Article 14

Article 14, Quality Services through Partnership (QStP) of the OCSEA and State of Ohio contract has had a positive impact on union members in the workplace and our customers.

The traditional labor-management relationship is rooted in a basic conflict relating to labors’ share of the economic pie and job security. Through collective bargaining, unions assert their power to secure fair wages and benefits and obtain other goals important to it members.

Contract Article 14, recognizes another Union role in the workplace, which is:

“to develop and deliver quality services through Union and management teamwork and employee involvement and empowerment.”

However, sometimes the collective bargaining agreement is not able to provide the “other” goals important to its members. Employees want input into decisions, they want their experience and expertise to be valued, they want to provide quality services, and they want their services to make a difference.

Being involved in a quality initiative in your agency can shift the culture of state government from top-down management to a place where individual opinions and knowledge of front line workers is valued and respected.

These benefits are often obtained through effective labor-management relationships. Much can be gained when the Union works in partnership with management. It offers us the unique potential to gain insight and influence on issues which Union leadership would not normally achieve through traditional bargaining procedures.

In many ways, quality partnerships reflect the kind of workplace which Unions are seeking for their members —a place where workers and Unions have a voice in the workplace and they resolve workplace problems and provide job security and valued jobs.

Let’s take a look at some of the changes going on in state agencies that are a result of Article 14 and Union leaders working in partnership with management to support their members. Many of these examples we could not obtain through traditional bargaining but by using the quality approach, we successfully solved.

• Improving Work Methods
• Solving Workplace Problems
• Job Security

1. ) Improving Work Methods

ODOT/OCSEA - 10 year commitment to improving their work methods through quality

Created the first classification for a Union Quality Network Representative to support labor in the quality partnership.

OCSEA and ODOT began holding yearly quality events to showcase their work and learn from each other. In 2005, 64 ODOT quality teams showcased their processes for over500 attendees and the 7 th Team Up ODOT.

In 2004 ODOT Districts 10 and 12 received the Ohio Partnership for Excellence Tier 4 award.

This is the highest quality award the state offers. No public sector organizations achieved this level in 2004. By working together labor and management achieved results that could not be matched by private business.

When describing the main strength that ODOT possesses, the Ohio Partnership for Excellence used these words;

“The collaborative culture that partners with labor, including a partnership with OCSEA, to work together to identify and use innovative solutions to reduce costs and improve services to meet pressures of privatization.”

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2.) Resolving Workplace Problems

Mental Health nurses design a better system of scheduling

When management was unable to identify an adequate system for scheduling nurses, the nurses themselves used quality tools to redesign a self-scheduling system that was able to cover the shifts and allowed them to have more control over their work-life balance and create a family-friendly environment. [ top ]

 Taxation redesigns data processing classification

Management was using discipline when data entry operators could not meet the production requirements. The Union asked management to put together a team to look at their work process. It was determined because of technological changes and changes in the work process, the standards did not fit. They redesigned procedures and requirements so that discipline was eliminated.[ top ]

3.) Job Security

 ODNR uses Quality to attack privatization

A project that started as a way to combat grievances being filed regarding contracting out in the agency turned into cutting edge labor-management cooperation to save jobs at ODNR. Management and Union members now review the yearly Parks budgets to see where Union members can better do work that is slated to be contracted out. [ top ]

 ODOT uses Quality to bring work back in

ODOT D-12 put together a process improvement team that was able to bring guard rail work back into the agency. By identifying the cost of guard rail repair done by the contractors they found they could save $4.08 per foot. [ top ]