Union proposes cuts to middle management, delay of tax policy

Feb. 2, 2009 (Columbus, Ohio ) - The largest state employees union is making its own recommendations to fill the state budget hole after the Governor announced today he would make cuts of between 5 to 20 percent to state agencies and ask all employees to cut their pay from 0 to 6 percent.

The Ohio Civil Service Employees Association is asking the state to consider two other proposals, one that would address a bloated state management hierarchy and another that would roll back the last phase of the tax “reform” instituted by the last administration.

“While we understand that the governor is asking all employees to share in the pain by recommending across the board cuts in pay and benefits, our members are already on uneven ground," said OCSEA Executive Director Andy Douglas. “The rank and file has been cut far more than middle managers in recent years. First consideration should be given to reducing the management bureaucracy.”

An analysis performed last year by the union of some of the state’s largest agencies revealed a massive and costly management structure that averaged three front line workers to every manager. In some of the most startling examples, OCSEA’s analysis uncovered a 1 to 2.06 ratio of managers to front line staff in the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, a 1 to 1.91 ratio in the Ohio Department of Natural Resources and a 1 to 3.41 ratio in the Department of Youth Services.

“This problem was set in place long before this governor, but given our current budget quandary, the state has an obligation to right the ship, reduce the bureaucracy and flatten the structure of state government,” said Douglas.

“We fully realize the fiscal quagmire this state and other states are in and the necessity for belt tightening, just like Ohio’s families have had to do. But we’ve done our part,” said OCSEA President Eddie L. Parks. The union points to the 3,000 positions that were eliminated in state government last year, largely from the ranks of OCSEA, the closure of two mental health hospitals and now the pending closures of two DYS facilities. In all, state agencies have been asked to make cuts more than nine times since 2000.

Additionally, OCSEA is calling on the administration to hold off on final implementation of tax changes that began in 2005. “We are not for raising taxes, however, Ohio’s tax restructuring clearly favors the rich and large corporations, and that is certainly not in the spirit of change the rest of the country is embracing,” said Douglas.

OCSEA joins Policy Matters Ohio in asking for a delay in the last of five cuts that favor the richest 20 percent of Ohioans. That group would see 70 percent of the tax reduction, according to the research-based institute, Policy Matters Ohio. 

“We understand this is politically unpopular, but it’s the right thing to do for Ohioans who, when the economy is in a tailspin, depend more and more on public services,” said Douglas

“When you cut an OCSEA member, you’re cutting a snow plow driver that clears your road; you’re cutting a water treatment plant operator that makes your drinking water safe; you’re cutting the customer service representative that processes your unemployment claim; or the direct care worker who takes care of your son or daughter with severe mental illness,” said Parks. “These are services Ohioans depend on. We are where the rubber meets the road.”

Since 2005, a total of eight state facilities have shut down including Orient and Lima Correctional Facilities, Applecreek and Springview Developmental Center, Cambridge Behavioral Health, Twin Valley Behavioral Health in Dayton and now Marion Juvenile Correctional Facility and the DYS Freedom Center.

OCSEA represents about 35,000 state employees who work in a variety of clerical, customer service, security, health care, trades and information technology positions.

See Related

Policy Matters Ohio Report: The 2005 Tax Overhaul and Ohio's Economy

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Fax hand-written letter by Feb. 6 to Sen. Voinovich to a YES vote for economic stimulus, federal aid

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