Press

DELAWARE, OHIO — Today, an overwhelming majority of librarians and library workers at Delaware County District Library (DCDL) called on their Director and Board of Trustees to recognize their union. 

“We love our libraries and many of us want to build long-term careers here,” said Kaleb Kramer, adult services specialist at the Liberty Branch Library. “That’s why we’re coming together to form our union so we can fight for a voice in decisions that affect our work and for improvements — like parental leave, equitable benefits for part-time workers, and wage increases — that will reduce turnover and improve workplace standards.”

We’re forming our union, Pickerington Public Library United Staff (PPLUS), because we want to make sure that we continue to have a strong and supportive work environment that will make PPL a place that everyone wants to work for,” said Grace Walker, a Youth Services Librarian at PPL. “We’re asking our library’s administration to respect the decision we collectively made and recognize our union.”

“Ohio voters from across the political spectrum sent a loud and clear message today that we believe in majority rule, we believe in ‘one person one vote,’ and we believe that these shared values are more important than what political party you’re in, what you look like, or where you live."

GRANDVIEW HEIGHTS, OH — Today, staff at Grandview Heights Public Library (GHPL) called on their Director and Board of Trustees to voluntarily recognize their union. Copies of signed union cards from an overwhelming majority of library employees were delivered to management, while the originals were filed with the State Employee Relations Board (SERB) to request voluntary recognition of the union. 

COLUMBUS — Today, frontline client-facing employees at Equitas Health, called on their management to voluntarily recognize their union after they presented signed union cards from a supermajority of staff who work in related job categories. The proposed bargaining unit covers approximately 150 social workers, counselors, therapists, advocates, case managers, and other employees who work in Equitas Health offices across Ohio. 

LORAIN, OH — Educators at Summit Academy Secondary Lorain ratified their first union contract earlier this week. The collective bargaining agreement contains the strongest wage improvements and contract language among all three Summit Academy schools that have successfully bargained union contracts. The ratification followed a tumultuous few days in which management threatened to lock out educators and immediately strip them of their health insurance. 

“These bills -- HB 61 and SB 132 -- are not just a sports ban, this is part of a coordinated national attack on the safety and lives of trans students. As educators, we are speaking up because we know that our students don't thrive when they're not safe and healthy, and because every student deserves respect and equal opportunity."

The All In For Ohio Kids (AOK) Coalition released the following statement: “The 23 Senators who voted for the budget chose to give a generous boost to the incomes of Ohio’s wealthiest residents. Yet they failed to provide the necessary resources to properly educate the 90% of students – about 1.6 million children – who attend our public schools. They figured out a way to give $600 million to a billionaire political donor for a football stadium, but abandoned the Fair School Funding Plan they promised would be fully implemented in this budget. The budget passed by the Ohio Senate is a betrayal of the bipartisan work that went into the creation of the Fair School Funding Plan, which requires lawmakers to include up-to-date costs and fully account for the needs of every child in every community. What the Senate passed this week is a cheap knock-off of the original Fair School Funding Plan.

"Now they’re trying to gut the Department of Education, and the people who will be harmed in the process will be children, college students, and families. Firing more than 1300 Department of Education workers, including hundreds who work on student financial aid and civil rights protections, will not reduce the deficit. Rather, it will create enormous harm by eroding the government's ability to support successful strategies that improve children’s academic outcomes and help students afford higher education."

Melissa Cropper, President of the Ohio Federation of Teachers (OFT), released the following statement congratulating Michelle Flanigan on her election to the STRS Ohio Board and responding to recent news reports about STRS Ohio: