On June 30, Rep. John Becker (R-Union Twp) introduced a “right-to-work” (“RTW”) bill for the public sector. 

As we reported to you previously, earlier in the legislative session, a “RTW” bill for the private sector (HB 377) was introduced, but at the time, no similar bills for the public sector were put forth. Republicans were counting on the Friedrichs U.S. Supreme Court case to deliver that blow for them. But the death of Justice Scalia led the Court to a tie, affirming the lower court’s decision in favor of unions.

Rep. Becker’s legislation, House Bill 583, would allow non-members of a public employee union to “opt-out” of the union, and the union would not be required to represent those workers. Currently, non-members have to be represented by the union and pay a “fair share fee” to the union for contract enforcement.

Rep. Becker is using these tactics in an attempt to inoculate against the “free rider” argument that unions have made for many years against “RTW” — that non-members should pay a fee for the services and benefits they receive from the union. However, the language in this bill opens up a whole host of other problems. 

For instance, employers would have to negotiate individual employment contracts with each non-member. Employers could use this as a “divide and conquer” tool; that is, give better wages, benefits, and other perks to non-members in the short-term to peel off members from the union. 
“RTW” bills in every form have been thinly-veiled union-busting tools, and HB 583 is no different.

Thus far, the bill only has been introduced. Over the next week, we expect it to be referred to committee, where it is likely to sit until after the election. It is possible that Republicans try to pass the bill during lame duck session. It is possible they do nothing with it. We hope to learn more over the next few weeks and months. 

OCAAUP leadership will be ensuring that our association is as prepared as possible for the worst case scenario. We continue to be active with We Are Ohio, the coalition that successfully repealed SB 5 nearly five years ago, so we again will be closely aligned with our other union brothers and sisters should we have another battle on our hands. 

As always, we will keep you informed with any developments. In the meantime, we wish you a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend.

OCAAUP Weighs in on “MBR” Bill

On May 19, Steve Mockabee, Chair of OCAAUP’s Government Relations Committee and Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Cincinnati, testified to the House Finance Higher Education Subcommittee on House Bill 474.

HB 474, which is being called the higher education “mid-biennium review” (MBR) or “higher education policy update,” proposes substantial changes to the trajectory of Ohio’s college and university system. 

In his testimony, Mockabee expressed concerns with the College Credit Plus Remediation Pilot Program, community colleges being able to offer baccalaureate degrees, as well as the state recognizing Western Governors University as a public institution of higher education and embracing competency-based education.

“We urge the General Assembly to be cautious that in trying to make higher education less expensive, you are not unintentionally cheapening it,” he said. “There is so much emphasis on degrees and not enough emphasis on education. We want — and the people of Ohio deserve — opportunity and quality, not simply degree production. We hope that this committee critically reexamines this direction.”

Prof. Mockabee answered questions from committee members, including from Chairman Mike Duffey (R-Worthington), who asked why the state shouldn’t be promoting additional educational pathways. In response, Mockabee stated that “HB 474 would create a two-tiered system where the people who are wealthy enough to go to universities would get a first class education and those that are poorer are told, ‘You can go get your bachelor’s degree from WGU or a community college.'”

In addition, Rep. Kevin Boyce (D-Columbus) asked about the expansion of dual enrollment, to which Mockabee replied that it’s too early in the CCP program to determine how such a major push to dual enroll students could impact the current education structure.

“I have yet to run across a study that demonstrates that less education produces more educated students. Streamlining for the sake of streamlining I would not support,” he said. “We have different levels of education for a reason.”

HB 474 is being tabled for now, but may resurface in the fall for further consideration. Additionally, certain aspects of the bill that the legislature is more intent on passing could be amended into other legislation.

Other Legislative Updates

HB 48: House Bill 48, the legislation that would allow college and university boards of trustees to permit “campus/carry” has had no additional hearings in the Senate. If the bill moves forward at all, it likely will happen during lame duck session — the time between the November elections and end of the year.

If you would like to contact your Senator about HB 48, you may do so via this link. When contacting legislators, we recommend that you use your personal e-mail address. Your institution may have a policy about using your .edu account in expressing views to government officials.  

HB 160: House Bill 160 is legislation that would prohibit faculty from assigning their own textbooks, as well as prohibiting institutions from allowing any textbooks produced by that institution to be used on campus. 

The underlying assumption of this legislation is that faculty and institutions produce and assign proprietary textbooks to earn royalties. While we can agree that textbook costs need to be addressed, this bill seeks solutions in the wrong places.

So far, the bill has received just one hearing — sponsor testimony — in the House. Should the bill move forward, we will offer opposition testimony. In the meantime, we are working to educate lawmakers on this issue.

McNay Earns Prestigious Nobel Fellowship 

OCAAUP President John McNay, Professor of History at University of Cincinnati-Blue Ash, spent the last weeks of the semester as a Visiting Fellow at The Norwegian Nobel Institute in Oslo. 

On April 21, McNay delivered a presentation at the Institute entitled American presidents choosing peace, from Truman to Clinton.

The Nobel Visiting Fellows program was started in the early 1990s and has hosted over 200 of the world’s leading historians and social scientists.

Congratulations to President McNay on this wonderful opportunity!

Election Results

Congratulations to the following members on their election and re-election to the Ohio Conference Board of Trustees:

President: John McNay (University of Cincinnati)

Secretary: John Blackburn (Ohio State University)

At-Large Member – Private Institution: Anita Waters (Denison University)

At-Large Member – Private Institution or Public Institution <100 members: Mitchell Eismont (Central State University)

AAUP Summer Events

National AAUP’s Annual Conference in Washington, DC will be held June 15-19. More details can be found here: http://www.aaup.org/event/2016-aaup-annual-conference.

The AAUP/AAUP-CBC Summer Institute will be held July 21-24 at Portland StateUniversity in Portland, Oregon. Preliminary details are available at: 
 http://aaup.org/event/2016-aaupaaup-cbc-summer-institute.

OCAAUP offers a limited number of scholarships to the Summer Institute for members from new chapters and chapters with fewer resources. The scholarships cover the registration fee (which includes room and board), flight, and other travel incidentals. If you are interested in a scholarship, contact Sara Kilpatrick at sara@ocaaup.org.

Ohio Conference AAUP Update

April 5: Lobby Your State Senator on HB 48 

In conjunction with the Ohio Coalition Against Gun Violence, OCAAUP is participating in a “Virtual Lobby Day” today, Tuesday, April 5. Our goal is to inundate State Senate offices with opposition to House Bill 48. The only way that HB 48 is halted is if Senators understand that there is strong resistance to this expansion of conceal/carry.

HB 48 would extend conceal/carry to airport terminals, day cares, and would allow college and university boards of trustees to permit “campus carry” while absolving them of liability that might result from an incident involving a conceal/carry permit holder on their campus. Even if campuses are kept gun-free, permit holders that carry on campus would face a minor misdemeanor instead of a felony – the current degree of offense under Ohio law.

There are three ways that you can participate in today’s virtual lobby day:

1)  Send an e-mail to the State Senator that represents you through our Action Network page. Even if you sent a message previously, send another today. 

2) Call your Senator’s office and tell them you oppose HB 48 and any effort that would allow guns on campus. You can find their number through this look-up tool. 

3) Use your social media accounts to bring attention to HB 48 and encourage others to contact their Senators. Consider using the following hashtags: #SayNoHB48 #NoGunsOnCampus. Our Twitter handle is @OHaaup and you can click here for our Facebook page. 

As we experienced around this time last year when the Ohio House tried to strip faculty of collective bargaining rights, contacting legislators can and does make a difference. Thank you in advance for your activism!

Supreme Court Ties on Friedrichs Case

On Tuesday, March 29, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that they had reached a split 4-4 decision in the case of Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association, the case that threatened to prohibit unions from collecting fair share fees.

The tie affirms the lower court’s ruling, which found in favor of unions.  

This is a victory for all of labor over a corporate-backed attack to weaken union strength. We will continue to be vigilant against other attempts to impose “right-to-work.” 

Mark Your Calendar for AAUP Summer Events

National AAUP’s Annual Conference in Washington, DC will be held June 15-19. More details can be found here: 
http://www.aaup.org/event/2016-aaup-annual-conference. 

The AAUP/AAUP-CBC Summer Institute will be held July 21-24 at Portland State University in Portland, Oregon. Preliminary details are available at: 
http://aaup.org/event/aaupaaup-cbc-summer-institute. 

OCAAUP offers a limited number of scholarships to the Summer Institute for members from budding chapters and chapters with fewer resources. The scholarships cover the registration fee (which includes room and board), flight, and other travel incidentals. If you are interested in a scholarship, contact Sara Kilpatrick at sara@ocaaup.org. 

AAUP/OCAAUP Elections Close on April 15

OCAAUP Board elections are being held in conjunction with National AAUP elections. Ballots were mailed to each member between March 3-7. Elections will close on April 15, and results will be posted around April 21. 

The OCAAUP positions and candidates on the ballot are:

President: John McNay (University of Cincinnati)
Secretary: John Blackburn (Ohio State University)
At-Large Member – Private Institution: Anita Waters (Denison University)
At-Large Member – Private Institution or Public Institution <100 members: Mitchell Eismont (Central State University)

Big Higher Ed Changes Proposed in MBR Bill

On February 22, Department of Higher Education Director John Carey unveiled changes and new initiatives to Ohio’s higher education system that will be addressed in a mid-biennium review (MBR) bill. The highlights can be found in this document. 

The stated aim of these proposals is to drive down college costs. They believe the way to do this is by giving students college credit for remediation courses, pushing three years of community college, allowing community colleges to award up to 10 bachelor’s degrees, and partnering with Western Governors University to award competency-based credit.

We can appreciate that there is a desire to find ways to make earning a degree more affordable for Ohio students. As faculty, we hate to see our students going into debt for achieving an education.

Unfortunately, though, these proposals continue the “band-aid” approach that we’ve seen under the Kasich administration. They fail to address the chronic under-funding of higher education, as well as the misplaced spending priorities at our institutions. 

Additionally, there is failure to recognize the unintended consequences of these proposals. Universities could be severely impacted by community colleges offering degrees and students taking three years, instead of two, at the community college level. Moreover, we should be highly skeptical of Western Governors University, a “university” without any faculty, awarding dubious competency-based credit.

Ohio decision-makers must be cautious that in trying to make higher education less expensive, they are not cheapening it.

Unemployment Overhaul Heavily Criticized

House Bill 394, a proposed massive overhaul of Ohio’s unemployment compensation system, was introduced late last year. Republican leaders had aimed to pass the bill by the end of January, but have not advanced the bill even out of the House after facing heavy criticism from labor organizations, newspapers, and even Senate Republicans.

The bill is supposed to address the solvency issues of the Unemployment Compensation Trust Fund, but does so by proposing to dramatically cut laid-off workers’ benefits. The bill does not address the real source of the money shortfall, which is that for far too long, employers have been paying too little into the system. 

Under the bill as it currently stands, disbursements to beneficiaries would no longer be based on the number of dependents one has. The bill also would deny benefits to employees who were laid off due to violating any term of an employee handbook. Moreover, it would deny disbursements to workers who are locked out due to a labor dispute.

There is nothing good about this bill.

The Ohio AFL-CIO has set-up an Action Network page through which you can send a message to your State Representative expressing concerns with this legislation. You also can get patched through to your representative’s office by calling (844) 213-8172. 

HB 48 – Guns on Campus – Update

On January 27, House Bill 48 received its first hearing in the Ohio Senate Government Oversight and Reform Committee. The first hearing always is sponsor testimony only, so HB 48 sponsor Rep. Maag gave his pitch for what has been called the “guns everywhere” bill.

Of particular concern to AAUP are the provisions of the bill that would allow boards of trustees to establish their own “campus carry” policies, while absolving them of liability that might result from an incident involving a conceal/carry permit holder on their campus. In addition, even if campuses are kept gun-free, permit holders that carry on campus would face a minor misdemeanor instead of a felony – the current degree of offense under Ohio law.

Conference leaders have been meeting one-on-one with members of the committee to discuss our concerns with this legislation. We are hearing that the bill likely will move forward either after the March primary or the November elections. When it does start to receive additional hearings, we expect it to move quickly. 

Even though we believe there is a good chance that the campus provisions will remain in the bill, we are cautiously optimistic that Republicans may be open to amending the bill to address the liability and degree of offense issues. 

Regardless, it still is critical that your State Senator hears from you about this bill. They will take silence as acceptance.

Click here to be taken to the Action Network page through which you can contact the State Senator that represents you.

When contacting legislators, we recommend that you use your personal e-mail address. Your institution may have a policy about using your .edu account in expressing views to government officials.  

In case you missed it, OCAAUP President John McNay wrote an op-ed that appeared in the Cincinnati Enquirer about why our organization opposes HB 48. 

Scalia’s Death Impacts SCOTUS Union Case

The sudden death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has shaken up an already interesting political landscape this year. But of most importance to the AAUP is how this affects the Friedrichs case that threatens to impose “right-to-work” on public sector unions; that is, ban unions from collecting fair share fees from non-members for the services that the union provides to them. 

If you haven’t already, we encourage you to read “The Future of Friedrichs in the Supreme Court” by AAUP General Counsel Risa Lieberwitz for an analysis on this situation.

It needs to be noted that West Virginia, a state that has long been known as an organized labor stronghold, just recently became the 26th state to enact “right-to-work.” We know that these attacks on working people will continue. 

As we have reported previously, there is currently a “right-to-work” bill for the private sector pending in the Ohio General Assembly (HB 377). We have conjectured that the only reason Republicans hadn’t introduced the same bill for the public sector is because they thought that the Friedrichs case would take care of it for them. Consequently, we should not be surprised to see a public sector “right-to-work” bill introduced in the wake of uncertainty at the Supreme Court. As always, we will keep you informed on any developments. 

Look for OCAAUP Elections on National Ballot

This year, OCAAUP Board elections are being held in conjunction with National AAUP elections. Ballots will be mailed to each member between March 3 and 7. Elections will close on April 15, and results will be posted around April 21. 

The OCAAUP positions and candidates on the ballot are:

President: John McNay (University of Cincinnati)
Secretary: John Blackburn (Ohio State University)At-Large Member – Private Institution: Anita Waters (Denison University)
At-Large Member – Private Institution or Public Institution <100 members: Mitchell Eismont (Central State University)

Private Sector “Right-to-Work” Bill Gets Hearing

On December 1, the Ohio House Commerce and Labor Committee held sponsor testimony on House Bill 377, Rep. Tom Brinkman’s (R-Mt. Lookout) legislation that would impose “right-to-work” on private sector unions. 

“Right-to-work” laws prohibit collection of what’s called fair share or agency fee – what is collected from non-members for contract enforcement – but forces unions to continue to represent non-members. These laws are designed to weaken unions. National AAUP and the Ohio Conference AAUP are opposed to “right-to-work.” 

Union members and others that know that “right-to-work” is wrong for Ohio packed three hearing rooms in the Ohio Statehouse for Brinkman’s sponsor testimony. 

Democratic members of the committee asked Brinkman why he would want to pursue another divisive labor fight in Ohio when the voters already resoundingly spoke by repealing SB 5 in 2011. They also discredited several of the economic claims made by the sponsor.

At this time, it is unclear whether additional hearings will be held, or whether a similar bill impacting public sector unions will be introduced. We conjecture that the only reason a public sector “right-to-work” bill hasn’t been introduced is because the GOP is hopeful that the U.S. Supreme Court case of Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association will impose “right-to-work” on public sector unions. 

While HB 377 would not directly impact OCAAUP, we must remember that the private sector unions stood with us when we were under attack by SB 5. An attack on any piece of labor is an attack on all labor.  

HB 48 Update

Last week, House Bill 48 was referred to the Government Oversight and Reform Committee in the Ohio Senate. The General Assembly has adjourned for the year, but we expect hearings on this legislation to commence when they return in January.

Your State Senator needs to hear from you about this bill, which would open the door for colleges and universities to allow handguns to be brought onto campus. 

Click here to be taken to the Action Network page through which you can contact the State Senator that represents you.

When contacting legislators, we recommend that you use your personal e-mail address. Your institution may have a policy about using your .edu account in expressing views to government officials.  

In case you missed it, OCAAUP President John McNay wrote an op-ed that appeared in the Cincinnati Enquirer about why our organization opposes HB 48.

Nominations Sought for 2016 Board Elections

We are seeking nominations for the 2016 Ohio Conference elections. In accordance with our governing documents, you must have been a member for two years and current on your dues to be eligible for a Trustee position. Nominations should be sent to Executive Director Sara Kilpatrick at sara@ocaaup.org and must be received by December 21, 2015.

The positions to be elected are:
-President
-Secretary-At-Large Member – Private Institution

These are two-year terms that will commence on September 1, 2016. Trustees are expected to attend four quarterly, Saturday meetings each year in Columbus (one of these is the Annual Meeting). 

The President serves as a delegate to the National AAUP Annual Meeting and the Assembly of State Conferences (ASC) Annual Meeting. The Secretary serves as a delegate to the ASC Annual Meeting, as well. These events take place in Washington, DC in June.

In addition, a special election will be held for the At-Large Member from either a private institution or a public institution with less than 100 members. That term will last one year. This position will be voted upon again in the 2017 elections for a full two-year term. 

The 2016 elections will be held in conjunction with the National AAUP elections. 

Serving on the OCAAUP Board of Trustees is a rewarding way to engage in statewide AAUP issues and state government advocacy. Any questions can be directed to Sara Kilpatrick at sara@ocaaup.org.