OHIO CIVIL SERVICE EMPLOYEES ASSOCIATION
UNION NEWS / APRIL 23, 2026
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Are you ready? UBT open enrollment is coming soon!
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Open Enrollment for your premium-free dental, vision and basic life insurance for the 2026-2027 plan year will run Thursday, May 7, 2026, through Wednesday, May 20, 2026. These benefits are provided through your union-negotiated Union Benefits Trust (UBT). Use the 2026 UBT Enrollment Guide as a tool to walk you through the process! Look for it arriving in home mailboxes soon and on the UBT website starting Friday.
UBT Open Enrollment – May 7-20 – is the time for you to:
- Verify your dependents - this includes coverage of unmarried dependents up to age 26 for dental and vision plans.
- Verify your dental and vision plan.
- Verify and check beneficiaries on your basic life insurance plan.
- Double check your supplemental life insurance coverage amounts or sign up for supplemental life insurance. Be sure to also check your beneficiaries as well.
- Learn more about the supplemental legal plan enrollment, if not already enrolled.
- Enroll in voluntary supplemental benefit plans: Accident, Critical
I Illness, and Hospital Indemnity Insurance coverages.
- Take advantage of the supplemental pet insurance program discount.
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Continuing Coverage: Another member speaks out about attacks at Indian River youth prison
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After two more staff members were assaulted recently at the Indian River DYS facility in Massillon as chronic understaffing puts more and more lives at risk, members continue to speak out about the attacks.
In a News5Cleveland interview, Tara Patris, a Correction Officer at the Ohio State Penitentiary (OSP) who volunteers weekends at the DYS facility, told the news outlet that "staff at the Indian River Juvenile Correctional Facility need help!" As an OCSEA member, she recently wrote to Gov. Mike DeWine after back-to-back assaults, including seeing an attack on another volunteer officer and union sister. "Patris was so horrified by the violent attack on her colleague that she wrote DeWine begging him to do something," the interview explains.
She told the governor that attacks on staff are happening far too frequently lately, and that "policies need to change" to protect staff, reduce understaffing and hold violent youth accountable.
The DeWine Administration has made the following statement: "We appreciate receiving the information she provided about safety concerns. The Governor's Office has been in contact with DYS about the overall situation at Indian River, and we are discussing next steps."
OCSEA President Mabe, who toured the facility this month, has also been speaking out publicly about the crisis in our youth prisons. "The escalating cycle of violence at Indian River is the result of mismanagement at the highest levels of the Dept. of Youth Services,” said OCSEA President Chris Mabe. “We need more staffing, a safer work environment and changes at the top of DYS. And we need it now.”
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Click below to watch full interview on YouTube:
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Last chance to register for WAC Conference is April 27
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Reminder! The annual OCSEA Women's Action Committee (WAC) Conference is taking place May 1-2, 2026, at Deer Creek Lodge and Conference Center in Mount Sterling, Ohio. The deadline to register is this coming Monday, April 27. All members are invited to attend.
Learn about the event, how to register, and view the tentative agenda at OCSEA.org/WAC. Please note: the deadline to book lodging has passed. If you need lodging, you will have to make alternate arrangements.
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OCSEA Steward Conference is June 6. Register now!
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Registration for the 2026 OCSEA Steward Conference is now open! The conference will be held Saturday, June 6, 2026, in-person, at The Ohioan Hotel & Event Center (100 Green Meadows Drive South, Lewis Center, Ohio 43035). The deadline to register for the conference and optional trainings is Friday, May 22.
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The conference will provide union leaders and stewards with important networking opportunities and skill-building to be taken back and applied immediately at the chapter level. All members, not just leaders, are invited to attend, but stewards and chapter leaders are highly encouraged to attend this important contract enforcement and networking conference.
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2026 OCSEA Steward Conference
Saturday, June 6
(with Friday evening trainings)
The Ohioan Hotel & Event Center
100 Green Meadows Drive South,
Lewis Center, Ohio 43035
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UET Plan Your Retirement event gives members tools for life after state service
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There was a full house at the OCSEA Union Hall on Saturday for the Union Education Trust's (UET) "Plan Your Retirement" event. The training was open to active OCSEA bargaining unit members and significant others.
The program consisted of topics pertaining to financial planning, physical and mental health, social involvement, OPERS and Deferred Comp benefits, and overall wellness. The AFSCME Retirees were also on hand to recruit to talk about union involvement after retirement.
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Attend a Workers Memorial Day event near you!
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Workers Memorial Day is April 28, and elevating workplace safety and health issues is more important than ever. Each day, more than 380 workers across the nation are killed, and more than 8,600 suffer injury and illness because of dangerous working conditions that are preventable.
Stand up for safety and dignity at work and attend a Workers Memorial Day event near you, including an early commemoration event being held next Thursday, with Ohio Gubernatorial candidate and union supporter Dr. Amy Acton.
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TONIGHT!
April 23 - Cincinnati Workers Memorial Event with Dr. Amy Acton
5:30-7 p.m. | Location: UAW Local 863, 10708 Reading Rd., Cincinnati, OH 45241 | RSVP
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