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Letter to members on proposed changes to ORC 4117;
Call legislators to stop attacks on collective bargaining law

dec. 4, 2002

Dear OCSEA Members & Leaders:

We want to alert you to an alarming development that took us totally by surprise Tuesday night. That’s when we learned about two late-addition amendments that were snuck into the “Capital Improvement” bill that is currently on the fast-track for approval in the Ohio House and Senate. Both of these changes would create major negative changes in the state public employee labor laws. These proposed changes may also be a sign that more will be coming.

The first of these two amendments would give what is known as the Controlling Board - not the General Assembly - the power to reject a Fact Finder’s recommendations. The Controlling Board is a 7-member appointed panel whose main responsibility has been to oversee the contracts, bills and payments for various state projects. It is composed of three state senators, three state representatives and one non-elected president appointed by the governor. Currently, there are 5 Republicans and two Democrats on the Board.

The other amendment would prevent attorneys from belonging to a public employee union. Specifically, it exempts attorneys from the definition of public employee and therefore they would no longer be covered under our current contract. OCSEA represents 177 attorneys.

And to add serious insult to injury, these amendments would take affect immediately upon passage, not at the end of our current contract.

What’s wrong with either of these amendments? First, having the Controlling Board be the deciding entity makes it easier for management to reject the Fact Finder’s recommendations. Nearly 20 years ago, the authors of the public employee collective bargaining laws wanted to make it difficult for both labor and management to reject a Fact Finder’s work. The rules they wrote required both sides to obtain a “super majority” (60% of all members) to reject the recommendations. Turning the responsibility over to this small group of would mean that it would make it easy to obtain a rejection because only take 5 of its 7 members would have to reject the recommendations.

Second, the Controlling Board has no expertise in labor relations and is politically stacked against the interests of labor. Right now, it is composed of four Republican and two Democratic legislators. The deciding, seventh vote would be cast by someone who hand selected by the governor and isn’t even an elected-official.

Finally, this amendment “conveniently” gets legislators off the hook for having to except or reject a union contract. Now, rather than having to face their constituents head on with their voting record, legislators don’t even have to vote.

In regard to preventing attorneys from having union representation, there is no logical reason that this should occur. Management already has the right to ask the State Employment Relations Board to take certain positions out of the bargaining unit if there is a legal, confidential or “fiduciary” conflict.

Instead, we fear that this effort to exempt attorneys from the provisions of collective bargaining could be only the tip of the iceberg and the beginning of a trend by conservative legislators to carve out more and more classifications of workers and eliminate their union protections.

At a press conference today called by OCSEA, leaders from all the major unions that represent public workers told reporters that collective bargaining is under attack.

Besides the two of us, speakers at the press conference included Ohio AFL-CIO President Bill Burga, OAPSE President Joe Rugola, AFSCME Council 8 staffers Robert Davis and Randy Weston, Ohio State Troopers Association President Jim Roberts, OEA/SCOPE President Vickie Miller and SEIU/1199 President Dave Regan.

We told reporters that we are alarmed by the recklessness legislators are showing by opening up Ohio’s Collective Bargaining. These amendments would be the first ones in decades. Lawmakers have used a hands-off approach with respect to this section of the law in an effort not to upset the balance of power the law provides.

We also told reporters that we were blindsided and completely shocked by these 11th hour additions. We had no prior discussion with any legislators and frankly are outraged they would attempt such spineless and sneaky tactics to gut collective bargaining.

Instead of just chipping away at Collective Bargaining as this legislature has done with the Civil Service Commission Report, we said that now Republican legislators are taking a chain saw to it by opening it up and carving out sections of the law.

We urge all OCSEA members and leaders to follow this matter closely. We urge you to spread this information to your fellow co-workers and union activists. It is essential that each and every OCSEA member as soon as possible contact their local state senator’s and state representative’s office and tell them to oppose these amendments.

In solidarity
Ronald C. Alexander
President

Irwin Scharfeld
Executive Director