Speeches

CMCA CONFERENCE
Feb. 25, 2006

Prepared Remarks of
Ronald C. Alexander,
OCSEA President

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Sisters and Brothers:

On behalf of the leadership of the entire Ohio Civil Service Employees Association, I want to thank you for coming to this great conference, a conference organized by our Committee on Minority and Community Affairs. I also want to thank Michelle Hunter for her leadership as Chair of that committee.

It’s great to have this kind of turn out and it’s great to be in the city of Dayton. I’ve seen some of you recently as I’ve been on the road talking about OCSEA’s Tentative Contract Agreement with the State and the Fact Finder’s Report.

During the “Road Show” meetings many of you expressed that you were pleased we gained some ground in areas like health care, wages and Benefits Trust. Although I think all of us were disappointed with other outcomes – like disability – we also know that bargaining is “a give and take.” I think this time around we GOT a lot more than was TAKEN from us. 

But now that negotiations is over, it’s time to get back to some other important business of the union.

It’s time to make new plans. First, this is an election year and for the first time in many years we finally have a real shot at winning the Governor’s race. One of this union’s best friends is Congressman Ted Strickland, and Ted is the Democratic frontrunner for Governor.

But just like with bargaining, no one’s going to give this race to us. We’ve got to take it. And that takes work. It takes commitment and it’s going to take 110 percent of your involvement.

That’s why we’ve already started the groundwork for another Take Back Ohio campaign. We’ve learned from the mistakes we made in the disappointing election of 2004 and from trying to get four election reform amendments passed. So we’re setting the stage with renewed dedication and a new plan.

There’s a lot at stake. Winning this election will mean the difference between begging for crumbs at the bargaining table and making sure that state employee jobs are never used to balance the state budget.
If Strickland doesn’t win and either Ken Blackwell or Jim Petro become Governor, the last eight years under Governor Taft are going to look like a picnic by comparison. Both Blackwell and Petro have already unveiled plans to sell your job to the highest bidder and to cut the workforce by thousands of state jobs.

Blackwell has introduced a Tax and Expenditure Limit that would cripple state and local governments for decades. And Petro has his own plan to consolidate and downsize most state agencies and layoff as many as 9,000 state employees.

Make no mistake: voting for one of these men could likely cost you your job. The threat has never been so real. That’s why it’s imperative that we start early and keep focused on the goal.

The first part of our plan involves ratcheting up our commitment to PEOPLE. As you know, our political action committee, PEOPLE, allows AFSCME and OCSEA to support issues and candidates that support public employees.

I’m proud to say we have some huge PEOPLE supporters in this area of the state. Montgomery Education and Pre-Release chapter is always one of the top five chapters in PEOPLE contributions. I want to thank the leaders of that chapter for their commitment and dedication.

This year, we’re making an increased commitment to raise the “PEOPLE” bar from the current 10 percent to 20 percent of our membership. At the Building Union Power conference in April we’ll be talking more about that and announcing an additional PEOPLE participation level with new incentives, including a denim jacket.

We’re also reviving something we started at the OCSEA convention last year. That’s the “I’m 100 Percent For PEOPLE Campaign.” We’re offering a special incentive for those who sign up for PEOPLE today so we can reach 100 percent PEOPLE membership for the CMCA conference. We tallied the numbers of PEOPLE participants who are here at the conference, and we still have a little work to do to sign people up.

While I’m encouraged that 186 of you are currently PEOPLE members, there are still about 50 or so who are not. For those who are not yet signed up, we are offering raffle tickets to win a gift basket. So help us get to 100 percent today and visit the PEOPLE table to join and to get your raffle ticket.

Believe me, even though Ted Strickland is slightly ahead in most polls, the Republican election machinery will be kicking into high gear and outspending us, as they always have. That’s why we’ll need to outspend them in work, in will and in grassroots organizing. And that’s PEOPLE helps us do.

Organizing has already started in District 1. A program called “Voluntary Member Organizing” has members going door-to-door and doing “cold knocks” to talk to members about how they can become more involved in the union. It’s a good model for other subordinate bodies to try as we get fired up to Take Back Ohio.

We’ll also be registering voters, leafleting, making phone calls and kicking up a lot of dust about Ted Strickland and the other OCSEA-endorsed candidates. Look for more information on activities through your chapter and subordinate body leaders.

But for now, it’s time to replenish our minds and our spirits, and reinvigorate our intellect and enthusiasm.

The variety of activities the CMCA has organized this year is amazing. We have a workshop about planet and climate changes called “Changing Earth” and another one that will help increase the union participation of people from different cultures.

Instead of the typical afternoon, you are going to be treated to the tour of a great poet’s house. Paul Laurence Dunbar was a Poet Laureate from Dayton. This month is the 100th anniversary of his death. He was the first African American poet to make his living from his writing and one of the early inspirations for the artists of the Harlem Renaissance.

For dinner, we’ll hear from our keynote speaker Jack Jackson, another Dayton resident, who spent his youth in eastern Kentucky where his father was a coal miner. Jackson is the community relations advisor for the Dayton Metropolitan Housing Authority and will inspire us with a talk about our theme, “Bridging Cultures.”

You – the participants in this conference - will play an important role because you help us create bridges between our members and our communities. You are the ones who have one leg in the union and another leg in your neighborhood groups, churches, schools and clubs.

To be successful this year, we have to reach out to all of these groups. When it comes to facing our challenges, we truly can be like the theme of this conference, “Bridging Cultures,” and I think the CMCA will lead the way!

Thank you.