Taking a stand for the middle class - OCSEA

This isn’t the first time activists
at the Mount Vernon
Developmental Center
have had to deal with downsizing at
their facility. Developmental Centers
around the state have been targeted
for cutbacks.
But until now, job loss had come
only through attrition. Now, the
brutal cut of 30 OCSEA bargaining
unit staff not only puts vulnerable
individuals at risk, it also proves
that this administration is after one
thing and one thing only: cutting the
middle class.
Many of the targeted full-time
employees will be made to bump
into lower paid, part-time positions,
making their health care pro-rated.
“This is an obvious attempt to
reduce the pay and benefits of fulltime
employees,” said OCSEA MH/
DD/OVH Assembly President Jeana
Campolo, who’s a Therapeutic
Program Worker at MVDC. “This is
not what this community is about –
lowering the standard of living for
middle-income folks and making
health care unaffordable.”
“According to the Kasich administration,
Ohio’s Rainy Day Fund has
plenty of money,” said Campolo.
“With resources like that, we
shouldn’t be cutting crucial state services
for people in need, nor eliminating
full-time jobs. I thought this
was the ‘jobs’ governor.”
Mt. Vernon DC has already been
downsized by nearly 100 individuals
in the last four years. The census
at the center stands at 122, but it’s
anticipated it will reduce to 112 by
next summer.
OCSEA leader
for the Dept. of
Developmental
Disabilities, Jeana
Campolo recently
spoke out to local
news media about
how downsizing
puts vulnerable
individuals at risk.
Privatization frenzy: ODOT jobs under attack
You’ve heard the ODOT Travel Counselors
phrase, “everything located at 12 rest areas around
but the kitchen sink”? the state were the latest ODOT
That’s what’s happening at the service in line for the privatization
ax….that is, until the gov-
Ohio Dept. of Transportation
when it comes to privatization. ernor figured out how vital they
It appears ODOT wants to privatize
everything – including the Information Center (TIC) in
are. An incident at the Travel
kitchen sink!
Bowling Green caught the
attention of Governor Kasich
and has seemed to have put the
“I was
just doing
my job.”
~ Henry Vento
ODOT Travel
Counselor
ODOT's Henry Vento
recently saved the
lives of two young
women at a NW Ohio
rest area.
privatization plan on hold – for
now.
Travel Counselor Henry
Vento thwarted the human
trafficking and kidnapping of
two young girls who showed
up at a TIC this year, which
prompted the governor to recognize
Vento for his heroism
at a ceremony. “Without you
[Vento], we have two girls who
may have lost their lives,” said
Governor Kasich.
What this administration
did not realize in the midst
of their privatization frenzy is
that Travel Centers offer more
than just maps and brochures
to Ohio motorists, said Kate
Callahan, an OCSEA Board of
Directors member who works
along side Vento. “TICs offer
a safe place and dedicated
employees who care about
what’s happening in their rest
areas, giving back to their communities
and the Ohioans they
serve.” said Callahan.
In addition to the TICs, parts,
rest area upkeep, and heavy
equipment training are also
on the privatization chopping
block. ODOT has already privatized
emergency roadside assistance
and attempted to contract
out its sign shop -- but failed
miserably when it was discovered
ODOT employees could do
it more efficiently.
“Henry is just another example
of ODOT employees doing
something better and safer,”
said ODOT Assembly President
Gary Apanasewicz. “The
question is: when will ODOT
learn?”
12 Public Employee Quarterly Summer 2012