I am required to report on the state of our Union on an annual basis and am able to report that our Union is in good health, we are financially stable, and have managed to transition to new leadership without gaps in services.
One of our strengths continues to be in responding to member needs and advocating on their behalf. Another is the people that serve in officer and steward positions representing members throughout the district. Many members work tirelessly representing colleagues on numerous committees, the Executive Board of the Union, and some state federation committees. Attendance at Executive Board meetings has been very high, with active participation. The training of the new president and vice-president has been helped tremendously by both past President Schmida’s mentoring and the stability of office manager Monica Carter’s organizational skills, knowledge, and initiative in managing parts of our work where she excels.
Getting Union committees to work was a little more troubling. The Political Mobilization Committee was inaugurated this year and met several times. They started a testing petition campaign and distributed a CHTU button for people to wear on Tuesdays. There is much more work to do and the group realizes it. We had hoped to have several other committees operate, but were unable to launch them to active status this year. Social, Public Relations, Human Rights, and Welfare committees either ran with only one person or not at all.
Our relationship with our state federation is still strong, with two officers serving on the eleven member OFT Executive Committee. Two different officers hold positions on the OFT Executive Council, but were not able to attend one of the three meetings held this year. We did not get anyone to participate in the May lobby day and are having trouble getting a representative to attend a focus group for which we were invited by OFT for the Ohio Department of Education. We have many challenges in state politics, but may not getting the right information out to our members with the urgency that is needed at times.
With the possibility of “Right to Work” legislation or as a ballot initiative we will need to educate each of our members so that they will be able to speak to this important issue. At this point we have not started any education plan around this issue even though it is the largest issue of our time that could destroy most of the work we have struggled to earn. Getting members to show up to building meetings, read emails, and get involved needs to be stepped up even more than the Senate Bill 5 crisis.
The work set upon classroom teachers by the state continues to grow exponentially. Our active involvement in District Committee work is more vital than ever. The negotiations that we are engaged in currently are helping to address some of these issues, but everyone who teaches children for more than half of the day will be affected by changes in evaluation and teacher based teams by next year. Our members are uneasy about what the future holds and feel put upon by the extra work and education requirement that are being handed down by legislation. There is a need for more meaningful professional development around many of these issues, but finding the time to do them all seems impossible.
We are in survival mode in public education and public sector unionism. All of our resolve will be tested, but we are up to the challenge and will persevere if we work together to solve problems as they come to us. Our Union is strong, but will be stronger if more members participate in the work that we must do together, continue to support each other, and try to be creative in our problem-solving. We need to continue to foster strong collaborative relationships with administration as we have many common interests.
Our hope is to be able to present a contract offer before the end of the school year. This has not happened within the last 25 years, but would be a relief to many members if it can be accomplished. We will determine how to communicate during the summer if a settlement is not reached.
It has been a privilege representing you as president this year. It has been one of the busiest years in recent memories at our office, but I believe that we have gotten good results for many members who have needed our help. Thank you to everyone who has worked to help me through the year.
Ari Klein
CHTU President