAPSEIAFSCME CLEVELAND AREA FIELD OFFICE
23611 ChagrIn Boulevard, Suite 120
Beachwood, OH 44122-5540
(216)292-7080 I (800)940.7080
OAPSEIAFSCME FRANKLIN FIELD OFFICE
8401 Claude Thomas Road, Suite 19
Franklin, OH 45005-1415
(513)746-3623 / (800)730-3623
,
.
.
..
,j
..
-
-
-
-
Page 8
Page 7
Senate
Non-Profit Org.
U.S. Postage
Address Service Requested
Postmaster send address changes to:
The OAPSE News
6805 Oak Creek Drive
Columbus, Ohio 43229-1591
SERS Retiree Benefit
[I Improvemen
ts Bill in Ohio
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
Joseph P Rugola
STATE OFFICERS
State PresIdent, JoAnn Johntony
State Vice President, Lynda Mobley
State Secretary, Sandra Wheeler
STATE EXECUTIVE BOARD
Central District, Mary Ann Howell
East Central DistrIct, Mary Devine
Eastern District, David Hamilton
North Central District, Mary Beth Thompson
Northeast District, Sylvia Holmes
Northwest District, Kathryn HeIf
Northwest Central District, Dab Welhrauch
Southeast DistrIct, Marge Gillenwater
Southwest District, Sandra Felty
Western District, Pam Dolence
‘.
,
C-
•::
.
OAPSE News