New Year, New Attacks

January 10, 2012 

Despite the overwhelming rejection of Issue 2 in Ohio, and the fact that voters in Wisconsin may very well be on their way to recalling Gov. Scott Walker as a result of his anti-union policies, extreme politicians around the country are continuing to push legislation that would make unions weak to obsolete.

On January 5, state legislators in North Carolina overrode a veto by Gov. Perdue to push through Senate Bill 727, legislation that prohibits the North Carolina Association of Educators (NCAE) from automatically deducting dues from their paychecks. 

The bill was viewed as a transparent attempt to curb the power of the NCAE, which has traditionally supported Democratic candidates.In a statement, Gov. Perdue lamented, “I am saddened for the people of North Carolina that the Republicans abused their power and chose this destructive path.”Moreover, in Indiana, Republicans introduced so-called “right-to-work” legislation, which would ban contracts that require employees to pay union dues.

A January 7, 2012 editorial of the New York Times stated, “There is little doubt that politics is also behind the Republicans’ push for right-to-work laws: they see an opportunity to further weaken unions, which are far more likely to support Democrats – as well as health care reform and a higher minimum wage – by slashing their funding and their donating power.” 

The Times article noted that the ultra-conservative, corporate-financed American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) has assisted Republicans around the country to push right-to-work as well as voter suppression bills. Groups like the Chamber of Commerce have also supported this kind of anti-union agenda.

Furthermore, despite the fact that Ohio Attorney General Mike DeWine rejected petition language to put a right-to-work constitutional amendment on Ohio’s 2012 ballot, it is almost certain that the group spearheading the effort, 1851 Center for Constitutional Law, will resubmit language that ultimately will be accepted. 

While right-to-work laws have been applied differently in different states, the proposed constitutional amendment in Ohio would likely apply to both private and public sector unions.Ohioans sent a strong message by rejecting Issue 2 by an overwhelming 61 percent, but right-wing extremists have not received the memo. It may take defeating another ballot issue and voting out the anti-worker politicians in the 2012 elections before we see cooperative solutions instead of partisan attacks.

Mark Your Calendar for the  Ohio Conference Annual Meeting The Ohio Conference AAUP will host its Annual Meeting Friday, April 13 – Saturday, April 14 in Columbus. The Annual Meeting is a unique opportunity for Ohio AAUP members to gather, share information, and determine the direction and policies of the organization. An agenda and registration form will be available on our website soon.

Reminder: Call for Nominations to Serve on the Ohio Conference Board of Trustees

The Ohio Conference is seeking nominations for its upcoming Board of Trustees’ elections.

The positions of President, Secretary, At-Large Member – Private Institutions, Chair of the Committee on Organizing, Chair of the Committee on Two-Year Institutions, and Chair of the Committee on Private Institutions are to be elected in 2012.

Nominations will close on January 30.

For more information on how to nominate yourself or a colleague, please click here.

What’s going to happen to my STRS pension? (and other OCAAUP news)

November 30, 2011 

What’s going to happen to my pension?

Over the past year, the Ohio Conference has reported on potential changes to the STRS and other statewide pension systems that are being considered by the Ohio General Assembly via the Ohio Retirement Study Council (ORSC).

Early on in this year’s legislative session, two pieces of legislation were introduced – House Bill 69 (Wachtmann) and Senate Bill 3 (Faber) – that, if passed, would have made changes to the five statewide pension systems.

Ohio requires public retirement systems to have a “30-year funding period,” which means that the system must be able to pay off all pension obligations within a 30-year period. Reforms to the pension systems are being considered to ensure that the retirement systems are meeting this mandated fiduciary responsibility.

At this time, it is uncertain what reforms may be enacted, but changes could include: increasing the number of years needed for retirement; requiring additional employee contributions; or reducing benefits.

Sen. Keith Faber, sponsor of SB 3 and Chair of the ORSC, announced in June that he wanted to bring in an independent actuary/policy advisor to provide an objective perspective and analysis to Ohio’s pension reform process.

Just days ago at its November 16 meeting, following a request for proposals and screening process, the ORSC unanimously selected Pension Trustee Advisors (PTA) to conduct the independent actuarial review. PTA is expected to complete their work by July 2012. 

Because of the complexity of the issue, it is most likely that we will not see serious movement on pension reform until late next year (2012), after the PTA report is issued and studied. And since legislators will be focused on their re-election bids throughout the calendar year 2012, it is very possible that pension reform may not be taken up at all until early 2013.

The Ohio Conference will continue to provide updates on this issue as events unfold.

We Won on Issue 2, Now What? The fight for fairness in Ohio is hardly over.  Two days after Ohioans overwhelmingly voted in favor of collective bargaining rights for public employees, a group of Tea Party activists known as the 1851 Center for Constitutional Law filed an initial petition with the Ohio Attorney General to put a constitutional amendment on the November 2012 ballot that would make Ohio a so-called “Right to Work” state. Opponents of Right to Work more aptly refer to it as “Right to Freeload” and “Right to Work for Less,” since these laws prohibit agreements that require workers to pay fair share fees and promote lower wages. However, on November 22, Attorney General Mike DeWine announced the rejection of the initial petition on the grounds that it did not properly characterize legal remedies under the proposed amendment. Nevertheless, it is expected that the group will resubmit a new petition with revised language to the Attorney General in the near future. The We Are Ohio coalition, the bipartisan group that fought against Issue 2, plans to remain together to fight back against these kinds of unfair, partisan attacks on workers’ rights. The Ohio Conference AAUP will continue to be part of this coalition moving forward and provide updates to our members on further developments.

Reminder: Call for Nominations to Serve on the Ohio Conference Board of Trustees

The Ohio Conference is seeking nominations for its upcoming Board of Trustees’ elections.

The positions of President, Secretary, At-Large Member – Private Institutions, Chair of the Committee on Organizing, Chair of the Committee on Two-Year Institutions, and Chair of the Committee on Private Institutions are to be elected in 2012.

For more information on how to nominate yourself or a colleague, please click here.

November 21, 2011 

Call for Nominations for the 
2012 Ohio Conference Elections

To Our AAUP Colleagues in the Ohio Conference:

With this notice to members and chapter officers, the OCAAUP Nominations Committee is calling for nominations for six Ohio Conference Board positions. Nominations should be emailed to dave.witt@akronaaup.org.

Please be advised that you may receive an additional notice from National AAUP. 

To help insure we have a robust slate of candidates, please circulate this notice to your best and brightest who also might be looking for an opportunity to serve the state conference.

Candidates for the following Executive Board Positions are:

• President
• Secretary
• At-Large Member – Private Institutions
• Chair of Committee on Organizing
• Chair of Committee on Two-Year Institutions
• Chair of Committee on Private Institutions

The terms of office for each position are noted in the footnote section of this document. The expectations of the Board Member elected as President include serving as a delegate to the Annual National AAUP Meeting, and they shall be elected as such concurrent with election to their respective Trustee positions. The President and Secretary shall serve as delegates to the Annual meeting of the Assembly of State Conferences, and shall be elected as such concurrent with election to their respective Trustee positions. 

Nominations must be received by Dave Witt, Past President of the Ohio Conference AAUP via email to dave.witt@akronaaup.org no later than January 30, 2012. 

Additionally, candidates must accept nomination by submitting a written acceptance, which is due at the same time as the nomination (see the form at the very bottom of this message). Any AAUP member from Ohio who is in good standing is eligible to nominate candidates and/or run for office.

After the close of nominations, electronic ballots shall be sent via e-mail to Conference members in good standing by March 15. Completed ballots must be returned by mail or electronically no later than April 15. Write-in votes shall not be permitted. Results shall be announced no later than May 15.

Footnotes: Per the Ohio Conference Code of Regulations “The voting members of the Board of Trustees of the Ohio Conference shall be the President, the Vice-President, the Secretary, the Treasurer, the immediate past President, any member from the State of Ohio then serving on the AAUP National Council or Executive Committee, an At-Large Member from a Private Institution, an At-Large Member from a Public Institution, an At-Large Member from either Private or Public Institution, and the Chairs of the Committees on Organizing, Private Institutions, and Two Year Institutions. All voting positions on the Board of Trustees shall be elected. 

The Chairs of the Committees on Academic Freedom and Tenure and Government Relations shall be non-voting, ex-officio members of the Board of Trustees. They shall be appointed by the President with the approval of the Trustees. All voting Board of Trustees positions, except for National Council or National Executive Committee members and immediate past President, shall be elected for two-year terms. 

For purposes of serving terms of office on the Board of Trustees, the year shall run from September 1 through August 31. Trustees who are National Council members or members of the National Executive Committee shall serve on the Board of Trustees as long as they hold their National positions. The immediate past President shall continue to serve on the Board for one year past the end of his/her term as President. The Chairs of the Committees on Academic Freedom and Tenure and Government Relations shall serve at the will of the President and the Trustees. 

David Witt
Nominating Committee, Past-President OCAAUP

______________________________________________

Consent Form

CONSENT TO STAND FOR OCAAUP EXECUTIVE BOARD ELECTIONS

I, ___(your name)___, from __(your institution)___, confirm that I am a member of the AAUP in good standing, and I am willing to stand for election to the office of __(the office you are seeking)__ of the Ohio State Conference AAUP.

____________ ___________ ___________
Printed Name Signature Date